CONTENT FAQS
What is the difference between 'race' and 'ethnicity'?
Ethnicity refers to cultural differences between groups of people within a society. An ethnic group is a culture or subculture whose members are readily distinguishable by outsiders based on traits originating from a common racial/ national/ linguistic/ or religious source. Members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or biologically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case.
Ethnic groups share a common origin, a history and a future as a people. This is achieved through the transmission of common language, institutions/ values and traditions.
Ethnicity and race differ in that the concept of ethnicity is rooted in the idea of societal groups, marked especially by shared nationality/ tribal affiliation/ religious faith, shared language, or cultural and traditional origins and backgrounds. On the other hand/ race is e classified according to physical features such as skin colour or facial characteristics.
What is the Holocaust?'
Holocaust' is a Greek word which literally means 'sacrifice by fire'. The Holocaust was the systematic persecution and murder of approximately 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior' and that the Jews/ deemed 'inferior'/ were unworthy of life. During the era of the Holocaust, the Nazis also targeted other groups because of their perceived 'racial inferiority': Roma (gypsies)/ the handicapped/ and some of the Slavic people (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioural grounds. Among them were Communists, Socialists/ Jehovah's Witnesses/ and homosexuals. Other individuals and groups were persecuted and suffered during this period but only the Jews were marked for complete extinction. It is estimated that as many as 15 million civilians were killed during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was the biggest of the killing programmes. The Nazis pursued it until their defeat in 1945. The Holocaust led to widespread public awareness of genocide and efforts were made to prevent it such as the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide.
What is 'apartheid'?
Apartheid, which means 'apartness' or 'separateness' in Afrikaans (based on the Dutch language), was a system of racial segregation that operated in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. Under apartheid, the races, classified by law into White, Black, Indian, and Coloured groups, were separated, each with their own homelands and institutions. In practice this prevented non-white people, even if they are actually residing in South Africa, from having a vote or influence and restricting their rights to faraway homelands of poor-quality lands which they may never have visited. Education, medical care and other public services were sometimes claimed to be separate but equal, but those available to non-white people were in fact, inferior.
What is the citizenship rights issue in Sri Lanka about?
By 1946, the Indian Tamil plantation workers formed half of the Tamil population of the island. Between 1948 and 1949, there were three laws which reduced the Indian Tamil participation in the polity - the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act of 1949 and the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act of 1940. By 1964, only about 10% of the community were awarded citizenship and voting rights.
India came on the scene to help the Indian Tamils. Several pacts were made between India and Sri Lanka on the citizenship of the Indian Tamils:
What has the language issue in Sri Lanka evolved over the years?
Several Language Acts were proposed and passed but were abandoned later in the history of independent Sri Lanka.
What are the key dates and events in the Sri Lankan conflict?
What are the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism?
Roman Catholicism and Protestantism are two main divisions within Christianity.
The Roman Catholic Church, or Catholic Church, is the largest Christian Church in the world. There are over 1 billion followers of Roman Catholicism worldwide. At the head of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope. The Pope resides in Rome at the Vatican. It teaches that it is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ for the salvation of all people.
The term 'Protestant' represents a diverse range of theological and social perspectives, denominations, individuals, and related organisations. In a broader sense of the word, 'Protestant' came to be used as the collective name for those individuals and churches who advocated a formal separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
What is the IRA and how has it evolved?
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was founded in 1919 to fight British rule in Ireland. However, the civil war of 1922 to 1923 resulted in its surrender to the British. This did not stop the IRA from recruiting and training members. It continued its violent acts from time to time.
In 1948, the IRA turned its attention to removing British rule from Northern Ireland and fighting for reunion with the Republic of Ireland. It believed that only by doing so would the discrimination against the Catholic minority end. In 1969 it spilt into two groups: the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA (now defunct) because of disagreement over the use of terrorist tactics. The Provisional IRA was more radical while the official IRA disclaimed violence.
In 1994, the Provisional IRA declared an unconditional ceasefire in favour of peace talks. The peace process failed before the talks begun. The parties involved could not come to an agreement as to whether the IRA should disarm before the talks began. There followed a series of bombing incidents which the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility.
In July 1997, the Provisional IRA renewed its ceasefire and Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) was allowed to join the Northern Ireland peace negotiations. A historic power-sharing accord between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was announced in April 1998. In May 1998, voters overwhelmingly approved the accord.
