Post-War Sri Lanka Still Lagging on Reconciliation
“The Sri Lankan Government held the delayed celebrations of the one year anniversary of the war victory last week. The celebrations, coming during a week of high powered visitors from the U.N., U.S. and Japan, was marked by the absence of any serious move towards political reconciliation,” says Asia Society Associate Fellow Ahilan Kadirgamar. “The Lessons Learnt Reconciliation Commission appointed recently by the president does not hold much promise given the track record of recent commissions in the country, its narrow mandate and lack of public accountability. The country continues on a path of polarization where there have been few initiatives to bring together the various ethnic communities or for that matter political proposals to address the longstanding grievances of the minorities. While the government’s solution to the political problems seems to be one of a singular emphasis on reconstruction and development, the details of the government’s plans for Northern development -- --- or ‘Northern Spring’ -- continue to be unpublished and are for the most part under a cloud of secrecy. One year after the war, Sri Lanka still needs to change course if it is to rebuild an inclusive and plural society.”
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