New Book on Conflict in Sri Lanka

Photo: Former President in India with new book

About Book

(November, 20, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) The contributions in this edited volume examine the issues relating to the stalled peace process in Sri Lanka, which was initiated after the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) of February 22, 2002 between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE. The papers look at the ground realities, the intentions and capabilities of the players and suggest alternative frameworks for restarting the peace process. There is consensus among the contributors that in order to strengthen the peace process, it is necessary for the international community, including India to engage both the players and encourage Norwegian facilitation to address the concerns of all parties, including the Muslims, who also have a stake in the outcome.

The volume has been divided into three sections “Analysing the Conflict and Peace Process”, “Peace Process in Sri Lanka: The External Dimension” and “Alternative/Possible Solutions”. It contains papers by eminent scholars, both from India and Sri Lanka, who have sought to cover different facets of the Sri Lankan Conflict and Peace Process from both national and international perspectives. They have critically analysed the reasons for the current impasse and have suggested solutions to the ongoing crisis.
Contributors of the Book

Alok Bansal
Alok Bansal is a Research Fellow with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. A serving officer with 25 years of commissioned service in the Indian Navy, he has served in a number of Naval and Coast Guard ships and has commanded two naval ships. He has been a Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College and has participated in Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka. He holds M Sc and M Phil degrees in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras and is pursuing doctoral studies with the School for International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He specialises in security issues in South Asia. His research interests include Internal Disorders in Pakistan, Maldives’ Transition to Democracy, Indian Diaspora and India’s maritime interests. He has co-edited a book titled Pakistan Occupied Kashmir: The Untold Story and is currently working on a book on Balochistan.

Ashok Behuria
Ashok Behuria is a Research Fellow with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. He holds a Ph D in International Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has authored two monographs on President Khatami's India Visit: Reconstructing India-Iran Relations, (International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi, March 2003) and on Kashmir and East Timor: Comparison and Contrast (International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi, February 2000). He has also contributed chapters in books and written many articles on issues related to national and international security in various research journals and magazines of repute.

A. Madhavan
A Madhavan, a former diplomat, joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1956, served in various diplomatic assignments abroad and in the Ministry of External Affairs. His last two assignments were as Indian Ambassador to Japan and to Germany. After his retirement in 1991, he was Director of India International Centre, New Delhi, for three years. He is presently settled in Mysore, in South India and is a member of Asia Centre, Bangalore, and is well known for his understanding on the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis.

B. Raman
B Raman joined the Indian Police Service in 1961 and served as the head of the Counter-Terrorism Division in Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) from 1988 to 1994. He retired as Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and was a member of the Special Task Force for revamping the Indian Intelligence Apparatus in 2000. He was a member of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) of the Government of India from July, 2000 to December, 2002. He has authored two books titled “Intelligence: Past, Present & Future” and “A Terrorist State as a Frontline Ally”. He writes regularly on issues relating to terrorism, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and other related issues. He is a guest speaker at many training institutions of the police and the army. He is now associated with the Institute for Tropical Studies, Chennai.

Desmond P.M. Fernando
Desmond Fernando is an Oxbridge trained constitutional and civil rights Lawyer, who has been member of the President's Counsel of Sri Lanka. He has held numerous prestigious chairs and has been formerly President of the Sri Lankan and International Bar Associations. A well known human rights expert he has been consulted by both the current President and the Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka on constitutional and other political issues.

Jayadeva Uyangoda
Jayadeva Uyangoda is presently the Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Colombo and the Director, Centre for Policy Research and Analysis, University of Colombo. He is also the Director, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Colombo. He is a former Chairman of the Sri Lanka Foundation, Colombo. He has published extensively on ethnic politics, political violence, human rights, and conflict resolution. He has worked closely with the government of Sri Lanka in the areas of ethnic conflict resolution, peace negotiations, and constitutional reform. He co-edited Essays in Constitutional Reform (1994), and Matters of Violence, Reflections on Social and Political Violence in Sri Lanka (1997). He is presently working on a book titled Sri Lanka: Modernity, Social Change and Claims of Justice.

Jayampathy Wickramaratne
Jayampathy Wickramaratne is a legal expert and constitutionalist with almost three decades of experience in the field of constitutional law. He is presently Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration and a member of the Experts Committee assisting the All-Party Conference sub-committee on a political solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis. Before his present assignment, he was Senior Advisor, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and Convenor and member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Constitutional Affairs in 2004. He has also been a member of the team that drafted the Government’s proposals in 1997 for constitutional reform & devolution and the Constitution Bill, 2000. From 1996 to 2001, he was Consultant to the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. He holds Ph.D. from the University of Peradeniya.

M Mayilvaganan
M Mayilvaganan is an Associate Fellow with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. His area of interest includes issues concerning Sri Lankan Conflict, India-Sri Lanka relations and refugees. He has written several research articles and has contributed chapters in books on the Sri Lanka. He has submitted his thesis for the doctorate in South Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He also holds a Diploma in Human Rights and International Humanitarian & Refugee Law from the Indian Society of International Law.

Mirak Raheem
Mirak Raheem is a Research Associate, at the Peace and Conflict Analysis Unit at the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Colombo. He is an expert on issues of religious minorities with special focus on Muslims in Sri lanka and has also worked on Conflcit and Peace research. He has published many articles on the Muslims in Sri Lanka and ethnic crisis in general.

