Reflections on 16 years since the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War

THE Global Tamil Forum (GTF) joins Tamils worldwide in commemorating the 16th anniversary of the end of the Civil war in Sri Lanka.

- SUREN SURENDIRAN

The final phase of the war is one of the most brutal in recent history, with the estimated deaths of over 40 000 Tamil civilians in the final months alone.

This constitutes only a fraction of the total deaths, destruction and displacement suffered by the Tamil community during its 70-year political struggle for equality and justice in Sri Lanka. Many tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed or made to disappear by the State of Sri Lanka.

We are conscious that death and destruction in Sri Lanka was not limited to the Tamil community alone and it pays tribute to all those who suffered enormously due to the violent ethnic conflict.

It is tragic that 16 years after the end of the war, Sri Lanka is still struggling to come to terms with its past - both in terms of delivering justice to the victims of the war and addressing the root causes that led to the armed conflict.

For the first five years after the war, the victorious government resorted to authoritarian consolidation of power, further weakening the Tamil community with no regard for their trauma or human rights.

The next five years of the “coalition government”, though lessened the fear of the citizens and partially delivered on strengthening key institutions, it too failed in addressing the fundamental grievances of the Tamil community and the much-anticipated Constitutional Reform.