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1、SriLankaYouthUnrestandInter-groupConflictG.H.Peiris*Faultlines:Volume19,April2008;Source:SouthAsianTerrorismPortalTwoconsiderationsprovidethemainimpulseforthisstudy.Thefirstoftheseisthescantattentionthatispaidinexistingscholarlywritingstotheconnectionbetwe
2、enethnicconflictinSriLankaandthephenomenonof‘youthunrest’,despitetheimportanceaccordedinmanyrecentworksonmajorpoliticalturbulenceselsewhereintheworldtothedemographicandsociologicalcharacteristicsoftheyouth.ThesecondisthefactthatSriLankanconflictstudiestend
3、totreatthecausalconnectionsofthesecessionistcampaignledbytheLiberationTigersofTamilEelam(LTTE/’Tigers’)asbeingdistinctfromthoseoftheinsurrectionsledbytheJanathaVimukthiPeramuna(JVP–literally,‘People’sLiberationFront’)intheSinhalesesegmentofthecountry’spopu
4、lationin1971and1986-89,perceivingtheformerasanexemplificationof‘ethnicconflict’,andthelatterasessentiallya‘classconflict’.Thisdistinctionis,ofcourse,notdevoidofsubstance.Thesecessionistinsurrectionwhichbeganinearnestinthemid-1980sdidrepresenttheculmination
5、ofalongdrawnoutprocessofestrangementofrelationsbetweentwoofthemainethnicgroups–SinhaleseandSriLankanTamilsconstituting,respectively,74percentand12.6percentofthecountry’spopulationatthattime.Theprocesswascharacterisedperpetuallybyconfrontationalpoliticsatth
6、eleadershiplevelsofthetwocommunities,andsporadicallybyoutburstsofcommunalclashesinareasofmixedethnicitywhen,moreoftenthannot,TamilsbecamethetargetofviolenceperpetratedbyrampagingSinhalesemobs.Themostbarbaricanddestructiveamongsuchepisodesofcommunalviolence
7、occurredinJuly1983,andhadthecatalyticimpactofconvertingnascentandfactionalisedTamilmilitancyintoafullscalecampaignofsecessionismoverwhich,withthepassageoftime,asingle,tight-knitgroupestablisheditshegemony.Thisappearsinsharpcontrasttotheprocessesthatprecede
8、dtherebellionsledbytheJVP.Theinsurrectionof1971,intendedtobringaboutasocialistrevolutionthroughthecaptureofstatepowerwithrecoursetoviolenceandterror,tookplacewithinafewmonthsoftheformationofanewGovernmentbyac