Sri Lankan Civil War Research Articles

The Analytic Hierarchy Process in GIS-Driven Military Operation Base Selection: A Case Study in Sri Lanka

In a military context, the collection, analysis, and use of geographic data can provide leaders with timely and accurate information on which to base decisions. GIS systems are used to store, manipulate, analyze, and manage all types of geodata, and are widely used by many military organizations in military decision making processes (MDMPs). Apart from accuracy, usage of GIS in MDMPs has provided many advantages, becoming a powerful and popular tool in the militaries of developed countries. However, even though GIS is a sophisticated tool in MDMP, the Sri Lankan Army has not employed widespread use of these systems. Tactical operations in which covert movement is paramount to success depend on high quality data and information concerning enemy positions, as was the case in the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009). A case study of base siting using GIS is explored here; in this research we attempt to introduce GIS as a powerful tool in MDMPs in the Sri Lankan military. Sri Lanka is a developing country that suffered from a terrorist war for more than 30 years. All decision making and data gathering was done manually, spending more money and man power that was realistically necessary. This research is focused on providing solid evidence for the use of GIS techniques in MDMPs, which can partially supplant slower, less reliable humanbased decision making processes. In selecting a suitable permanent or temporary military operation base in enemy territory, all parameters need to be evaluated accurately. Injecting logical and statistical data, thus more automated processes into command-level decisions, will minimize errors in MDMPs. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is utilized to structure commander’s perceptions of important selection criteria, and optimal base selection procedures are described.

Historical and Political Background to the Erosion of the Rule of Law and Human Rights During Sri Lanka’s Civil War and the Way Forward

The Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009) is regarded as a violent reflection of deepening divides along political and ethnic lines. During this civil war the Sri Lankan Government and its security forces have been implicated in unlawful killings carried out in a pervasive manner against civilians, whilst at the same time specifically targeting ethnic Tamils, humanitarian workers and journalists. The human rights of all citizens suffered as a result and ultimately led to the weakening of the rule of law. With the end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan Government has made little progress in providing accountability for wartime abuses. Its absence of and reluctance to ensure justice is seen as a logical culmination of decades of impunity. The importance of acknowledging historical behaviour and taking accountability for past violations will be discussed. In an analysis for paving the way to a new democracy in Sri Lanka, the main outcomes of this article are calls for accountability arising out of the government’s actions during the war; an investigation into the present state of human rights, the rule of law and finally; an examination into the political solution going forward to ensure a process of reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.

“Life and Debt”: Assessing the Impacts of Participatory Housing Reconstruction in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka

The Owner Driven Housing Assistance (ODHA) scheme is a donor and government supported initiative to help construct housing for internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to their original areas of residence after the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009. While ODHA is a commendable initiative for rebuilding the lives of those displaced by war, available evidence indicates an increase in household debt among the beneficiaries of such housing schemes and their vulnerability to livelihood insecurities after resettlement. Based on an analysis of the socio-economic status of ODHA beneficiaries in the northern Sri Lankan districts of Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna, this paper concludes that the financing modality of the housing programme has had a catalytic effect on indebtedness among beneficiaries. An inadequate understanding of the social, economic and cultural contexts that define the lives of beneficiaries on the part of donors and implementers appears to be contributing to unintended and negative repercussions of housing assistance. This paper illustrates how post-war participatory development projects such as the ODHA scheme can further exacerbate the vulnerability of war-affected populations, unless donors and policy makers have a holistic understanding of the varying contexts that define the experiences of those receiving development assistance.

Explaining Canadian foreign policy toward Sri Lanka under the Harper government

Canada’s policy toward Sri Lanka underwent a significant shift following the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009. Originally, the Harper government viewed Sri Lanka’s war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through the prism of the global war on terrorism. Canada listed the LTTE as a terrorist group and offered only mild and sporadic criticism of the Sri Lankan government’s human rights record. However, after winning a majority government in 2011, the Harper government has described itself as one of the world’s leading proponents of reform in Sri Lanka and has condemned the government of Sri Lanka in strong terms. This paper examines the Harper government’s foreign policy toward Sri Lanka and argues that electoral politics came to play an increasingly significant role.

