ABSTRACT
The history and the causes of the civil war in Sri Lanka (1983–2009) are popularly found to be grounded in the contentious ethnic relations between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority. Many in the south of Sri Lanka—the majority of whom were Sinhala-Buddhists—equated the 'end of war' with 'dawn of peace'. According to the radical Sinhalese Buddhists, war is a 'thing of the past'. In post-war Sri Lanka, so far, for the immediate victims of many episodes of violence, justice largely remains a void promise. Throughout the island's history, 'justice' has been a contested topic and continues to remain so. Post-war (transitional) justice and accountability has become a highly politicized topic. However, in the current context of post-war Sri Lanka, realizing a societal moral imperative is constrained by the political tug of war between the local and the international justice agendas.
