Chairperson: Maj Gen Dhruv C Katoch, SM, VSM (Retd)
Discussants: Shri N Manoharan & Shri M R Narayan Swamy
Hemantha Dayaratne’s paper focuses on the Sri Lanka’s counterinsurgency campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In his view, the military strategy adopted by the Sri Lankan army offers an example for other countries facing similar internal challenges. He discusses the fragile peace process started in 2002 and critically analyses the role played by Norway in facilitating the process. Dayaratne argues that Norwegian facilitation could not achieve the desired result because: i) of Norway’s inability to inspire the confidence of Sri Lankan Government and its efforts to equate the government with a terrorist organization (LTTE); ii) lack of sincerity on the part of the LTTE, which used the ceasefire to strengthen itself; iii) differences between then prime minister Ranil Wickramsinghe and then president Chandrika Kumaratunga. Moreover, Norway was partial towards the LTTE which made the latter even more inflexible. Thus, the peace process did not succeed.
After Rajapakse’s election as president, the LTTE launched several attacks, which forced the government to undertake military action. For its part, the Sri Lankan government took advantage of the division within LTTE (Karuna’s defection) and through an innovative strategy pushed the LTTE into a small area created by the army called the “no fire zone”. This strategy helped defeat the LTTE. The US war on terror post 9/11 also provided an opportune moment for all out military action against the terrorist group, LTTE. Dayaratne also states that in this operation preventive measures were taken by the Sri Lankan government to guard against civilian casualties and human rights abuses. He concludes that the failure of the Norwegian Peace Process, the use of military force and the overall strategy of the Sri Lankan government was entirely judicious and led to a successful campaign
The major points of discussion and suggestions to the author were:
Report prepared by Anwesha Ray Chaudhuri, Research Assistant, IDSA