The island of Sri Lanka is a divided nation.  Ethnic Tamils in the north of the island work mostly on the plantations as agricultural laborers.  After independence in 1972, the Tamils were forced to surrender their cultural identity under the elite from the Sinhalese majority.  The Tamil Tigers emerged in the 1970s to lead the movement for an independent Tamil state.  They established a de facto state of Tamil Eelam in northern Sri Lanka, complete with hospitals, a banking system and even an air force.  As time wore on, however, the Tigers became increasingly distanced from the needs of the mass of the Tamil population.  A new government offensive in 2009 led to their final destruction, leaving thousands of refugees in camps at the hands of the Sri Lankan Army.

Thursday 18 June, 7.30pm. Otago Room, Clubs and Societies building

All Welcome

Further Reading

• Socialist Alternative: Governments applaud massacre of the Tamils
• Socialist Worker: Sri Lanka's war of terror
• WSWS.org: Sri Lanka: the defeat of the LTTE and the dead-end of nationalism