Military security zones double as demographic colonization of contested Tamil land
Evidence
The nationalists also know that the LTTE’s quest for eelam would be dealt a major setback if the Eastern Province were administratively demerged from the Northern Province and if the Sinhalese were to become the largest ethnic group in the east. Prior to the civil war some nationalists, such as the Buddhist monk Madihe Pannaseeha, even demanded that the government deploy permanent military detachments to ensure Sinhalese colonized the Northern Province as well (Pannaseeha 1979: 16–18). The government has managed to realize these aspirations through the so-called High Security Zones (HSZs) that the military has set up throughout the northeast: many encompass some of the best real estate and most fertile land in the region. Significantly, in almost all cases the military has refused to allow displaced Tamils to return to these HSZ areas even after fighting has ceased. Also notable, many Tamils relate the HSZs to governmentsponsored colonization and believe they will not be allowed to resettle these areas even after the civil war ends. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 272
Categorization
- QUESTION: HSZs justified as security but denying Tamil return even after fighting ceased — does this show the war served demographic restructuring rather than strictly defeating the LTTE?
- XREF: connects to: Sinhalese nationalists engineered demographic consolidation of Tamil regions through state land seizure.; State-engineered colonization has radically altered Sri Lanka’s eastern ethnic demographics — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 271; Nationalists pursue war to deliberately displace Tamils and boost Sinhalese dominance — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 278 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Sinhalese nationalists engineered demographic consolidation of Tamil regions through state land seizure.
#corroborates(0.85) - State-engineered colonization has radically altered Sri Lanka’s eastern ethnic demographics
#corroborates(0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 271 - Nationalists pursue war to deliberately displace Tamils and boost Sinhalese dominance
#expands(0.75) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 278 - State expulsion and ethnic conflict raised the Sinhalese share of Sri Lanka’s population.
#corroborates(0.72) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 277