However, the Real IRA, a splinter group of the IRA formed after the 1997 ceasefire, opposed the accord and demonstrated their unhappiness in the August 1998 bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA condemned the bombing.
In July 2005, the Provisional IRA announced an end to its armed campaign. The organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence. It destroyed all its weapons which included a full range of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosives, and explosive substances. The decommissioning process was witnessed by a Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and ex-Methodist president Rev Harold Good.
What are the key dates and events in the Northern Ireland conflict?
Ethnicity refers to cultural differences between groups of people within a society. An ethnic group is a culture or subculture whose members are readily distinguishable by outsiders based on traits originating from a common racial/ national/ linguistic/ or religious source. Members of an ethnic group are often presumed to be culturally or biologically similar, although this is not in fact necessarily the case.
Ethnic groups share a common origin, a history and a future as a people. This is achieved through the transmission of common language, institutions/ values and traditions.
Ethnicity and race differ in that the concept of ethnicity is rooted in the idea of societal groups, marked especially by shared nationality/ tribal affiliation/ religious faith, shared language, or cultural and traditional origins and backgrounds. On the other hand/ race is e classified according to physical features such as skin colour or facial characteristics.
What is the Holocaust?'
Holocaust' is a Greek word which literally means 'sacrifice by fire'. The Holocaust was the systematic persecution and murder of approximately 6 million Jews by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior' and that the Jews/ deemed 'inferior'/ were unworthy of life. During the era of the Holocaust, the Nazis also targeted other groups because of their perceived 'racial inferiority': Roma (gypsies)/ the handicapped/ and some of the Slavic people (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political and behavioural grounds. Among them were Communists, Socialists/ Jehovah's Witnesses/ and homosexuals. Other individuals and groups were persecuted and suffered during this period but only the Jews were marked for complete extinction. It is estimated that as many as 15 million civilians were killed during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was the biggest of the killing programmes. The Nazis pursued it until their defeat in 1945. The Holocaust led to widespread public awareness of genocide and efforts were made to prevent it such as the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide.
What is 'apartheid'?
Apartheid, which means 'apartness' or 'separateness' in Afrikaans (based on the Dutch language), was a system of racial segregation that operated in South Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. Under apartheid, the races, classified by law into White, Black, Indian, and Coloured groups, were separated, each with their own homelands and institutions. In practice this prevented non-white people, even if they are actually residing in South Africa, from having a vote or influence and restricting their rights to faraway homelands of poor-quality lands which they may never have visited. Education, medical care and other public services were sometimes claimed to be separate but equal, but those available to non-white people were in fact, inferior.
What is the citizenship rights issue in Sri Lanka about?
By 1946, the Indian Tamil plantation workers formed half of the Tamil population of the island. Between 1948 and 1949, there were three laws which reduced the Indian Tamil participation in the polity - the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act of 1949 and the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Act of 1940. By 1964, only about 10% of the community were awarded citizenship and voting rights.
India came on the scene to help the Indian Tamils. Several pacts were made between India and Sri Lanka on the citizenship of the Indian Tamils:
- Originally, it was agreed that. all Indians with a five-year residence in Sri Lanka should be granted Sri Lankan citizenship;
- In 1964, India agreed to accept some 525,000 persons who were 'stateless' in Sri Lanka over a 15-year period into the country provided that Sri Lanka accepted 300,000 Indian Tamils as Sri Lankan citizens;
- In 1974, the remaining 150,000 Indian Tamils and their offspring were to be equally shared by both countries;
- In 1986, Sri Lanka accepted 96,000 Indian Tamils and their offspring as its citizens; and
- In 2003, an act of Parliament passed a bill granting citizenship to over 300,000 of these 'tea estate' Indian Tamils.
What has the language issue in Sri Lanka evolved over the years?
Several Language Acts were proposed and passed but were abandoned later in the history of independent Sri Lanka.
- The Act declared Sinhala as the one official language of Sri Lanka.
- Tamils objected on the following grounds:
- They would be shut out of the lucrative professions and from employment in government service;
- Their language would be threatened; and
- Their culture could also be threatened.
- A peaceful demonstration in Colombo against the Official Language Act was disrupted by Sinhalese supporters; rioting between the Sinhalese and Tamils led to over a hundred deaths in the Eastern Province.
