Governance by Perpetual Conflict: How Early Colonial Political Practices Undermine Democracy in Post-Civil War Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-184
Author(s):  
Binendri Perera
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Similar Form ◽  
Early Colonial ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
Post War

Abstract The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established a semi-presidential system within the country with constitutional provisions for a powerful executive presidency. Three decades later, practices of the presidents in the post-war period show commonalities with the Sinhala monarchy that prevailed in early colonial Sri Lanka. To substantiate this argument, this paper focuses on four kings from the Sithavaka and Kandyan kingdoms who reigned in Sri Lanka during the Portuguese colonization and the early years of Dutch colonization, i.e. from 1521 to 1687. These kings governed by feeding off perpetual conflict, using such as a political tool to retain their dictatorial authority and political relevance. Despite being formally constrained by the 1978 Constitution, presidents in the post-war period engage in a similar form of governance. However, this local conceptualization of the executive as a monarch clashes with the substantive democratic rationality of the office of president, which requires constitutional and political checks that apply beyond elections. Due to this clash between governance by perpetual conflict, which gains legitimacy from and has been instituted since Sri Lanka’s early colonial past, and democratic governance, the establishment of democratic constitutional norms within the country has been unstable.

scholarly journals Beyond Personal Empathy: Perceiving Inclusive Empathy as Socially Shared Predicts Support for Transitional Justice Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Penić ◽  
Daniel Dukes ◽  
Guy Elcheroth ◽  
Sumedha Jayakody ◽  
David Sander
Keyword(s):  
Conflict Resolution ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Probability Sample ◽  
Post War

AbstractIn countries emerging from civil war, inclusive empathy is important for conflict resolution yet may be difficult to promote. Widening the predominant focus on personal inclusive empathy for conflict resolution, we examine whether support for transitional justice mechanisms (TJ) can be predicted by how much an individual perceives inclusive empathy as being shared in their local communities. Our results, based on a probability sample survey in post-war Sri Lanka (N = 580), reveal that the effects of this perceived communal inclusive empathy can be distinguished from those of personally experienced inclusive empathy, and that the more respondents perceive inclusive empathy as prevalent in their communities, the more they support TJ mechanisms. However, the results also indicate the contextual limits of perceived communal inclusive empathy as a resource for conflict resolution: participants tend to underestimate the prevalence of inclusive empathy, especially in militarized minority communities, and the more they underestimate it, the less they support TJ mechanisms. This study corroborates the importance of social influence in conflict resolution, suggesting that perception of inclusive empathy as shared in one’s community is a key determinant of popular support for conflict-transforming policies.

scholarly journals Situation Analysis of Nation Building Efforts in Sri Lanka: From Early Years of Independence to Contemporary Days

2021 ◽  
Vol 01 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Kamran Fiaz
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
National Unity ◽  
National Integration ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Displaced Populations

Despite the smooth transition of power from the British colonists to the Sri Lankan Sinhalese in 1949, Sri Lanka inherited considerable challenges. There has been conflict between the Sinhalese and the Tamils post-independence which led to a long and brutal civil war from 1983 to 2009. After the culmination of the civil war, Sri Lanka confronted numerous obstacles in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country. Drawing from Birch’s model of national integration, this study attempts to examine the diverse political, economic, and social challenges facing Sri Lanka. The review shows that Sri Lanka needs critical nation building in the following areas: (i) Infrastructural development, (ii) Resettlements and rehabilitation of displaced populations (iii) Ethnic and religious integration, (iv) Equality in political representation, (v) Educational and employment policies, (vi) Gender equality policies, and (vii) mental health interventions for children and women. The role of international bodies, like the United Nations Human Rights Council, and neighboring countries is key to creating pressure for national integration and growth. There is fear that if national unity is not at the forefront of state and international policy for Sri Lanka, conflict and instability may arise again.

scholarly journals Women, Civil War and Struggle for Survival: A Study of Tamil Women in Ampara District of Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Athula Withanawasam
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Public Assistance ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Male Partners ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Tamil Women

