Which town?

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In May, 1991, the Prime Minister of India RG., son of IG., was in turn assassinated during a gathering near Madras. Violence ensued throughout the region, violence that could even erupt within a single family whose members subscribed to enemy parties; strikes and obstructions were ordered; on all sides sensitivities were exacerbated, since it was directly related to the conflict between the inhabitants of Sri Lanka of Tamil origin and the rest of its population. If one failed or refused to follow suit and close down the work-places, one would be exposed to inimical threats – and perhaps lasting rancor. This was one of the first occasions to realize that the community, however international it may be, could nonetheless be made hostage to issues of ethnic, cultural or political solidarity for the people on whose land its destiny is to be played out.

How to respond?

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Physical violence was not alien to the local society. Accounts were often settled in the most brutal fashion, with machetes or, more recently, home- made explosives. Along with the current regional economic growth, the life of the cities was entering the country hearths, through the omnipresent television and the first computers and the pressures on traditional codes of conduct were engendering more and more individual dereliction.

Organized bands started to operate in the area.

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