New Era

The world had been given the impression that there was an ethnic conflict between Sinhala majority with Tamil minority, which was not correct at all. It was an issue of poverty and underdevelopment affecting all communities. In 1971, the Sinhala youth rebelled due to the same reasons with a view to changing the political system in the country. But in the north, among the rebel groups, one group which was well known as Tamil Tigers went on demanding and fighting with fierce terrorist acts for a separate Tamil State.
In the 16th century the Portuguese captured the coastal area in the west coast of the country (in 1505) during the period of the Kotte kingdom. Under the Kotte kingdom there were three sub kingdoms viz. Kandyan kingdom, Sitawaka kingdom, and Jaffna kingdom and those were not separate kingdoms. The coastal areas (west coast and south coast) under the Kotte kingdom and the Jaffna sub kingdom which were under the Portuguese power came under the Dutch, the Maritime European Power with the support of Rajasinhe II, the king of Kandy in 1658.
The struggle against the colonial power began in 1817 during the period of Governor Robert Brownrigg. The British took over the Dutch territories of Sri Lanka in 1796, and the entire island became a colony of Britain in 1815. It was led by Villave and Keppetipola Disawe. The rebels were captured and beheaded by the British who suppressed the struggle. The next struggle against the British was the Matale Rebellion, led by Hennedige Francisco Fernando (Puran Appu) and Gongalegoda Banda, in 1847-48. This too was crushed by the British army.
A peaceful political independence movement which aimed at achieving independence from the British Empire was initiated around the turn of the 20th century led by the educated middle class and Sri Lanka finally achieved independence on February 4, 1948.
With the Colebrook and Cameron reforms in 1833, the island was divided into five provinces viz. Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Central. Further it was increased to nine provinces in 1899 for administrative convenience and not on any basis of religious or ethnic groups. Tamils live in harmony among Sinhala and Muslim communities in all other parts of the island. Most Sinhalese are Buddhists while some are Christian, similarly most Tamils are Hindus while some are Christian. It is therefore difficult to understand why the Tamil Tigers sought a separate state for Tamils in the North and East of the island.
There were many rounds of negotiations to settle the issue with the Tamil Tiger group from the year 1985. Both parties met in Thimpu, Bhutan with the support of Indian government, and many other times in 1989/1990, 1995, 2002/2003, 2006 in Geneva and Oslo. All these efforts failed and their