Sri Lanka After the Tigers

Sri Lanka on 18 May announced the total annihilation of the Liberation Tigers Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The 26-year armed struggle to carve out a separate nation for the minority Tamil community living on the island nation came to a bloody end with the death of the LTTE’s elusive supremo, Velupillai Prabhakan.

The Tamil Tigers capitulated in the face of the government’s relentless military onslaught. The international community’s effort to stop the military campaign to give respite to civilians caught up in the battle failed to impress Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. He refused to declare a ceasefire and negotiate with the rebels. Instead, he persisted with the offensive, disregarding claims of massive civilian casualties and fears of a bloodbath toward the final stages of the battle.

Indeed, the last few months of fighting has triggered an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the country, which does not have the wherewithal to deal with it. Thousands of Tamil civilians have reportedly been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes in the northern Wanni mainland to seek shelter in government-controlled areas. Almost all of them are now in refugee camps. 

The military victory and the decimation of the LTTE have brought forth many more arduous challenges for Rajapakse. No doubt he has won the hearts and minds of the war-weary majority Sinhala community, but now he has to win the confidence of the Tamils, who live in constant fear of persecution.

The biggest challenge before Rajapaske and his government is to reintegrate the Tamil community into a fractured society. Immediate steps must be taken to give UN agencies and NGOs more access to the displaced Tamil civilians in order to expedite their resettlement.

The government must also put in place confidence-building measures and strengthen communal harmony between the Sinhalese and Tamil in order to end the deep-seated mistrust between the two communities.
 
Riding on the wave of success, Rajapakse now has the opportunity to propose and steer a political solution to redress the grievances of the Tamil community. His popularity and acceptance amongst Sinhalese will make this task much easier and also win him the support of the international community.

The military success has by no means eliminated the root causes of the armed struggle, which must be immediately addressed by political means. In the absence of such an effort, it would be hard to resolve the ethnic conflict. The government should promptly offer a political action plan to assuage the Tamils, who fear that with the elimination of the LTTE their grievances will now be ignored.

While the US and several European nations, including Britain and France, failed miserably in their efforts to stop the military offensive, the international community, especially China and India, can influence the Sri Lankan government to kick-start a political process to resolve the ethnic crisis.

Furthermore, if the government wishes to actually receive the $4.5 billion pledged by the international community for reconstruction, it will have to demonstrate its commitment to finding a real political solution.