- Some of these other Language Acts include:
- Chelvanayakam-Bandaranaike Pact of 20 July 1957
- Tamil was to be recognised as the 'language of a national minority', and would be the 'language of administration' in the Northern and Eastern provinces.
- Regional Councils would be set up at the provincial level with subordinate lawmaking and taxation powers. The Councils were to be in charge of agriculture, education and selection of settlers in state-sponsored colonisation schemes. The schemes were not to alter the ethnic balance of any province. However, faced with pressure from the Sinhalese, the Agreement was revoked. In August 1957, tension between the Sinhalese and Tamils resulted in rioting. More than 1,000 people died and many more were made homeless.
- The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act No. 28 of 1958
- The Act made provision for enacting regulations to enable the use of Tamil for prescribed administrative purposes in the Northern and Eastern provinces, for official correspondence with the Tamil-speaking public, for education and for the conduct of public examinations. This law was abandoned too, after much protest from the Sinhalese majority.
- The Language of the Courts Act No. 3 of 1961
- It provided for the progressive replacement of English by Sinhalese in all courts of law.
- Public servants appointed since 1956 were required to obtain minimum proficiency in Sinhala to retain their posts.
- New Constitution - 1972
- It declared Sinhala as the official language.
- Regulations made under the Tamil Language Act of 1958 were deemed subordinate legislation.
- Chelvanayakam-Bandaranaike Pact of 20 July 1957
What are the key dates and events in the Sri Lankan conflict?
- 1815: The British became the first European power to win control over the whole island, known as Ceylon. Tamil labourers were brought from southern India to work in tea, coffee and coconut plantations.
- 1972: Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka and Buddhism was made the country's religion, further antagonising the Tamil minority.
- 1976: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed as tensions increased in Tamil-dominated areas of north and east.
- 1983: 13 soldiers were killed in LTTE ambush, sparking anti-Tamil riots and leading to the deaths of an estimated several hundred Tamils. Conflict developed in the north of the island between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE.
- 1987: Government forces pushed the LTTE into the northern city of Jaffna. Government signed peace treaty and reached an agreement with India on the deployment of an Indian peace-keeping force.
- 1990: Indian troops left after getting bogged down in the fighting in the north. Violence between Sri Lankan army and the LTTE escalated.
- 1991: LTTE implicated in the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in southern India.
- 1994: President Kumaratunga came into power pledging to end war. Peace talks opened with LTTE.
- 1996: State of emergency extended across the country after LTTE bombed the capital, Colombo.
- 1999: President Kumaratunga was wounded in a bomb attack at an election rally. She was re-elected as President.
- 2002: Government and Tamil Tiger rebels signed a permanent ceasefire agreement, paving the way for talks to end the long-running conflict. The peace initiative was sponsored by Norway. Decommissioning of weapons began. The road linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka reopened after 12 years. Passenger flights to Jaffna resumed. Government lifted ban on Tamil Tigers - a rebel demand. First round of talks began in Thailand. At peace talks in Norway, the government and rebels agreed to share power. Under the deal, minority Tamils would have autonomy in the mainly Tamilspeaking north and east.
- 2003: Tamil Tigers suspended their participation in peace talks, saying they were being marginalised.
- 2004: Suicide bomb blast in Colombo - the first such incident since 2001 - raised fears for the fragile peace process. More than 30,000 people were killed when massive waves, generated by a powerful undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, devastated coastal communities. Hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes. The government declared a national disaster.
- 2005: A deal was reached with Tamil Tiger rebels to share nearly $3 billion in tsunami aid among Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims. However, the deal was not implemented. A state of emergency was declared after Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is assassinated. The Tamil Tigers were accused of the assassi nation. Tamil Tigers agreed to resume peace talks with the Sri Lankan government, mediated by Norway.
What are the differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism?
Roman Catholicism and Protestantism are two main divisions within Christianity.
The Roman Catholic Church, or Catholic Church, is the largest Christian Church in the world. There are over 1 billion followers of Roman Catholicism worldwide. At the head of the Roman Catholic Church is the Pope. The Pope resides in Rome at the Vatican. It teaches that it is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ for the salvation of all people.
The term 'Protestant' represents a diverse range of theological and social perspectives, denominations, individuals, and related organisations. In a broader sense of the word, 'Protestant' came to be used as the collective name for those individuals and churches who advocated a formal separation from the Roman Catholic Church.
