Accommodation in Belgium Civil war: A violent conflict between opposing groups within a country that becomes so intense that it appears like a war. result, the relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities strained over time. The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for the recognition of Tamil as an official language, for regional autonomy and equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs. But their demand for more autonomy to provinces populated by the Tamils was repeatedly denied.
By 1980s, several political organisations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam (state) in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. The distrust between the two communities turned into widespread conflict. It soon turned into a civil war . As a result thousands of people of both the communities have been killed.
Many families were forced to leave the country as refugees and many more lost their livelihoods. The civil war has caused a terrible setback to the social, cultural and economic life of the country. It ended in . The photograph here is of a street address in Belgium.
You will notice that place names and directions in two languages – French and Dutch. © Wikipedia So you are saying that sharing of power makes us more powerful. Sounds odd! Let me think.
What do we learn from these two stories of Belgium and Sri Lanka? Both are democracies. Yet, they dealt with the question of power sharing differently. In Belgium, the leaders have realised that the unity of the country is possible only by respecting the feelings and interests of different communities and regions.
Such a realisation resulted in mutually acceptable arrangements for sharing power. Sri Lanka shows us a contrasting example. It shows us that if a majority community wants to force its dominance over others and refuses to share power, it can undermine the unity of the country. Read any newspaper for one week and make clippings of news related to ongoing conflicts or wars.
A group of five students could pool their clippings together and do the following: Classify these conflicts by their