The Resurgence of Battleshed Sri lanka

Twenty six years of intense civil war has left Sri Lanka in complete disarray. There are many homeless, war-torn families in the country that are now trying to pick up the pieces and lead regular lives. The Tamils especially have born the brunt of the casualties and the Tamil dominated areas in the country are doing their best to come to terms with their current situation.

Now, in the wake of the parliamentary elections, where the Rajapaksa government won with a convincing majority, there is mounting pressure on the president to ensure that people are able to rebuild their lives. The upcoming budget is one important indicator of whether Sri Lanka is moving in the right direction.

The President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced the budget proposals on November 22. He said that this budget would help develop the country's economy and it was the first time the country had a development budget proposal since the civil war. According to the Daily News, a Sri Lankan newspaper, the Sri Lankan Government has introduced a number of incentives for foreign investments as well as local investors. The Economic Development Minister, Basil Rajapaksa stressed on how the end of the war meant that the country had an investor friendly climate. He also said that the country had a skilled labour force which could be employed in these foreign investment ventures. Basil Rajapaksa also added that the budget had introduced several tax relief measures for investors.

Apart from the budget, there are several other factors that need to be considered when one looks at Sri Lanka and its rehabilitation efforts. One crucial component of this effort is integration of the Tamil community with the Sri Lankan community.  Rajapaksa has been vociferous in his call to Tamil refugees to return their homeland. In an interview to The Hindu, he also said "Of this 17,000 or 18,000 [displaced Tamils], many of them are not in the camps; they go to the villages and come back. But at least 10,000 of them are from areas that have to be de-mined; we can’t send them there yet. But by December, we expect to send back everyone other than the people who wish to stay there [in the camps]." It has to be noted here that the Rajapaksa ministry had turned.


Despite these tall claims by Rajapaksa and other Sri Lankan authorities, the dark, murky reality tells a different tale since the anhiliation of the LTTE.

A Sri Lankan Journalist who didint want himself to be named said " Relief and Rehabilitation camps have been going on in full swing to restore the lives of the displaced Tamils. Having said that, what baffles me is the presence of the Sri Lankan military in these camps. the civilians' whereabouts are constantly tracked and one wonders what this kind of dictatorship-like regimen is doing when the need of the hour is to bridge the gap between the Tamil and the Sinhaleese."This view gives us a complete repudiation of the the kind of positive reports that have been pouring in for the last year-and-a-half.

While there appear to have been certain steps taken to help the country recover from decades of war, there is still a long way ahead for Sri Lanka. There are several reports of countries like India and China aiding these rehabilitation activities. The Sri Lankan government has also praised the contribution of these neighbouring superpowers. China has built a port at Hambantota, while India continues to provide shelter to the refugees.

According to the Indian Express, Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is planning a visit to Sri Lanka and has been urged by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi to discuss the rehabilitation and resettlement of Tamils and also discuss the devolution of power.

Despite eliminating the LTTE, there is still a lot to be done to ensure that the conflict in Sri Lanka ends. Only time will tell whether this country will be able to get back on its feet.