In the eighties, Sri Lanka, once considered the 'model' colony, was torn apart by ethnic strife between the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalas, constituting almost three-quarters of the island's inhabitants, and the numerically fewer Tamils, who were a mix of Hindus, Christians and Muslims. Massacres occurred after the riots of May 1983, and over time about 1,25,000 Tamils entered India as refugees, fleeing from a virtual civil war which still afflicts the north of ...