N S Sisodia
Narendra Sisodia is presently the Director of IDSA, New Delhi. A former bureaucrat, he joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1968 and retired as Secretary in the Ministry of Finance in January 2005. Prior to this assignment, he was the Secretary, Defence Production and Supplies in the Ministry of Defence. He was closely associated with the nascent National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and is currently a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He has graduated from the prestigious St Stephens’ College Delhi and has obtained a Master’s Degree from Harvard University, USA, where he was a Mason Fellow. He has also been the Vice Chancellor of Mohan Lal Sukhadia University, Udaipur and has edited a number of books. His recent publications include India and the World, India-Japan Relations: Partnership for Peace and Security in Asia and West Asia in Turmoil: Implications for Global Security.

P. J. Jacob
PJ Jacob retired from the Indian Navy as the Vice Chief of Naval Staff in 2001, after a distinguished career spanning four decades, where he commanded a number of naval and coast guard ships as well the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy. He has also been the Director General of the Coast Guard and a member of the National Security Advisory Board. He is the President of Global India Foundation and writes extensively on security issues. His areas of interest are maritime security and on Sri Lankan affairs.

P.P. Devaraj

P.P. Devaraj a veteran trade unionist is a Chairman of Foundation for Community Transformation, which is directly working with the people of Indian Origin in the plantations. He has earlier served as a parliamentarian from Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) and as a former State Minister for Hindu Affairs.

P. Sahadevan
P Sahadevan is presently the Chairperson of Centre for South Asian Studies in School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He finished his doctorate from the Centre for South Asian Studies, at JNU. He has previously been a Leverhulme Visiting Fellow in International Relation at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK during 1993-94, and Researcher at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He has written a number of books and research articles.on Sri Lanka. He is currently engaged in completing a volume on India’s foreign policy and relations in joint authorship with Professor M S Rajan.

Raja Melroy Blasius Senanayake
R M B Senanayake is a former bureaucrat, who graduated in Economics from University of London and completed his Masters Degree in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburg, where he was Dag Hammarskjold Fellow. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, London. After passing the Ceylon Civil Services Examination in 1959, he has held various posts in the Public Service including posts of Government Agent Vavuniya District, Deputy Director of the Budget Division of the Treasury, Director of Combined Services in Ministry of Public Administration. He has also served as General Manger in several public Corporations as well as private companies and has served as a Director in Pan Asia Bank and Indo-Lanka Steels Ltd.

Shivaji Felix
Shivaji Felix is an expert in Constitutional Law and is at present in the panel of Legal Experts to aid the sub committee on Constitutional Reforms, a committee comprising all political parties to formulate proposals for constitutional changes in Sri Lanka. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Ministry of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration, since 2006. In 2005, University College, London, appointed him as an Honorary Research Fellow, Faculty of Laws, in recognition of his contribution to legal scholarship. He was a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Constitutional Affairs during 2004-2005. He practices as an Attorney-at-Law and teaches at the Faculty of Law, University of Colombo and the Department of Legal Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka. He holds Ph. D. from the University of London on administrative law and has published widely in international journals on legal issues.

Sumanasiri Liyanage
Sumanasiri Liyanage is a Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He is also a Program Consultant for the South Asia Peace Institute, Colombo. His research interests include identity-based conflicts in South Asia, nationalism, social movements, ethnic riots and constitutional reforms. He has written extensively on these subjects and has recently co-edited a book titled A Glimmer of Hope: A Current Phase of the Constitutional Debate in Sri Lanka.

Sukanya Podder
Sukanya Podder is a Research Assistant with IDSA, and is concurrently doctoral studies in Disarmament Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. A keen Lanka watcher she has worked on peace negotiation challenges in Sri Lanka and the international responses to the use of children as soldiers by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). She specialises on issues of human security in South Asia, particularly the recruitment patterns of rebel groups, release, rehabilitation and surrender policies for insurgents, terrorists and child soldiers and the human security impact of small arms proliferation and has written research papers on these subjects. She is working on a monograph on International Responses to the Use of Child Soldiers and the Problem of Norm Compliance.

Susil Sirivardana
Susil Sirivardana is a former bureaucrat, who has been in the Sri Lanka Administrative Service for many years. During the past 15 years he has continued to advise successive Governments on Development with Equity issues in Sri Lanka and currently he works closely with the Finance Secretary and the Ministries on Poverty issues.

Virendra Gupta
Virendra Gupta is currently the Deputy Director of IDSA. A serving diplomat, he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977 and has served as Indian High Commissioner to Tanzania (1998-2001) and as Indian High Commissioner in Trinidad and Tobago (2001-2005). He has also served as Deptuy Secretary (UN) during 1987-88 and as Director (Disarmament) during 1991-92 at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. He has served in Indian Missions in Nepal (79-82), Nigeria (82-85), Israel (92-95) and Egypt (95-98) as well as Indian Mission to the United Nations in New York (88-91) where he followed UN Peacekeeping Committee and also served as Rapporteur of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid. He heads the South Asia Cluster in IDSA and has written extensively in newspapers on various security issues. He has recently co-edited a book titled Pakistan Occupied Kashmir: The Untold Story.

V. Suryanarayan
V Suryanarayan is a former Director of South and South East Asian Studies at University of Madras. He is a well known expert on Sri Lankan affairs and has written extensively on the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. He has recently written a book titled Conflict Over Fisheries in the Palk Bay Region.