What is the IRA and how has it evolved?
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was founded in 1919 to fight British rule in Ireland. However, the civil war of 1922 to 1923 resulted in its surrender to the British. This did not stop the IRA from recruiting and training members. It continued its violent acts from time to time.
In 1948, the IRA turned its attention to removing British rule from Northern Ireland and fighting for reunion with the Republic of Ireland. It believed that only by doing so would the discrimination against the Catholic minority end. In 1969 it spilt into two groups: the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA (now defunct) because of disagreement over the use of terrorist tactics. The Provisional IRA was more radical while the official IRA disclaimed violence.
In 1994, the Provisional IRA declared an unconditional ceasefire in favour of peace talks. The peace process failed before the talks begun. The parties involved could not come to an agreement as to whether the IRA should disarm before the talks began. There followed a series of bombing incidents which the Provisional IRA claimed responsibility.
In July 1997, the Provisional IRA renewed its ceasefire and Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA) was allowed to join the Northern Ireland peace negotiations. A historic power-sharing accord between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland was announced in April 1998. In May 1998, voters overwhelmingly approved the accord.
However, the Real IRA, a splinter group of the IRA formed after the 1997 ceasefire, opposed the accord and demonstrated their unhappiness in the August 1998 bombing in Omagh, Northern Ireland. The Provisional IRA condemned the bombing.
In July 2005, the Provisional IRA announced an end to its armed campaign. The organisation said it would follow a democratic path ending more than 30 years of violence. It destroyed all its weapons which included a full range of ammunition, rifles, machine guns, mortars, missiles, handguns, explosives, and explosive substances. The decommissioning process was witnessed by a Catholic priest Father Alec Reid and ex-Methodist president Rev Harold Good.
What are the key dates and events in the Northern Ireland conflict?
- 1695: Penal Laws were drawn where Catholics were not allowed to possess weapons and good horses. They were also denied holding public masses. Catholic priests were executed.
- 1801: Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was ruled directly from the British Parliament in London.
- 1916: Easter Rising where 1,200 Irish rebels who demanded independence for Ireland were caught and executed by the British.
- 1921: After much fighting between the rebels and the British Army, the British agreed to give southern Ireland the status of Irish Free State. Six counties in the northern part of Ireland merged to form Northern Ireland and stayed with Britain.
- 1949: Irish Free State became the Republic of Ireland and broke ties with Britain completely.
- 1968: This is the start of a period known as The Troubles in Northern Ireland where the Catholics protested against discrimination. Sectarian violence increased up till mid 1990s.
- 1969: The British Army was sent to Northern Ireland to maintain peace in the province.
- 1972: 'Bloody Sunday': 13 Catholic protesters died after being shot by troops from the British Army following disturbances during a banned civil rights march in Londonderry.
- 1974: The Government set up a power-sharing executive in a bid to include Catholics in the decision making process and end the much resented Protestant domination. Protestant workers all over Northern Ireland went on strike in protest at the power-sharing executive. Direct rule was re-imposed as violence broke out.
- 1975 to 1985: Tension and violent conflict between the Protestants and Catholics continued and IRA terrorist activities escalated and further exacerbated the conflict.
- 1985: The Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by Mrs Thatcher and the Irish Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, setting up a number of cross-border initiatives.
- 1990 to 1992: The peace talk process started.
- 1993 to 1994: The Downing Street Declaration in which the British and Irish Prime Ministers affirmed the importance of Civil Rights in Northern Ireland marked a breakthrough and the IRA called off military action.
- 1999: The peace process was stalled when the IRA refused to disarm and insisted that the IRA would only give up weapons after the new government assembled. Northern Ireland's largest Protestant party demanded disarmament first. Consequently, the new government failed to form on schedule in July 1999, bringing the entire process to a complete halt.
- 2001: Through the first months of 2001, Catholics and Protestants remained at odds, especially over the establishment of a neutral police force in Northern Ireland and IRA disarmament. In early March 2001, the IRA unexpectedly initiated a new round of talks with Northern Ireland's disarmament commission, but no real progress was made.
- 2002 to 2004: Talks to negotiate for power sharing between the Protestants and Catholics were underway but remained unsuccessful.
- 2005: On July 28, the IRA stated that it would unequivocally renounce violence. IRA had ordered all their units to dump arms and to complete the peace process to put its arms beyond use.
