7th May 2000

Circle of a crisis

One could say that this vicious circle took the stage in 1958 as Sinhala-Tamil riots. In 1971 it took the form of a rebellion of the Sinhala youth of the south. In 1983 it came as a racist riot. In 88-90 it emerged as a fanatic insurrection on the part of Sinhala youth in the South against the intervention of a foreign country to control an armed movement in the North aimed at winning a separate state. 

However, it is impossible to think that a change of government will lead to a new efficient administration which will be able to overcome the existing crisis. While the former UNP government's allegedly corrupt and inefficient administration contributed to the growth of a movement which had numbered less than 200 persons before July '83 into a position in which it was able to successfully challenge a standing army 

. Consequently, it is also inevitable that the war that existed between the government and a guerrilla organisation may turn into a fierce war Censored Censored Censored. 

So far, in this war we had monopoly of the skies. Therefore, we were able to bomb any target of theirs from the air. 

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Editorial/ Opinion Contents