Harmony And Discord: Countries Divided

SRI-LANKA

Citizenship Rights
- Many Tamils working in the tea plantations in Sri-Lanka were stateless
- Denied the basic right of voting
- Certain Tamils to be allowed back to India while others to be granted citizenship
- Agreement with India not carried out in full; many Tamils still stateless

Jobs in Government Service
- Language of Administration was solely Sinhalese
- English-speaking Tamils were given 3 years to learn Sinhala or be dismissed
- Tamils unable to secure jobs or be promoted
- Tamil made an official language
- Still not widely used though

University Admission
- Number of Sinhalese in university was not proportionate to population
- University admission criteria made so that it was harder for Tamils to enter university

Resettlement of Population
- Resettlement of poor Sinhalese peasants
- Tamils unhappy that Buddhist monks and members of the Sri-Lankan Army (largely Sinhalese) also gained access to their land

Consequences

Armed Conflict
- Tamily United Liberation Front (TULF) fpr independent state of Tamil Eelam
- Refused, the militant group of Liberation Tigers of Tamily Eelam (LTTE) was established
- Anti-Tamil riots encouraged by largely-Sinhalese Sri-Lankan Army

Unemployment
- Many breadwinners were killed
- Businesses and establishments were vandalized
- and burnt

Loss of Investments from Other Countries
- Loss of investment confidence

Fall in Number of Tourists
- Lack of safety
- Leading to less government income to develop amenities for the people

Foreign Intervention
- Indian dialogue failed as both sides cannot come to an agreement
- Peacekeeping troupe was withdrawn as clashes occurred between them and the Tamil Tigers


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NORTHERN IRELAND

The Protestant-Catholic Tension

Divided Loyalties
- Many Protestants see themselves as British
- Protestants wish for the country to be part of the United Kingdom
- Catholics see themselves as Irish
- Embrace the idea of reunification with Ireland

The Education System
- Public schools for Protestants
- Taught British history
- Private schools partly funded by the government cater to Catholics
- Taught Irish history and tend to regard British as a foreign country

Employment
- Catholics were given less opportunity
- Catholic males tend to be 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed
- Few Catholics holding high positions in public and private sectors

Housing
- Members of the city councils were largely Protestants
- Protestants given priority in terms of housing
- Left many Catholics homeless

Voting
- Each household was given 2 votes
- Companies were given more, depending on their size
- Large companies owned by richer Protestants, hence more votes
- Voting districts were often drawn up to include large numbers of Protestants

Ways of Making Demands

- Civil Rights Movements emerged
- Made peaceful demands for basic rights
- Movement was met with hostility and violence
- The beginning of THE TROUBLES
- British Army’s intervention was welcomed by the Catholic
- Until they started searching their homes
- Catholics lost faith
- Turned to the Irish Republican Army (IRA)
- BLOODY SUNDAY