Even though the civil war in Sri Lanka officially ended in 2009, the hardship created by war is long-lasting and will take years to reconcile. This research is about the impact of war politics on women of Tamil community in the Ampara district of Sri Lanka during the period of armed conflict. The findings of this study reveal that the girls of the Tamil community were forcefully recruited to join the Tamil militant groups. Hence, parents found the only way to rescue their children and to assure their existence was to arrange teenage marriages. Most of those marriages were not legally registered. This paved the way for the male partners to abandon their spouses, often with children. The women whose children were forcefully recruited to militant forces and whose life was lost in the battle filed were given the dignity of ‘Veera Thai’ (Heroine Mother) with an allowance as gratitude for bearing such a war hero. However, it was revealed the title itself had resulted in many types of hardships. The government also deliberately denied any public assistance to those families. The study has found that the women in the numerically weakest groups during war time, irrespective of age difference, had undergone many and varied hardship. The study further has identified that the hardship experienced by these women continued even in the post-civil war context. Therefore, the study urges that these types of hardship faced by women in the post-war context need to be handled with political sensitivity to the equity and justice for women.

“New patriotism” in post-war Sri Lanka and the revival of the Walauva as a site of power in contemporary Sri Lankan English fiction

2021 ◽  
pp. 002198942110591
Author(s):  
Vihanga Perera
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Literary Canon ◽  
Patriarchal System ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
Primary Reference ◽  
Post War ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
A Site

An emerging body of fiction by contemporary English novelists in Sri Lanka during the immediate post-civil war decade (2010–2020) indicates a renewed interest in the feudal grand house (the walauva) as a site of power. Often described in romantic terms and presented from positions of entitlement, in its renewed form, the walauva is constructed as a benevolent patriarchal system in which class superiors and servants share cordial and meaningful relationships. With primary reference to Nayomi Munaweera’s “What Lies Between Us”, Madhubhashini Ratnayake’s “There is Something I Have to Tell You” and Charulatha Thewarathanthri’s “Stories”, I place this emergent romanticized impression of the feudal grand house within the centralist power agenda of majoritarian populism prevalent in post-civil war Sri Lanka: a mass consciousness engineered by Sinhalese nationalist political fronts postwar, which historian Nira Wickramasinghe terms Sri Lanka’s ‘new patriotism’. While appreciating the contemporary writer’s imagination as being shaped by demands of ‘new patriotism’ the article identifies a deviation of her reading from the representations of the walauva as a site of power by Sri Lanka’s English literary canon from the 1950s to the mid-1990s.

scholarly journals Post-War Conflict in Sri Lanka: Violence against Sri Lankan Muslims and Buddhist Hegemony

2015 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 109-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.M. Aliff
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Post War

Following the end of the thirty years old civil war in Sri Lanka, there were expectations that the post‐war period would usher in peace, development and reconciliation. The last four years have witnessed several positive developments including resettlement of people and rehabilitation of infrastructure. Nonetheless there are range of problems and policy gaps that have hindered the transition from war to sustainable peace. A key post-war challenge is that of violence against religious sites and members of religious communities. More recently, from last year, there has been an unprecedented level of violent attacks, demonstrations and hate speech targeting Sri Lanka’s Muslim population. It noted a ‘sharp uptick’ in religiously-motivated violence and said the authorities are ‘passively and sometimes actively’ condoning extremist Buddhist groups, Mainly perpetrated by Buddhist-fascist fundamentalist groups, such as the ‘Bodu Bala Sena’ or ‘Buddhist power force’ and the Hela Urmaya or Sinhala Heritage Party are the main groups behind these targeting of Muslims.The events have left the country’s second largest minority community - the Muslims feeling afraid and vulnerable which forcing a concerted campaign against them. In addition to attacks on places of religious worship there are calls to boycott Muslim shops and establishments, all of which is increasing tensions, particularly in areas where Muslims and Sinhalese live close to each other. These were virtually programmed by some prominent and influential personalities in governing circles, besides others who had a vested interest in seeing Sri Lanka imploding amid heightening ‘communal tensions.’On this context, this study focuses on the recent incident of violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka. The primary objective of this study is to examine the motive for violence against Muslims as well as impact of the violence. The fundamental questions of this research are the following: why does post-war violence and hate propaganda arise against Muslim in Sri Lanka? In which ways the violence against minorities, particularly Muslims impact on reconciliation process? And why does Buddhist nationalist hegemony arise soon after civil war in Sri Lanka? This study is based on an interpretive approach. The data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. In addition to primary sources, qualitative interviews were conducted with selected specialist on this particular research area. I conclude that after end of war against LTTE by government of Sri Lanka, religious tension has been increased in the recent past and the government’s reluctance even to take firm action against to perpetrators which would be helpful in restoring the rule of law and security of Sri Lankan minorities has been a big hurdle in the post-conflict situation and government are perceived to serve only the Buddhist side and to marginalize those holding legitimate grievances.

