6. Sri Lanka’s Developmental Path to Reconciliation: Narratives and Counter-Narratives from the Margins

This chapter explores narratives and counter-narratives of post-war development and reconstruction in Sri Lanka and how they impact on reconciliation. Post-war development and reconstruction in Sri Lanka—between 2010 and 2015—has operated within a highly securitised and militarised environment that was embedded in the narratives of the much-celebrated victor’s peace and much-hyped priority for national security. This chapter contends that the post-war reconstruction that took place between 2010 and 2015 neglected the structural causes of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) armed conflict and instead framed the war as an outcome of development failure. This popular narrative constructed by the majority Sinhala government in the South undermines the voices of war survivors in the North and East and places much needed reconciliation on a developmental path that has so far been limited to make trickle-down effects. We argue that although development is necessary to achieve reconciliation, post-war development and reconstruction failed to deliver peace dividends but also isolated the war survivors in the North and East. This separation led to the lack of civic trust in the state institutions and their mechanisms. Further to this, we contend that the demilitarisation of the North and East followed by the realignment of the focus of post-war development to include human security, justice, truth seeking and healing could create an environment for building trust that will foster community reconciliation as well as national reconciliation in post-war Sri Lanka.