Mask of Vaikuntha Vishnu, late 5th century. Learn more about 5th century masks
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Violent conflict from 1983 to 2009 between the Sinhala-majority Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant faction fighting for an autonomous Tamil state comprising the Tamil majority regions of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. It began following the Black July anti-Tamil pogroms of 1983 and came to an end after the assassination of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in May 2009. It saw approximately 1,00,000 civilian casualties; large-scale displacement of the population; and multiple instances of public massacres, enforced disappearances and torture.