Discrimination and Social Exclusion of Youth in Sri Lanka
201
goal of eliminating constraints to human dignity and oppressive processes that deny people the right to develop their full potential (Marks 2005). However, the translation of these theoretical shifts into development policy and program interventions has sometimes been at the cost of isolating particular groups for interventions, while ignoring the complex systemic and historical sources of discrimination.
Youth “Problems” In Sri Lanka the problems of youth are inextricably bound up in violent conflict, which has led to perceptions that youth are the problem. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a political movement that led the antistate insurgencies in the south in 1971 and 1989, and the militant groups—mainly the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the north and east that have been fighting for a separate state—were mainly made up of young people. As a result, youth, especially educated but nonwesternized youth from poor families in rural areas, are perceived by politicians, policymakers, and development practitioners as being frustrated and angry at their inability to find work and fit into the larger society and thus as being “ripe” for violence. The identification of youth as a vulnerable group has taken on special significance because if an inherent characteristic of frustrated youth is the potential for violence or revolt, then neglecting the needs of youth can be seen as a possible danger for social cohesion and order. Generally the government has responded to youth unrest in one of two somewhat contradictory ways: brutal state repression to quell actual violence (leading to the killing, torture, and “disappearance” of perhaps 100,000 or more youth, if both the JVP rebellions and the LTTE conflicts are taken into account); or policy attempts to manage youth anger and frustration by setting up special programs targeting young people, be it in the form of employment creation, cultural and sports activities, or poverty alleviation schemes. Very rarely have policies and development interventions actually acknowledged that the anger felt by youth may be legitimate, based on very real experiences of injustice and discrimination. Nor has there been much acknowledgment that many of the factors underlying the anger and frustration among youth stem from serious flaws in economic and social policies and programs, particularly those directed toward marginalized, outcast, and underprivileged groups. One early recognition of these underlying problems came from the Presidential Commission on Youth, set up in 1990 by then-president