Sri Lanka: Troubled Island

- Zaheer Ali

The ethnic/ communal violence in the small island nation of Sri Lanka doggedly refuses to subside. Recent reports had been indicating that the militants associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were on the defensive in the face of the resolute onslaught on the separatist outfit by security forces. However, two bomb blasts in the crowded urban areas killing a number of innocent civilians and injuring hundreds on June 6, 2008, have blown apart the dream of a peaceful settlement of the vexed issue of autonomy to the Northern and Eastern Provinces of the island nation. There have also been reports that the security forces discovered and defused some other bombs before the terrorists could explode them causing further damage to life and property. The prime motive of the terrorists behind carrying out the latest blasts appears to be to spawn ethnic and communal violence across Sri Lanka; this would perhaps force international agencies to take notice of the worsening situation and prompt them to advise the Sri Lankan forces to show restraint in their operations against the LTTE.

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