The Voice of the Vanni Tamil women for Peace Wasala Mudiayanselage Shakila Aruni Samarakoon Supervisor Raghild Madland This master’s thesis is carried out as a part of the education at the University of Agder and is therefore approved as a part of this education. However, this does not imply that the University answers for the methods that are used or the conclusions that are drawn. University of Agder, 2016 Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Global Development and Planning 1 Abstract The civil war in Sri Lanka came to an end in 2009, costing more than 40,000 civilian lives and resulting in major destruction of private and public property. At the end of the civil war the government of Sri Lanka promised peace through passing of amendments to the constitution, initiating reforms to institutions and ensuring human rights and freedom for civilians. The government’s promise of peace has become subject to the criticism of ethnic politics. While assuring peace through constitutional and institutional reforms and human rights and freedom for civilians, the government has promoted victors’ peace by celebrating the military victory over the LTTE and maintaining the military bases in the North and the Eastern regions. The contemporary peace in Sri Lanka has been questioned in the research, examining the narratives of the Vanni women. This research aims to produce a new knowledge of feminist perspective on peace analysing a dualistic situation of the reality and the imagination of peace in the voice of Vanni women. In addition, the research is intended to understand the gender lines in the feminist discourse of peace. How has peace been perceived by the war affected Vanni Tamil women in Sri Lanka after 2009? What are the constraints on peace in the narratives of the Vanni Tamil women? The research has collected primary data in the villages Mullativu and Killinochchi in the area called the Vanni area. The empirical data has been collected fromthirty-nine Vanni Tamil women, four civil organizations in Kilinochchi and one in Jaffna, five Tamil intellectuals in Jaffna. Additionally empirical data has been collected through four focus group discussions. Semi-structured interview guidelines have been used when conducting interviews. The research is based on qualitative data and the narrative analysis has been utilized in constructing the argument synthesizing empirical and theoretical data. Key Words: Civil war, Feminism, Peace, Vanni Tamils and Violene 2 Acknowledgement Firstly, I would like to thank to professor. Ragnhild Madland, the assistant professor of the Department of Global Development and Planning, at the University of Agder, Norway. She has consistently allowed me to bring out my own argument throughout the paper but, steered me in the right direction at the point she thought I needed it. Beside my advisor, I would like to thank professor. Christian Webersik, professor. Arne Olav Oyhus, professor.Sven Ake and professor. Hanne Haaland (the head) and Dr, Michael Hertzberg to their immense support in refining my thesis and in collecting my empirical data. I also want to thank professor. Kristian Stokke of the University of Oslo and professor. Jayadeva Uyangoda of the University of Colombo for their insightful comments and critical thoughts which encourage me rethink my research perspectives. My special thanks go to Arularasi Arulanatham, Raj Vinoth,, Vivekanathan Niranjan, Saminathan Vimal, professor. Shanmugalingam, Maheswaran Prapaharan, Care International-Killinochchi, Bingum Menka , Manoj Rathnayake , the Caritas in Jaffna, Anglican communion in Killinochchi and Mullativu and the Bishop and Pastors in church Jaffna and the Pastor of the Church Mankullam. I could not have imagined collecting data without your support. I would also like to thank Amali Chaturishika, Mala, Suba, Boni, Sathi and Vassiharan to cooperate with in data collection and interpreting the language from Tamil to English. I thank Kalyani and Nilakanthi to taking care of me as their own daughter while I was staying in Kilinochchi. Special thank goes thanks to the Vanni women who gave me time and opened their hearts for me sharing their narratives. I sincerely thank to professor. Danny Atapattu and Dr. B.M. Sumanarathena who have provided me an opportunity to study in Norway. I thank to Dr. Amila Hewarathne, Jannik Stolen Timeness and Siv Iren Kolstand for their encouragement to continue my studies in Norway. I extend my gratitude to Hilde Myra, the language editor of the thesis. I would like to express my special appreciation and thank to my colleague Renuka Priyantha and to my Norwegian friends, Torbjorn Larsen, Evan Hogberg, Bjorg Vegge and Eva Hauan Grindland for their support and prayer to sustain my work. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents, Kusum and Samarakoon and my aunt, Wasanthi Menike and my African , Norwegian , Asian friends for supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. 3 Dedication I dedicate this work to pay the tribute to the men and women died in the Sri Lankan civil war. 4 Declaration by Candidate I, Wasala Mudiyanselage Shakila Aruni Samarakoon, hereby declare that the thesis “Voice of Vanni Tamil Women for Peace” has not been submitted to any other type of academic degree in other Universities than the University of Agder, Norway. Aruni Samarakoon 01/06/2016 5 Table of Content Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................................... 3 Dedication ............................................................................................................................................... 4 Declaration by Candidate ........................................................................................................................ 5 List of Maps .......................................................................................................................................... 10 List of Pictures....................................................................................................................................... 10 List of Figures ....................................................................................................................................... 10 List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... 11 Abbreviations and Acronyms ................................................................................................................ 11 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………………...13 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 13 1.2. A Feminist Perspective .......................................................................................................... 14 1.3. Synergy of Feminism and Peace ........................................................................................... 15 1.4. Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 17 1.4.1. Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 17 1.5. Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 18 1.6. Significance of the Study....................................................................................................... 18 1.7. Rational of Selecting the Vanni Tamil Women..................................................................... 19 1.7.1. Self-Reflexive ................................................................................................................ 19 1.8. Thesis Outline ........................................................................................................................ 20 Chapter Two: Research and Contextual Background........................................................................... 22 2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 22 2.1. Lessons Learned From the Peace Building in Sri Lanka ............................................................ 22 2.2. The Vanni Area .......................................................................................................................... 23 2.2.1. The Vanni History ................................................................................................................... 24 2.2.2. Demographic, Economic and Political Factors of the Vanni area ....................................... 25 2.3.The Story of the Vanni Women................................................................................................... 27 2.3.1. Internally Displaced Women ............................................................................................... 28 2.3.2. War Widows .......................................................................................................................