Sri Lanka has been troubled by civil war since 1983. In '83, a group of young men who belonged to the minority ethnic group, the Tamils , took it upon themselves to form a guerilla organization, calling themselves the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil minority has claimed oppression by the Singhalese majority for many decades, but only with the advent of the Tigers did that unhappiness manifest itself in violence. Over the decade since, the Indian government has intervened, helped calm things down, and overstayed their welcome. At the present time, fighting still goes on in the north, where the guerillas are entrenched, but the central and southern lands have started to return somewhat to normal.
Peace talks continue sporadically.
If you've gotten the impression that I'm not pleased by this war, you're right. Whatever the political problems that led to the fighting, I believe that it would have been far more productive to keep the protests non-violent. Surely Sri Lanka could have learned something from the example of India's Gandhi. The war is a waste of resources and a cause of destruction in what was once one of the most progressive, most accomplished, and in my opinion, most beautiful third world countries. It's a country reknowned for its gemstones, its climate, its tea plantations, and it progressiveness.