A decade and a half since the end of Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war, the scars of the conflict remain deeply etched in the hearts and minds of the Tamil people. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, countless families were displaced, and the fabric of society was torn apart. While the wounds of war may have slowly begun to heal, the deep-seated issues of truth, accountability, and justice continue to haunt the Tamil community.
Political aspirations of the Tamil people have been marred by polarisation and self-serving interests. The Rajapaksa regime’s triumphalist rhetoric and militaristic policies have further exacerbated the divide between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities. Tamil nationalist politicians, beholden to their class and social interests, have failed to address the concerns of ordinary people, peddling the myth of diaspora remittances sustaining war-affected communities when, in reality, such remittances reach only a very small segment of the urban Tamil middle class.
Economic reconstruction in the war-torn regions has fallen far short of expectations. Grand infrastructure projects funded by international donors have failed to revive the local economy, and individualised assistance by non-government organisations has only served to disempower families and trap them in dependence. The economic crisis that has gripped Sri Lanka since 2019 has further compounded the suffering of the Tamil people, with widespread unemployment, poverty, and hunger.
The international community’s focus on accountability and reconciliation, while well-intentioned, has failed to address the urgent needs of the Tamil people. Post-war pilgrimages to the UN Human Rights Council by political actors and civil society allies have conjured unrealistic hopes of international intervention, while neglecting the importance of building social and economic bridges between the communities towards political reconciliation.
The intransigence of the national leadership, the ongoing takeover of lands owned by the Tamil and Muslim minorities by the state, and attacks on memorialisation of the war dead reflect a grim reality. The historic opportunity presented by the election of the first Northern Provincial Council in 2013 was squandered due to the political opportunism of the Tamil nationalist leadership.
The future of the Tamil people lies in rejecting bankrupt nationalism and forging a new vision for themselves and the entire country. The great revolt of 2022, where Sri Lankans from different ethnic and religious backgrounds came together to chase away a President who had claimed the status of a supreme war hero and custodian of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism, offers a glimmer of hope for a different path. The Tamil people must rethink their strategies, depart from the isolationist and suicidal politics that has reduced them to historical irrelevance, and join forces with all the peoples to determine not just their own future but also the democratic future of the country, based on equality and freedom.
