Historical Legacies and Post-War Justice in Sri Lanka: From Colonial Rule to Contemporary Conflict

Abstract

This paper offers a historically grounded analysis of Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict to examine the complexities of post-conflict justice. Understanding debates on accountability, reconciliation, and legitimacy requires attention to the country’s prolonged history and the divergent Sinhalese and Tamil interpretations of the 2009 war’s conclusion. The study traces the conflict from colonial-era ethnic hierarchies, through post-independence discriminatory policies favoring the Sinhalese majority, to cycles of violence culminating in the Eelam wars. It highlights how competing narratives-Sinhalese emphasizing unity and military victory, Tamils emphasizing marginalization and injustice-shape perceptions of responsibility, victimhood, and appropriate remedies. The absence of a shared narrative complicates transitional justice efforts, as collective memories remain contested and mutually exclusive. By situating these disputes within historical, social, and institutional contexts, the paper demonstrates the challenges of designing inclusive, legitimate, and context-sensitive post-conflict justice mechanisms, offering insights relevant to other societies navigating reconciliation in deeply divided, post-conflict settings.