The finish of the 30-year civil struggle marked a brand new period in Sri Lankan historical past. Even after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ‘ethnic tension’ in Sri Lanka raises a way of suspense and uncertainty between India and Sri Lanka. These reverse tensions are below the ashes, however it impacts the Indo-Sri Lanka relations, between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Government of India and Tamil Nadu. Further, it creates chaos inside the nation itself.

 

Influence of Tamil Nadu 

 

The 70 million Tamils residing in Tamil Nadu are linked ethnically to the Tamils in the east and north of Sri Lanka. From Sri Lanka’s perspective, the regional political events in Tamil Nadu unduly influenced India’s actions on the Sri Lankan Government and the east and north Tamil points in a important method. India additionally voted towards Sri Lanka in the United Nation Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to settle its home Tamil constituency particularly in Tamil Nadu. Furthermore, social media performed a serious position in Tamil college students’ protest throughout Tamil Nadu, the place greater than 600 schools and faculties had been shut down out of fury amongst college students. This has pressured the ruling authorities to go a decision in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly towards the Sri Lankan Government and demanded the union authorities impose financial sanctions on Sri Lanka. (Jegannathan, 2013)i It is the greatest proof that social media permits the democratic battle towards authoritarian regimes and acts as a pressure issue. This creates a destructive impression on the east and north Tamils in Colombo and south folks inside the nation.

 

Influence of Indian media

 

Indian media performs a serious position in making a rigidity between Colombo and south with the north and east Tamils. They are nicely-conscious that Sri Lanka is one of a handful of international locations, which might manipulate simply by utilizing the social media platforms which can be already very talked-about amongst Sri Lankans. In Sri Lanka, most of the Tamil folks reside in each the north and east. Thus, these web and different media platforms focused straight the Sri Lankan Tamils in the north and east and have allowed them to exhaust their collective resentment towards the Sri Lankan Government with none censorship or scrutiny. 

This furthermore has a deep affect to make a segregation between the south and Colombo with the north and east. This gives a brand new battlefield for this chilly struggle by the boundless social media and networking websites. It may be very a lot energetic in our on-line world, over which the Sri Lankan Government has restricted management. Photographs and movies capturing the cruelty of the final section of the struggle have gone viral on-line and on social media over the previous few years. If somebody googles ‘Sri Lanka’ the on-line web sites discuss with the genocide that occurred in Sri Lanka by the army. (Gunaratna, 2020)ii 

Further Tamil Nadu and the Indian media pressure the Sri Lankan Government to have fun the ‘Maveerar Naal’ on 27 November to commemorate struggle heroes who sacrificed their lives for the Tamil Eelam. Besides, there’s a particular authorities assembly of the transnational authorities of Tamil Eelam which can also be scheduled on 5 and 6 December and It meets via e-expertise. (JVPNEWS.com, 2020)iii Those are indicating how the social media and the new expertise have reworked the ethnic battle inside the new realm of our on-line world and the impression on submit-struggle Sri Lankan ethnic rigidity. 

 

Indian cinema – Tamil cinema

 

Tamil cinema related with the Tamil folks, their tradition and society. When contemplating the Tamil cinema, there was a 3-decade-lengthy separatist battle, that was led by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), towards the Sri Lankan authorities. Sri Lankan Tamils in the north and east, and the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee diaspora are a serious marketplace for Tamil movies. The greatest latest instance is that Muttiah Muralitharan biopic 800 has created large chaos in Tamil Nadu, India. He doesn’t belong to the north or the east of Sri Lanka, which fashioned the geographical territory of Eelam, he’s from the hill nation. 

Tamil cinema hero Vijay Sethupathi determined to supply a biopic on legendary Sri Lankan Tamil cricketer Muralitharan, one of the best bowlers ever (800 wickets in Tests and 534 in ODIs). Nonetheless, it has aroused sturdy protests from professional Tamil teams in Tamil Nadu with the social media platform Twitter exploding with the hash-tag “Shammeon VijaySethupathi”. (Charindra, 2020)iv 

In the meantime, the movie Raging Tiger, directed by Venkatesh Kumar, a biography of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is in motion. Thenali (2000), Kannathil Muthamittaal, Nala Damayanthi (2003) and Rameswaram (2007) had been made references to or integrated Sri Lankan Tamils and the ethnic battle in Sri Lanka. (Maya Ranganathan & Dr Selvaraj Velayutham, 2012)v Therefore, in the absence of an outpouring of cohesion via these sorts of movies, they trigger destructive affect for the viewers, specifically the Tamils in the north and east, who’ve bitter experiences from the Civil War in Sri Lanka. That will enhance the rigidity between south and Colombo with north and east, and it is going to progressively result in one other battle in the future.

The ethnic rigidity between the Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka has not been subdued with the elimination of LTTE, moderately it has been reinvented by social media and new expertise. Therefore, the Government wants to handle these points relating to cyber area and replace the legal guidelines always with the altering of media and expertise. In addition to that, it ought to keep stability in the bilateral relations amongst the two international locations; the Sri Lankan facet has to know the pursuits of India as a regional energy in South Asia, and develop constructive behaviour in the direction of them and additional the Sri Lankan Government additionally ought to have thorough the legal guidelines to defend all the holes inside its system. 

 

(Source: file:///I:/NEW%20RESEARCH/Stalling%20Murali%20movie%20will%20not%20assist%20Tamils%20in%20Sri%20Lanka%20_%20Each day%20News.html)

 

Footnotes:

 

iJegannathan, J. (2013, June). Sri Lanka’s New War Zone. Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, 6.

Retrieved from file:///I:/NEW%20RESEARCH/IB226-Jegan-SriLankaSocialMedia.pdf

iiGunaratna, P. R. (2020, November 23). Online falsehoods ought to be criminalised. New Delhi Times, three. 

iiiJVPNEWS.com. (2020, December). Two overseas dignitaries to handle the Government of Tamil Nadu.

ivCharindra. (2020, October 18). Protests are a blessing for Murali film! The Sunday Morning, 2. Retrieved from http://www.themorning.lk/protests-are-a-blessing-for-murali-film/

vMaya Ranganathan & Dr Selvaraj Velayutham. (2012, December). Imagining Eelam Tamils in Tamil cinema. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 26. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.internet/publication/262965880_Imagining_Eelam_Tamils_in_Tamil_cinema

 

(The author is a Prevention Officer at the Bribery and Corruption Commission in Sri Lanka (CIABOC). The opinion expressed is her personal and not essentially reflective of the Commission or the authorities.)