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Sri Lanka Tamil Militant Groups
The de facto policies of preference that the Sri Lankan
government adopted in order to assist the Sinhalese community in
such areas as education and public employment affected most
severely middle class Tamil youth, who found it more difficult
during the 1970s and 1980s to enter a university or secure
employment than had their older brothers and sisters. Individuals
belonging to this younger generation, often referred to by other
Tamils as "the boys," formed the core of an extremist movement
that had become, by the late 1980s, one of the world's most
violent. By the end of 1987, they fought not only the Sri Lankan
security forces but also the armed might of the (Indian
Peacekeeping Force) and terrorized both Sinhalese and Tamil
civilians with acts of random violence. They also fought among
each other with equal if not greater brutality
(see Sri Lanka - The Tamil Insurgency
, ch. 5).
In a sense, the militant movement was not only a revolt
against the Sinhalese-dominated status quo but also an expression
of intergenerational tensions in a highly traditional society
where obedience to parental authority had long been sacrosanct.
Militant youth criticized their elders for indecisiveness at a
time when they felt the existence of their ethnic community
clearly was in danger. The movement also reflected caste
differences and rivalries. The membership of the largest and most
important extremist group, for example, the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was generally drawn from the Karava or
fisherman caste, while individuals belonging to the elite Vellala
caste were found in considerable numbers in a rival group, the
People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE, also
PLOT).
Data as of October 1988
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