Sri Lankan independence: 60 years of communalism, social decay and war

For nearly half of the past 60 years, the island has been mired in a war aimed at maintaining the dominance of the Sinhala Buddhist elites over the Tamil minority. More than 70,000 people have died in the fighting, millions have been displaced within the island or overseas and large areas of the country have been devastated as economic resources have been squandered on the fratricidal conflict. Any attempt to establish a peace deal has been dashed by the communal politics used by the ruling class since independence to divide and dominate the working class.

President Mahinda Rajapakse, who will preside over events today, has nothing to offer but nationalist bombast. A month ago his government formally tore up the 2002 ceasefire and declared a war to the finish against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Even if he were to achieve his immediate military objective, Rajapakse has no solution to the communal tensions created by decades of anti-Tamil discrimination.