here on the east coast of sri lanka, the only people celebrating a victory were soldiers and policemen, all of them members of the 80% sinhalese majority of sri lanka’s population. the photo above was taken in dambulla. the tamils almost all were quiet, only the members of the ruling party tmvp showing open contentednes, and many others not daring to show their sadness about this defeat of the ltte (liberation tigers of tamil eelam).

whilst since quite some time large parts of the tamil population have turned away from the ltte because of their rigorous and cruel regime and assassinations, sharing the view of the world’s majority that the tigers were terrorists, the ltte was also seen as the only power that would give the cause of the sinhalese-tamil ethnic conflict some attention in the world. now there is nobody influential anymore who can claim a true devolution, equal access to power and the realisation of full rights for the tamils.

now the ltte has lost the war and their leaders, the sri lanka government has won the last battle. to win the peace it needs actions that can be recognized by the tamils as the true and genuine will to make sri lanka a home for all citizens, regardless of ethnics or religion.