Discourses of Victimization in Sri Lanka’s Civil War

This article explores the availability of discourses of victimhood to political actors who aim to justify violence and mass atrocity in the name of those victims. Arguing that the label of the ‘victim’ is equally available for distortion and political capitalization as the label of the ‘criminal’ or the ‘terrorist’, this article reflects on the role of the victim in violence and processes of criminalization. Examining the rhetorical tendencies and strategies of both the state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the Sri Lankan civil war, this article describes how the victim was categorized by both sides. This article argues that these categorizations, which simultaneously draw on respective collective memories of victimization are crucial to the manner in which the state’s purported process of post-war ‘reconciliation’ is created and politicized and how victims are included in such a process. Interrogating the post-war landscape of militarization and repression in the country’s Tamil-dominated Northeast, this article also examines new configurations of Tamil victim discourses and their potential as a tool of political agency.

"Rather Than Talking in Tamil, They Should Be Talking to Tamils": Sri Lankan Tamil Refugee Readiness for Repatriation

Following the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India are being expected to repatriate to their home country. Although voluntary repatriation has long been seen as the most effective and durable response to forced displacement, it can only be carried out by obtaining informed consent from refugees. This study examined Sri Lankan Tamil refugees’ readiness, support, concerns, resources, and strategies for repatriation. We found that participants were appreciative of the Indian Government’s support, but the Sri Lankan Government’s lack of a concrete repatriation plan was concerning. Lack of resources and infrastructure development, and lack of interventions to address intergenerational conflict are the main repatriation challenges identified by participants. Study implications for policy, practice, and research are also discussed. The study recommends an enhanced effort to restore the trust between State and citizens which is vital for a successful implementation of repatriation to Sri Lanka.

The betrayals of neoliberalism in Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy

In this essay I suggest that analysis of the consequences of neoliberalism is central to the representation of Arjie and his family in Shyam Selvadurai's 1994 novel Funny Boy. Not only does an examination of this relatively undiscussed phenomenon reframe our view of the novel’s thematic concerns, it also points to some important ways in which the novel intervenes in discussions in the social sciences about the relationship between neoliberal economic policies and the Sri Lankan civil war. Whereas neoliberal economists have tended to view conflicts around ethnic nationalism, homophobia, and other social forces as unfortunate, incidental factors that thwart economic progress, Selvadurai's novel exposes the complex ways in which economic policy both produces and perpetuates generations of ingrained understandings of individual and group identity.

Militant Buddhism and Post-War Sri Lankan Cinematic Memory Work

Since 2009, several Sinhala films, such as Matha (2012) by Boodee Keerthisena, and Ini Avan (2012) by Asoka Handagama, have revisited the memory of the last phase of the thirty-year Sri Lankan civil war. Using as a touchstone Sarath Weerasekara's Gamani (2011), a film that claims to be based on the “true story” about the LTTE's massacre of a group of Sinhalese villagers, this paper explores the “uses and abuses” of memory (Jelin) in state—sponsored post—war cinema. Through an examination of the film, this paper will show how the Buddhist discourse contributes to a hegemonic memory culture, pushing subaltern testimonies and memories of war into the periphery. It will examine the role of Buddhism, depicted in cinematic memory work, in the project of post-war nation-building in Sri Lanka.

Muslim–Buddhist Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

The end of the civil war in 2009 heralded hope that a new era of peace and inter-ethnic cooperation might be possible in post-war Sri Lanka. This hope now seems, at best, mere wishful thinking, as this article highlights an emerging conflict between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and Sri Lankan Muslims. Through detailed analysis of online social data, argued evidence is provided that Muslim Sri Lankans are now at the receiving end of Islamaphobic rhetoric, even violence, from Sinhala Buddhist nationalist organisations, driven by a belief that the Muslim community represent a threat to Buddhism. The article suggests that Sinhala nationalists have skilfully adopted new internet technologies which have proved effective in their anti-Muslim campaigns. It becomes necessary to conclude that these attacks on Muslim minorities are an extension of pre-existing oppression patterns faced by other minorities residing on the island, particularly Tamils. Indeed, the rhetoric behind these attacks bears a striking resemblance to the type of nationalist discourse found during the Sri Lankan civil war.

