33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

SRI LANKA United Liberation Front, the main political party of that community, for an independent Tamil state comprising the northern and eastern provinces. This demand grew increasingly militant and eventually evolved into a separatist war featured by acts of terrorism. The violence to which the Tamils living in Sinhalese-majority areas were subjected in 1983 contributed to this escalation of the conflict. The secessionist demand itself has met with opposition from the other ethnic groups 9 . After more than 25 years of violence, the conflict ended in May 2009, when the government forces seized the last area controlled by Tamil Tiger rebels. But recriminations over abuses by both sides continue 10 . CULTURAL TRADITIONS: Sri Lanka is culturally diverse. Religion plays a role in many aspects of life and creates a basic element of this diversity. Buddhist and Hindu temples, as well as mosques and churches, are the most readily visible features of the cultural landscape. Varying degrees of colonial impact, modernising influences, and wealth and income also add to the cultural diversity. Even though the ideal of social equality is widely diffused in contemporary Sri Lanka, caste 11 and class, as well as gender and ethnicity, continues to be very important within society. Class is determined by attributes such as wealth and education, while caste is determined by birth into a predetermined status hierarchy, typically understood as a matter of reward or retribution for one's deeds in previous lives. The importance and legitimacy of caste continues to be undermined by political and economic developments. Class differentiation, on the other hand, is increasing both in day-to-day social interaction and manifestations of disparities. Traditionally, caste identity was extensively marked by ritual roles and occupations, names of individuals and places, networks of social relations, and regulations of dress and housing. Degrees of difference within the caste hierarchy were also marked by forms of 9 https://www.britannica.com/place/Sri-Lanka/Plant-and-animal-life#toc24280 1 0 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11999611 11 Each of the hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by relative degrees of ritual purity or pollution and of social status.