Sri Lanka’s Larger Tragedy

A resumption of fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels since the beginning of the new year has claimed over a hundred lives. Most of those killed are Tamil insurgents, according to government officials in Colombo. There is little doubt that innocent civilians on both sides of Sinhala-Tamil divide are paying a heavy price.
The ceasefire the Norwegians had brokered in 2002 raised much hope in the country and the wider South Asian region. The Sri Lankan conflict was one of the most brutal in the region, driven by the fault lines of geography, ethnicity and religion.
A quarter century of relentless fighting claimed some 70,000 lives. Hundreds of thousands lose their homes and livelihoods. Those fortunate enough to have a home lack essential infrastructure such as clean water, electricity, and roads.
The human rights situation across the island nation has worsened. Unlawful killings by government agents and unknown perpetrators continue. Paramilitary forces with ties to the government as well as the rebels continue politically motivated killings. The Tamil Tigers carry out political murders and suicide attacks and subject Sri Lankan citizens to such abuses as torture and the forcible recruitment of child soldiers. This has hardened sentiments on both sides. These realities do not always make international headlines because the narrative does not lend itself to an easy nut graph.
The truce was all but dead a couple of years ago, as both sides traded accusations and questioned the neutrality of the Norwegians. Thousands, mostly civilians, continued to die as the fiction of the peace process persisted.
Frustrated, the Sri Lankan government announced earlier this month that it was pulling out of the ceasefire. In such a scenario, it would be futile to single out to blame one party. All parties to the conflict have the onus of protecting the rights of all of Sri Lanka’s people. They must work toward the goal of a just political solution that ensures the rights of minority communities and benefits all Sri Lankans.
But they must be allowed to determine their future without outside interference. Decades of unwarranted interference from India has nudged influential sections in Colombo closer to China. With regional heavyweights vying for influence, the conflict is likely to grow worse in the near term.