scholarly journals Sri Lanka: Human Rights in the Context of Civil War

Refuge ◽  
1999 ◽  
pp. 4-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudhramoorthy Cheran
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Conflict Zone ◽  
International Attention

Violations of human rights in Sri Lanka have been fairly well documented. Unfortunately, the conflict in Sri Lanka, despite its intensity, has not attracted appropriate international attention. This article is a review of the current human rights situation in Sri Lanka in the context of civil war. The article also evaluates the prospects for peace building amidst heightening ethnic tensions, emergency regulations, and the lack of democratic governance in the southern part a region which is outside the conflict zone.

Anti-Jewish Incidents in the Lublin Region in the Early Years after World War II

2008 ◽  
pp. 177-205
Author(s):  
Adam Kopciowski
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Jewish Population ◽  
Jewish Life ◽  
Early Years ◽  
World War ◽  
Political Condition ◽  
Ritual Murder ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Post War ◽  
Anti Jewish

In the early years following World War II, the Lublin region was one of the most important centres of Jewish life. At the same time, during 1944-1946 it was the scene of anti-Jewish incidents: from anti-Semitic propaganda, accusation of ritual murder, economic boycott, to cases of individual or collective murder. The wave of anti-Jewish that lasted until autumn of 1946 resulted in a lengthy and, no doubt incomplete, list of 118 murdered Jews. Escalating anti-Jewish violence in the immediate post-war years was one of the main factors, albeit not the only one, to affect the demography (mass emigration) and the socio-political condition of the Jewish population in the Lublin region

Metamorphoses of memory of the the Russian-Serbian Brotherhood of War in Modern Serbia

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Timofeev
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Party System ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Second World

The article considers the perception of World War II in modern Serbian society. Despite the stability of Serbian-Russian shared historical memory, the attitudes of both countries towards World wars differ. There is a huge contrast in the perception of the First and Second World War in Russian and Serbian societies. For the Serbs the events of World War II are obscured by the memories of the Civil War, which broke out in the country immediately after the occupation in 1941 and continued several years after 1945. Over 70% of Yugoslavs killed during the Second World War were slaughtered by the citizens of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The terror unleashed by Tito in the first postwar decade in 1944-1954 was proportionally bloodier than Stalin repressions in the postwar USSR. The number of emigrants from Yugoslavia after the establishment of the Tito's dictatorship was proportionally equal to the number of refugees from Russia after the Civil War (1,5-2% of prewar population). In the post-war years, open manipulations with the obvious facts of World War II took place in Tito's Yugoslavia. In the 1990s the memories repressed during the communist years were set free and publicly debated. After the fall of the one-party system the memory of World War II was devalued. The memory of the Russian-Serbian military fraternity forged during the World War II began to revive in Serbia due to the foreign policy changes in 2008. In October 2008 the President of Russia paid a visit to Serbia which began the process of (re) construction of World War II in Serbian historical memory. According to the public opinion surveys, a positive attitude towards Russia and Russians in Serbia strengthens the memories on general resistance to Nazism with memories of fratricide during the civil conflict events of 1941-1945 still dominating in Serbian society.

Development and destruction of the liberal prison system in Spain: a general framework for studying the topic

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 424
Author(s):  
Luis Gargallo Vaamonde
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Prison System ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Second Republic ◽  
Social Harmony ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

During the Restoration and the Second Republic, up until the outbreak of the Civil War, the prison system that was developed in Spain had a markedly liberal character. This system had begun to acquire robustness and institutional credibility from the first dec- ade of the 20th Century onwards, reaching a peak in the early years of the government of the Second Republic. This process resulted in the establishment of a penitentiary sys- tem based on the widespread and predominant values of liberalism. That liberal belief system espoused the defence of social harmony, property and the individual, and penal practices were constructed on the basis of those principles. Subsequently, the Civil War and the accompanying militarist culture altered the prison system, transforming it into an instrument at the service of the conflict, thereby wiping out the liberal agenda that had been nurtured since the mid-19th Century.

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