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<strong>Rutgers</strong> <strong>Model</strong> <strong>United</strong> <strong>Nations</strong> 9<br />
universities for Tamils were decreased and the Sinhalese imposed further discriminatory<br />
laws.<br />
The Sri Lankan government has acted in a way in which they thought was best for<br />
their state, without giving consideration to civilian or foreign nation’s opinions. In April<br />
1987, the government organized Operation Liberation, which was a carpet bombing of<br />
the north and east part of Sri Lanka that is held by the LTTE. 32 The Sri Lankan<br />
government was criticized by foreign leaders for cases of torture, disappearances, and the<br />
killing of civilians, but their response was “they had to defend themselves against the<br />
militants.” 33<br />
The Sri Lankan government maintained the same attitude, to which Hilary<br />
Clinton, Secretary of State for the <strong>United</strong> States, declared, “The Sri Lankan government<br />
knows that the entire world is very disappointed that in its efforts to end what it sees as<br />
25 years of conflict, it is causing such untold suffering.” 34 Clinton was referring to the<br />
high number of civilian causalities that have occurred between the fighting of the two<br />
groups in April of 2009. The <strong>United</strong> States insisted that the government stop fighting<br />
long enough for tens of thousands of civilians to escape the war torn piece of territory,<br />
but the government refused such requests. President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka<br />
made a statement to all Western states saying, “The government is not ready to enter into<br />
any kind of cease-fire with terrorists. It is my duty to protect the people of this country. I<br />
don’t need lectures from Western representatives.” 35<br />
With this attitude, it is clear that the<br />
only interest of the Sri Lankan government in the protection of the Sinhalese majority<br />
because they are doing little to protect the innocent Tamils who are caught in the cross<br />
fires of war.<br />
In February of 2009 when the conflict was drawing to an end, the Sri Lankan<br />
government created plans to create five “welfare villages” to house Tamils who left the<br />
Tamil region of the jungle. The villages are set to have “schools, banks, parks and<br />
32 “History of the Conflict in Sri Lanka,” http://www.pbs.org<br />
33 Ibid.<br />
34 Somini Sengupta, “US Faults Sri Lanka on Civilian Woes,” The New York Times, Aril 23, 2009, Lexis Nexis,<br />
http://www.lexisnexis.com<br />
35 Thomas Fuller, “Sri Lanka Rejects Lectures From Western Countries,” The New York Times, May 1, 2009, Lexis<br />
Nexis, http://www.lexisnexis.com
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