In today's increasingly serious refugee problem in Europe, Audia's film can be said to be at the right time. The director chose Sri Lanka, perhaps because the civil war in Lanka has been over for a long time, and "Lanka Refugees" is not so sensitive in comparison. However, the Sri Lankan civil war and the "LTTE" still left terrifying memories for everyone. What happened to the Lanka Civil War?
1. The main ethnic group in Sri Lanka: Sinhalese
If you step into the cabin of SriLankan Airlines, the beautiful flight attendant wearing a peacock green sari will put her hands together and say "Ayubowan" to you. This "Ayubowan", which is full of greetings and wishes you good luck, is one of the official languages of Sri Lanka, Sinhala.
Sinhala is naturally the language of the Sinhalese people. Sinhalese make up 70% of Sri Lanka's population. They are a branch of the Aryans who migrated from the South Asian subcontinent in ancient times and believed in Buddhism. But if you look closely, there is another language spoken in Sri Lanka: Tamil. There are a huge number of Hindu temples in Lanka and these are Tamil shrines.
2. Tamils who migrated from South India to Ceylon
around the 2nd century BC, Tamils from South India also began to migrate and settle in Ceylon. From the 5th century to the 16th century, the Sinhala and Tamil kingdoms were constantly at war. In the early 14th century, the Tamils of South India also established the kingdom of Jaffna in the north. Today, Tamils are still the second largest population in Sri Lanka, accounting for about 20% of the total population. They mainly live in the north and east of Lanka. Believe in Hinduism.
3. The Mysterious North: The Story of Jaffna
The place where the film first appears is the Jaffna Peninsula, where the Tamils gather. From the map, it looks like a broken human calf skeleton. At the bottom of the skeleton, there is a reserve called Chundikkulam. The Jaffna Peninsula is connected to the land of Ceylon through this very narrow passage. Therefore, you can see from the terrain that this is a relatively independent area of Ceylon.
She lay silently on the Indian Ocean, looking at India to the north. This once-developed area has experienced vicissitudes and scars, and in the hearts of travelers, it is still a cloud-like place. The city of the same name, Jaffna, is the capital of the northern province of Sri Lanka and the administrative center of the Jaffna Peninsula.
Historically, Jaffna was a prosperous city. In 1619, the Portuguese defeated the kingdom of Jaffna and built a port here. Since then, the Dutch and the British have invaded respectively, and the cultures of different countries have had a profound impact on the Jaffna Peninsula. But Tamils have always been the main inhabitants here, and Jaffna is also Sri Lanka's Hindu cultural center. Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948. Relations between Tamils and Sinhalese have since deteriorated.
4. Disputes between the two ethnic groups
Due to differences in ethnicity and religion, there have been many events in history where the Tamils overthrew the Sinhalese kingdom. After the British occupied Sri Lanka in the 1830s, the colonial authorities used the Tamils to restrict the Sinhalese, so that the Tamils occupied the most and the highest positions in the industrial and administrative departments, and had huge political and economic advantages, resulting in two ethnic groups. The resentment deepened. After Sri Lanka's independence, the Sinhalese, who account for about 74% of the country, took over state power, and the power of the Tamils weakened. There have been a lot of frictions between the two ethnic groups in terms of employment, wages, housing and education.
Ultranationalism is horrific, and in 1983 13 Lankan soldiers were killed in an LTTE ambush that sparked Black July. The anger and hatred started in Colombo, where some Tamils were burned and looted, and hundreds of people died and scattered. After that, the two peoples began a years-long civil war. 1986. The Tamil Tigers have long occupied the Jaffna area.
In 1976, the United Tamil Liberation Front was established with the purpose of establishing an "independent Tamil state". In 1978, a small number of Tamil extremists established more than 30 terrorist organizations such as the anti-government "Tamil Tiger". Large-scale bloody clashes broke out between the two ethnic groups. In 2009, the LTTE was completely wiped out. Sri Lanka is now a peaceful and safe travel destination. The people live and work in peace and contentment and cherish this hard-won peace.
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