Wednesday, April 14, 2010
From Winning the War to Winning Peace: Post-war Rebuilding of the Society in Sri Lanka
Edited by
V. R. Raghavan
Published by Centre for Security Analysis
ISBN-13: 978-81-902317-5-6
After several years of conflict, Sri Lanka is witnessing a transformation with the military defeat of the LTTE. The situation in the country provides an opportune moment for reconstruction and peace building activities that will allow longer-term social, economic and political stability to take root. The various elements of post war response are largely agreed upon in the extant literature on the subject. Rebuilding a post war society requires not only economic and political measures but steps to revive socio-ethnic cohesion. Together these three aspects cover a range of interlinked issues at stake that will form the bedrock for transformation of any war torn society. The challenge, however, is to take timely, coherent and integrated action. Mobilizing funds for relief and development and keeping the momentum when humanitarian assistance begins to taper off and longer term reconstruction aid is still in the planning stage is crucial.
The present post war scenario in Sri Lanka warrants a deeper look at the challenges that are specific to the country. To address this aspect, the Centre for Security Analysis (CSA), Chennai, organized a seminar titled From Winning the War to Winning Peace: Post War Rebuilding of the Society in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo in August 2009. This book encapsulates the proceedings of this seminar that covered the specific aspects of economic reconstruction, socio-ethnic cohesion and political accommodation in Sri Lanka.
The present post war scenario in Sri Lanka warrants a deeper look at the challenges that are specific to the country. To address this aspect, the Centre for Security Analysis (CSA), Chennai, organized a seminar titled From Winning the War to Winning Peace: Post War Rebuilding of the Society in Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies, Colombo in August 2009. This book encapsulates the proceedings of this seminar that covered the specific aspects of economic reconstruction, socio-ethnic cohesion and political accommodation in Sri Lanka.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Challenges in Post War Rebuilding, Recovery and Rehabilitation
Mahinda Samarasinghe
The Way Forward for Political Accommodation in Sri Lanka
Tissa Vitharana
Economic Reconstruction
Economic Freedom: The Path to Economic cum Political Emancipation of the Conflict Region in Sri Lanka
Muttukrishna Saravananthan
Economic Development and Reconstruction of the North-East: Problems and Prospects
Saman Kelegama
Socio-Ethnic Cohesion
Reconciling Ethnic Diversities
B. G. Verghese
Transformation of Conflict with a Focus on Stabilizing and Rebuilding of Relationships
Jezima Ismail
Conflict-Induced Displaced Population of Sri Lanka: Challenges for the Future
R. A. Ariyaratne
Political Accommodation
Some Parameters of Political Reforms in Winning Peace after the War
Laksiri Fernando
Postwar Rebuilding: Constitutional Recipe for Political Accommodation
N. Selvekkumaran
Testing the Waters and Testing the Will
N. Sathiyamoorthy
