How are diasporas involved in ethnic conflict in their homelands? This paper from the United States Institute of Peace examines the role of diasporas in north India’s Punjab insurgency and Sri Lanka’s Tamil insurgency. Both Sikhs and Tamils have mobilised financial, diplomatic, social and religious support. But while the Sikh diaspora has never developed a sophisticated over-arching structure, the Tamils have created an infrastructure with considerable global scope and strategy.
South Asia has seen numerous ethno- and religious nationalist insurgencies. Many of these movements have had support from ethnic or religious groups now scattered outside their homeland. The Sikh diaspora, like many others, is a product of the colonisation of South Asia, during which people were moved throughout the British Empire. In contrast, the Sri Lankan Tamil disapora was formed when thousands of Tamils fled to Europe, Asia and North America to escape civil war.
- The Sikh diaspora has provided diplomatic and financial support for the Sikh insurgency in the Punjab. It has enabled Pakistan to become more involved in separatist efforts. Sikhs in Canada, the UK and US have arranged cadres to travel to Pakistan.
- Local institutions and cultural practices have been critical to the influence of Sikh diaspora on the Khalistan insurgency. They enable fundraising for humanitarian, political and social causes in the region. Remittances support the local economy and pilgrimages help link the Sikh diaspora with their homeland.
- International meetings and organised groups have helped build support for the Khalistan movement. The Sikh diaspora have also mobilised print and electronic capital to promote the notion of a Sikh homeland as Khalistan.
- The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the most lethal voice of militant Tamil aspirations. Its global network spans over 40 countries, unrivalled by any other insurgent organisation.
- The Tamil diaspora is the economic backbone of the LTTE’s campaign, bringing in large amounts of money through coerced and willing contributions. The LTTE uses its global infrastructure to generate political and diplomatic support within host countries.
- The LTTE have established ideological, financial and technologies links with other insurgent groups. This vast network allows the LTTE and other groups to raise funds in one location, operate from another and fight in yet another.
There are similarities in the ways globally dispersed Sikhs and Tamils have mobilised support. But they differ in the scope of their institutional arrangements. This contrast is relevant to policy.
- Institutions used by Sikhs to support the Khalistan insurgency existed before militancy. The Tamils had assets deliberately designed to aid the struggle back home. Whereas the Sikh diaspora has focused on local institutions, Tamils have participated in activities with wider scope for mobilisation and resource collection.
- Interest in Khalistan has largely waned with the exception of a few strongholds, but Tamils abroad remain engaged in the fate of Tamils at home. The Sikh diaspora has focused on a single event (the Golden Temple assault) while Tamil mobilisation has not been vested in one event or activity.
- Overseas Tamils have insisted they are an insurgent organisation not a terrorist group. After 9-11, they increasingly declined to pay the LTTE citing enhanced surveillance and willingness to prosecute. The influence of the Tamil diaspora has been important in the LTTE’s decision to pursue a political solution (however tenuous).