Voicing conflict: Moral evaluation and responsibility in a Sri Lankan Muslim family's conversations

This article builds on literature on language and positionality to explore the role of voicing in the way individuals configure social differences. Drawing on research during the last phase of the Sri Lankan civil war, I examine how a Muslim family employs voicing to evaluate other individuals and ethnic groups in a way that pertains to morality and responsibility. I suggest that in an atmosphere of enshrouding fear, responsibility is not only an issue in terms of people's accountability for what they say and do but is also central in the way people situate themselves in relation to others.

Southern invasions: post-war tourism in Sri Lanka

The resumption of civilian mobilities after the Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009) produced new forms of travel, distinct from the military manoeuvres and refugee displacements of the past. Amongst o...

Before and After 1983: The Impact of Theorising Sri Lankan Tamil Migration History around the 1983 Colombo Riots

This paper discusses the material effects of the theorisation of the contemporary Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora around the 1983 Colombo riots. In the complicated aftermath of the end of the Sri Lankan civil war in 2009, it is necessary to rethink the way in which diasporic history has been constructed in order to factor in its multiple dimensions and underlying dynamics. By critically foregrounding the key literature on the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, which is definitive to understanding the history of Sri Lankan Tamil emigration around the 1983 riots, the modern diaspora can be framed anew by longer and more diverse historical perspectives.

Policy Debate | Humanitarian Protection in the Midst of Civil War: Lessons from Sri Lanka

Editor’s note: This paper is a contribution to the ‘Policy Debate’ section of International Development Policy. In this section, academics, policy-makers and practioners engage in a dialogue on global development challenges. Papers are copy-edited but not peer-reviewed. Instead, the initial thematic contribution is followed by critical comments and reactions from scholars and/or policy-makers. Authored by Norah Niland, the initial paper addresses the protection dimension of humanitarian action in the Sri Lankan Civil War. The end phase of this long-standing war and subsequent internment of survivors illustrate the limited capacity of the international relief system to adequately protect civilians. The author argues that the failure of intergovernmental crisis management and the human rights machinery was exacerbated by the relief system’s lack of agency in safeguarding humanitarian space and the protected status of civilians. According to Norah Niland, relief actors largely ignored the instrumentalisation of humanitarianism and the use of sovereignty and Global War on Terror (GWOT) narratives to rationalise the slaughter of thousands. The lack of accountability for and reflection on the humanitarian operation in Sri Lanka will likely complicate future relief efforts and add to the suffering of civilians in other crisis settings. The paper is followed by critical comments by Sir John Holmes, Former UN Under-Secretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Miriam Bradley, Postdoctoral Researcher, Programme for the Study of International Governance, the Graduate Institute, Geneva.This debate can be pursued on the eJournal’s blog http://devpol.hypotheses.org/69Download the full debate in .pdf

Historical and Cultural Roots in Anil's Ghost

Michael Ondaatje’s Anil's Ghost narrates the forgotten history and cultural root of those who were massacred in the mindless violence of Sri Lankan Civil War, particularly the common and downtrodden people. Presenting the central character, Anil, beyond the mainstream culture, political and social scenarios, Ondaatje confirms his affinity to the unprivileged people. The pain agony of war victims is clearly examined through the reconstruction of skeletons. The suppressed and unidentified past comes into existence which is the best way to renovate native history within the literary text. Ondaatje historicizes those people who exist on the margin of canonical history. With this novel, he gives voice to those who were unheard in the official history, records them in art and literature as Sri Lankan artist, Anand reconstructs statue of Buddha. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/researcher.v1i1.8370 Researcher: A Research Journal of Culture and Society Vol.1(1) 2013

Black Tigers, Bronze Lotus: The Evolution and Dynamics of Sri Lanka's Strategies of Dirty War

Although much has been written on the Sri Lankan state's civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), less has been said about how the conflict's dynamics evolved. How did the parties come to utilize the methods they did? Why did the war become so brutal, characterized by a predisposition toward extreme violence on both sides? Using the typology of “dirty war,” this investigation seeks to address such questions, demonstrating how the strategic choices of the main belligerents shaped the conflict. The analysis shows that while the conflict emerged out of deep-rooted social and ethnic divisions, these factors do not account for how the war came to be defined so comprehensively by the methods of dirty war. It finds that dirty war developed from a sporadic tactic to advance political goals to dominant military practice by a reciprocal process of escalation that eventually internalized dirty war as the accepted mode of strategic communication.

