War Termination in Sri Lanka

Albert Wesley Harris

Abstract


This article has a central aim of explaining the catastrophic loss of civilian life in the last five months of the civil war in Sri Lanka. The article proposes that both the government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the LTTE are culpable for civilian deaths; the LTTE in an effort to stave off defeat so it might be able to re-constitute itself at a later time, and the GoSL in a determination not to allow the LTTE as an organization to survive the conflict. The article also argues that a preliminary explanation for the origins of the Sri Lankan civil war can be found in the GoSL program of transferring members of the Sinhalese population into the Northern and Eastern provinces of the country, regions held by the Tamil population to be their homeland territory.

Key words: Population; Tamil; Sinhalese insurgency; Civilian; Territory


Keywords


Population; Tamil; Sinhalese insurgency; Civilian; Territory

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/j.sss.1923018420120303.1299

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