08:Pretest 08:The

08: The Countries of South Asia

7. Differences between which two groups have resulted in fighting in Sri Lanka?

O Christians and Tamils

O Sinhalese and Tamils

O Indians and Sinhalese

Tamils and Indians

Erica

Answer: B

Differences between Sinhalese and Tamils have resulted in fights in Srilanka.

Explanation:

Srilankan civil war was a result of the tensions among the native Sinhalese people and the Tamils. During the colonial period Srilanka was called Ceylon and ethnic Tamil minorities of Indian origin lived there in considerable numbers.

Tensions between the two groups arose years before Srilanka's independence and after gaining independence in 1948 the many discriminatory policies were passed against the Tamil people.

Tamil minority was denied citizenship and about 70,000 Tamils became stateless and many were deported to India. It took several more years to grant citizenship to the remaining Tamils.

Many controversial and discriminatory laws like the one making Sinhalese spoken by the Sinhalese people, the only official language of the country were passed in the later years.

All these unfair practices triggered the development of Srilankan civil war which demanded a separate state for Tamil people. But the movement was suppressed and in 2009 the civil war came to an end.