Promoting National Reconciliation: A way forward to Inclusive National Security

Abstract

since the protracted armed conflict ended in 2009, a fresh approach in rebuilding civil peace was demanded by all communities in Sri Lanka. Strengthening of national security was regarded as one of the paramount issues in the post-conflict political landscape. The value of ending an armed conflict in a way, gave an opportunity and time to focus more on sustainable peace and also to successfully deal with the consequences of the peace building process simultaneously. Are the parties involved, genuinely committed on this effort is a question before us? It is understood that the level of professionalism involved in this process determines the success and sustainability of the effort of the parties involved. Since a six year period have already passed, one might argue whether the commitments and the political will initiated by the parties were capable enough to restore the democratic values of the country. The problem before the country is to bridge the two communities who fought a civil war for a long time. Some argue that the efforts by the government side have a political wrapping on issues like ethnic harmony and democracy. Rebuilding the socio - political fabric of Tamil and Sinhala communities into a mainstream Sri Lankan National Identity prevails as a significant challenge before the country. Against this backdrop, the research is committed to focus on two significant aspects. The first aspect is to study on a kind of a national reconciliation process which will be imperative for a united Sri Lanka where the civil peace could be fully commissioned. The second aspect is to build a model containing inclusive national security landscape. In this connection, the vital model of an inclusive security landscape could be the extend scope of civil – military sharing and caring equilibrium. The study is therefore specifically based on the theory of civil - military relations in security aspect. The author will use a right mix of quantitative and qualitative methods and primary and secondary data will be processed in this regard.