War and Peace in Post-Colonial Ceylon: 1948–1991

This book discusses the moral and practical viability of a unitary state, in the face of the competing nationalisms, in Sri Lanka. Tracing the events from 1948 to 1991, the author shows how the present crisis is the result of an imperfect understanding of the nature of the nation-state, the Unitary State, and the rights and aspirations of ethnic minorities within a state so conceived a legacy inherited from colonialism. He argues that in Sri Lanka, manipulation of the media and misrepresentation of facts have resulted in the conception of Tamil nationalist aspirations as criminal, and the people involved being demonized as ‘terrorists’.