Claiming the State: Postwar Reconciliation in Sri Lanka
Sharika Thiranagama Claiming the State: Postwar Reconciliation in Sri Lanka The Sri Lankan civil war ended in May with the defeat of the Tamil guerilla group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan state. The LTTE, also known as the ‘‘Tigers,’’ was one of the world’s most successful guerilla forces, famous for its extensive army, navy, and notorious suicide squads. At the time of its defeat, the LTTE had maintained a quasi-state over nearly a third of the island. The military campaign to eliminate the LTTE begun in represented a new ‘‘no holds barred’’ strategy after three failed peace talks (, , and ). From January onward the Sri Lankan army pushed the LTTE from its strongholds into an ever-shrinking northeastern coastal strip. The LTTE covered its retreat by forcing thousands of civilians to march with it. The last months saw , civilians under constant aerial bombardment from the Sri Lankan army, forcibly recruited and prevented (by being shot) from fleeing to government-controlled areas by the LTTE.1 The state in its turn bombed hospitals and areas it had declared no-fire zones, and it allegedly used illegal cluster bombs.2 Despite controversies about these policies, the state insisted that it was operating a zero-casualty policy and was mounting a ‘‘human- itarian rescue’’ of Tamils from the LTTE.3 As the campaign proceeded, thousands of diasporic Sri Lankan Tamils began highly visible protests in London, Paris, Toronto, Ottawa, New York, and Melbourne against state bombardment. The last battles were highly public,
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