Summary

This chapter places the community-based work described in the context of civil war in Sri Lanka, with roots traced back to the war of independence in 1948. The war was brought to an end in May 2009 with the use of overwhelming military force by the state, but the chapter mainly focuses on the period before this – 2002– 9 – a period that saw a fragile ceasefire agreement signed between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government of Sri Lanka, but also witnessed the recommencement of armed conflict in 2006.

Describing the challenges faced by communities in East Sri Lanka, that were directly affected by the violence, the authors describe building/ developing clusters of grassroot level organisations and collectives based on community development approaches. The chapter describes how the development of sustainable economic activities had to be negotiated in conflict-affected areas as well as examining how the war disrupted gender roles, resulting in community leadership roles being held by women. Finally, the authors share their personal reflections on both the community resilience demonstrated, but also the challenges that remain.

The authors are both writing from the grounded experience of being activist-practitioners – one who worked in a mainstream international development organisation, supporting community-based partner organisations, and the other working with local feminist organisations over the past two decades.

Setting the scene

The roots of the Sri Lankan civil war can be traced back to 1948, when Sri Lanka claimed independence from more than a century of British colonial rule. In 1949, as the new nation was being imagined, close to half a million Indian-origin Tamils working in the tea plantations of Sri Lanka were disenfranchised and denied citizenship rights (Hoole et al, 1992). This decision was taken by an interethnic elite, motivated by a desire to monopolise power in the emergent nation. In the subsequent struggle for political predominance, the initial alliances between the interethnic elites disintegrated. Despite several attempts at negotiating political autonomy and devolution of power to the northern and eastern regions of the island, which were predominantly populated by Tamil and Muslim communities, these political developments failed.

Over the period of state formation political and economic developments resulted in an escalation of grievances among minority communities.