S3 E1: The Ethnic Conflict and Peace Process in Sri Lanka with Ovida Dias Gunasekara

EarthRights

In today's BONUS episode, of the EarthRights Podcast Mel and Pippa talk to Ovida about Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict and the problems with peace processes.
In this episode, we start by defining what peace processes are and exploring the difficulties that can occur when other nations intervene with internal conflicts.
Ovi gives a detailed explanation of the deeply routed history of the conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities and how this conflict dates back to the colonial era in Sri Lanka. He believes it is fundamental to uncover the past in order to understand why the rifts between the two ethnic groups began.
Ovi then goes into explain the difficulties of peace processes and why forcing peace onto a nation that has been forced into division in the first place can lead to many difficulties.
But finally and perhaps most importantly, Ovi urges us all, wherever we are from, to recognise that we are all citizens of the world and so while it is important to acknowledge each others suffering, it is essential that we strive for a better future and guarantee human rights in law and practice.