Courses of Conflict: Transmission of Knowledge and War's History in Eastern Sri Lanka

After three decades of armed confrontations, the Sri Lankan civil war ended in May 2009 with the military defeat of the liberation tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). To sustain the war for so long, mechanisms of knowledge reproduction were used legitimizing violence and assuring the conflict's transmission across the generations involved in it. Drawing on ongoing fieldwork in the island's Eastern Province, this article addresses the processes through which Sri Lanka's war-history has been taught and learnt, empirically linking the multiple sites of knowledge transfer. It suggests a trajectory moving from the institutional (policy and textbooks) to the defiant (specific schools and armed movements) spaces of transmission, while comparing the attitudes, memories of violence and transmission strategies of educators, students and former combatants. The data are embedded within the broader discussions on social change and the cultural reproduction of war, a process illustrated with the help of a new concept: semantic alliances.

The Dead That Haunt Anil's Ghost: Subaltern Difference and Postcolonial Melancholia

Anil's Ghost, Michael Ondaatje's haunting novel about the Sri Lankan civil war, probes paradoxes that arise in postcolonial fictional representations of transnational violence. What is conveyed by novels of war and genocide that cast the whole of a decolonial territory as a “deathworld”? The prism of death in Anil's Ghost requires readers of this text to relinquish settled notions of how we as humans understand our finitude and our entanglements with the deaths of others. Postcolonial fictions of violence conjoin historical circumstance with phantasmatic expressions to raise important questions about mourning, collective agency, and the subalternity of postcolonial societies. Advancing a theory about “postcolonial crypts” in fiction, I argue that postcolonial fictions' attention to violence transforms notions about the value of human life appraised through a dominant human rights framework.

Accountability and the Sri Lankan Civil War

Sri Lanka's civil war came to a bloody end in May 2009, with the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by Sri Lanka's armed forces on a small strip of land in the island's northeast. The conflict, the product of long-standing tensions between Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils over the latter's rights and place in society, had begun in the mid-1980s and ebbed and flowed for some twenty-five years, leading to seventy to eighty thousand deaths on both sides. Government repression of Tamil aspirations was matched with ruthless LTTE tactics, including suicide bombings of civilian targets; and for many years the LTTE controlled large parts of northern and eastern Sri Lanka.

The Consequences of Failed Mediation in Civil Wars: Assessing the Sri Lankan Case

While mediation efforts in violent conflicts often fail, the academic literature on mediation has long ignored both this phenomenon and its consequences. This paper aims to fill this significant knowledge gap by examining the conditions under which the failure of mediation leads to an escalation of civil war. Based on the literature on bargaining, we argue that the degree of negotiability of the conflict parties’ strategic objectives, as well as the relative weight of hardliners and moderates within those conflict parties, influence the likelihood of escalation after mediation failure. A plausibility test carried out for Norway’s failed mediation in the Sri Lankan civil war confirms the usefulness of our model. In particular, the suspension of negotiations in April 2003 led to a shift towards less negotiable strategic objectives for both conflict parties and to a strengthening of hardliners within the government. This contributed to the escalation of the conflict, up to its eventual termination in May 2009.

Creating a solid foundation for peace: Writing of the lost life in Michael Ondaatje’s Handwriting

While it invites deep and sustained attention, Michael Ondaatje’s Handwriting has seldom been studied, since its publication in 1998, for the author’s concern with peace, even though this collection of poems highlights peace and war. I will argue that in Handwriting, Ondaatje proposes ways to achieve internal and external peace that are not only relevant to the Sri Lankan civil war but also to the wider contemporary world. In Handwriting, Ondaatje presents a narrator who returns to Sri Lanka because of a sense of dislocation, and who writes to understand the cause of ethnic violence and reconstruct the Sri Lankan past that was lost during the civil war. In doing this, Ondaatje shows a possibility of peace for Sri Lanka and his readers. People in conflict can be united when they are less obsessed with their different identities, recognize their shared desire for peace, respect one another’s differences, and work together to create a shared memory that does not homogenize and is open to new elements from other cultures. As the narrator investigates this situation by writing creatively about Sri Lankan people, his example also demonstrates a way to achieve mutual understanding by artistically constructing a shared memory. Alain Badiou’s views about events constitute the major theoretical framework of the present study.