Although the Sinhalese and Tamil ethnic problem is deep-rooted and of longstanding
origins, in the early 1980s, it turned into an armed conflict under the leadership
of Velupillai Prabahakaran, who had formed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam
(LTTE). The military defeat of the LTTE in 2009 did not end the Sri Lankan ethnic
problem. Pro-LTTE Tamils, who have migrated and settled in many parts of the world,
have created many diasporic Tamil organizations to continue their fight for a separate
state. The LTTE uses the actions of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, the
Global Tamil Forum, and the British Tamil Forum indirectly to achieve its political
goal—a Tamil homeland. The Tamil Eelam People’s Assembly as well as ex-combatant
and intelligence groups continue to adhere to radical ideas of a re-emerging LTTE
insurgency. Also, the Tamil diaspora is manipulating the Tamil National Alliance and Sri
Lankan Tamils to achieve its goals. Presently, the UNHCR resolution on alleged war
crimes by the Sri Lankan military is a major issue among the members of the diaspora,
who wish to discredit Sri Lanka’s government and military. Since Sri Lanka’s
independence in 1948, all successive governments have failed to find a solution for the
demands of the Tamils. The government should encourage all ethnic groups to think of
Sri Lanka as one nation for the promotion of peaceful coexistence.