Online published on 29 November, 2012.
May 2011 marked two years of peace in Sri Lanka. The killing of Tamil rebel chief Velupillai Prabhakaran by government troops on 18 May 2009, led to the defeat of the LTTE and the end of the civil war fought intermittently since 1983. The war had not allowed development especially in the war zone and caused widespread destruction of the economy for twenty-six years. Although the government has engaged in the resettlement of internally displaced persons and refugees and in developing the economy, its approach towards a political settlement of the majority–minority question remains unclear. While a political dialogue towards a settlement of the ethnic question is nowhere in sight, the unmistakable signs of a rapidly advancing autocracy being imposed on a democratic polity has heightened a sense of uncertainty about the future of the country—making it difficult to foretell what lies ahead.
