Sri Lanka at 60: The Failure of the Peace Process and Its Implications

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2008 - Overshadowing Sri Lanka's 60th anniversary is another, more disconcerting milestone: a quarter-century of violence and protracted conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives and caused immense economic damage. Judging by the recent escalation of violence, many fear that the country is teetering once again on the brink of full-scale war.

Left to right: Asoka Bandarage, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Ahilan Kadirgamar (Azadeh Fartash/Asia Society)

In collaboration with the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), Asia Society hosted an in-depth discussion of this emotionally-charged conflict. Sharing their perspectives, speakers Asoka Bandarage, Professor at Georgetown University; Ahilan Kadirgamar, Spokesperson for Sri Lanka Democracy Forum; and Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General, Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process, assess the ramifications of the withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement, the implications for the APRC Proposals and political devolution, human rights violations, and opportunities for rebuilding trust where so little currently exists.

The discussion was moderated by V.V. Ganeshananthan, a journalist and fiction writer whose first novel, Love Marriage, will be published by Random House in April 2008.

Listen on Demand (59:43 min.)