My Interest In Politics In The Srilankan Civil War

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I was not interested in politics for most of my life or that was what I thought up until the year 2007. Previously my views and conceptions of politics were often based on a restricted understanding of the subject and the lack of trust in politicians. I perceived it to be irrelevant to my life because then I had other priorities such as sports, exams, and other school related activities, hence I became alienated from politics. As I grew older, my interest in political affairs was realized at school. It was mainly in the year 2007 when the Srilankan government was taking high measures to eradicate the terrorism in the country.

The Srilankan Civil War was an ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils in the Island. The Tamils in North and East of the Island fought to create an independent Tamil state. It was one of the longest running civil war for nearly three decades which eventually ended in May 2009 after a yearlong fierce battle. What triggered my political interest during the civil war was the curiosity of how a minority group could stir the entire nation with fear of being attacked. LTTE upholds (ethnic) nationalism as “religious, ethnic and linguistic divisions played a significant role in conflict” (Mushtaq 2012 ). As further stated in Women and Political Violence, “LTTE ideology soon made the transition to pure Tamil nationalism in its own use
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The government could have won the war but it failed many people. These events encouraged me to speak up for the rights of the people who were suffering. But, unfortunately being born as a girl into an orthodox Muslim family restricted me from speaking out aloud. My parents were afraid of my political attitude and qualities hence stopped me from pursuing my tertiary education in

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