ABSTRACT
On 18 May 2009, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Velupillai Prabhakaran died on the battlefields of Mullaitivu. This appeared to signify both the end of the LTTE as a military force, and the termination of a three-decadeslong civil war. At a victory parade at Galle Face Green in Colombo on 3 June, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared that ‘the war against the terrorists is now over’. At the time of writing this introduction (October 2009), it is unclear whether the end of large-scale military confrontations will lead to a lasting and just peace or simply the mutation of the civil war into a new form of conflict. The subsequent triumphalism of government-orchestrated victory celebrations, the continuation of a militarized approach and the strong resistance to devolution, all indicate that an inclusive and just political settlement remains a distant prospect.
