This month, the world may witness the final chapter in the 25-year-old conflict between the Sri Lankan army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers.

The civil war, which has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands others, was triggered by Tamil demands for an independent homeland in the north and east of the country following decades of complaints about discrimination against them by the majority Buddhist Sinhalese government.

prabhakaran tamil tigers leader shot dead in sri lanka conflict 190509 02

Now, with the fall of the Tigers’ 10-year de facto capital of Killinochchi in Januar, followed by the Sri Lankan army’s takeover of their last stronghold, Mullaitivu, the Tigers have been left in control of only a small stretch of coastal land, estimated to be no more than 12 square km, in the north-east.

Despite mounting civilian casualties and a humanitarian disaster, the international community, motivated by its desire to see an end to the LTTE, has issued only feeble calls for a mutual ceasefire.

Raise the issue of Sri Lanka with most Muslims, even those who would describe themselves as politically aware, and you would be hard pressed to find many who are interested beyond a mere superficial curiosity spawned by the recent international media coverage of the conflict.

sri lanka declare victory over tamil tigers war 190509 01 Motivated by a common and understandable sense of solidarity with the underdog, most Muslims would declare their support for the Tigers in this struggle.

If asked about the effects of the war on Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim population, most Muslims would struggle to realise that with no major affiliations to either side in the conflict, they have been effectively caught in the crossfire, being used as political footballs by both the Tigers and the Sri Lankan Army, and subjected to horrific atrocities and ethnic cleansing by both sides for almost 20 years.

On March 10, for example, 14 Muslims were killed and 30 injured when a LTTE human bomber targeted a procession celebrating the birthday of Prophet Muhammad at Godapitiya in Akurassa town, about 160km south of Colombo.

Muslims also continue to be targets of extrajudicial killings, abductions and brutality by both the Sri Lankan army and pro-government Tamil groups such as the Tamileela Makkal Viduthalai Puligal or Karuna faction.

Understanding the role of Sri Lankan Muslims in the conflict and addressing their political aspirations are vital if there is to be a lasting peace settlement.

Muslims began arriving in Sri Lanka around the 8th century when Arab traders began settling in the region. With the arrival of the Portuguese colonialists in the 16th century, the descendants of these traders were persecuted and forced to migrate to the Central Highlands and east of the country. It is these Sri Lankan ‘Moors’ (as the Portuguese saw them) who form the majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka (95 percent) today and who are the most politically active.

The other two distinct groups of Muslims are the Malays, descendants of Javanese and Malaysian Muslims brought over by the Dutch and British rulers in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Indian Muslims who arrived in the 19th and 20th centuries seeking business opportunities. Both the Malays and Indian Muslims are isolated from the majority Muslim community and the wider Sri Lankan population.

Muslim-Sinhalese relations

Muslims, Hindu Tamils and Buddhist Sinhalese generally co-existed in peace and harmony for much of their history. However, disputes over business and trade, sometimes manipulated by nationalist groups, have fuelled occasional clashes.

The first blatant anti-Muslim riots took place in 1915 when Sinhalese gangs attacked Muslim traders and shops. The pogrom appeared to be the result of a combination of rising Sinhalese nationalism coupled with antagonism at the traditional Muslim dominance of business.

Since then, Muslims and Sinhalese have had peaceful relations with much economic interaction, albeit limited social integration. Muslims enjoy considerable freedoms with no restrictions on religious worship and major religious holidays are celebrated as public holidays.

islam and judiciary judgement Muslims have the right to use their own courts governed by Syariah law for family and personal matters, and also enjoy separate state-funded schools in which Islam is taught in addition to the national curriculum. There are Muslims in all political parties with many Muslim parliamentarians, and no restrictions on Muslim political parties.

There are however some clear discriminatory policies in place when it comes to recruitment in key revenue bureaucracies, ministries and the security forces, where well-qualified Muslims are often passed over in favour of less qualified Sinhalese. Muslims are substantially under-represented overall in state and semi-state structures.

Nevertheless violence has erupted intermittently usually linked to organised nationalist campaigns or business disputes. In 1976 police shot several Muslims in Puttalam after clashes between Muslims and Sinhalese, apparently provoked by disputes over jobs and land.

There were sporadic incidents in the 1990s, including attacks on shops in Nochchiyagama in 1999. In April 2001 Sinhalese mobs attacked Muslims in Mawanella killing two Muslims and destroying dozens of buildings and vehicles.

Some commentators have attributed the lack of escalation of these incidents to the reluctance of Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka to draw attention to discrimination and ethnic tensions in public, aware of their minority status and fearful of the consequences of taking a bolder stance.

For example, following the killing of Muslims in Puttalam in 1976, not a single Muslim raised the matter in Parliament. Most if not all of the Muslim leaders during this period were from the mercantile class in the south who were less concerned about the fate of their co-religionists, consisting mainly of farmers and fishermen, in the north and the east.

Muslim-Tamil relations

The rise of Sinhalese nationalism in the 1970s and the resulting discriminatory policies against Tamils and Muslims in the north and east brought about a change in the political thought and activism of the hitherto dormant Muslim population.

ltte black tigers 020905 parade uniform With the creation of the LTTE in the 1970s, disaffected Muslims saw the opportunity to take matters into their own hands and away from their leaders who they viewed as defeatist and compromising. With state-sponsored development in the east causing the influx of Sinhalese settlers and the loss of Muslim lands, Muslims and Tamils worked together, with some Muslims even joining the LTTE.

Following the establishment in 1986 of the country’s first Muslim political party, the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, relations between Muslims and the LTTE soured with the Tigers viewing its formation as a political threat to their full control of the North and the East. Sporadic violent clashes between Muslims and the LTTE broke out throughout the 1980s but what occurred in 1990 surpassed anything that had occurred before.

Read Part 2 here

FAHAD ANSARI is a London-based solicitor.