In this comprehensive and authoritative study of terrorism in Sri Lanka, K.M. de Silva turns the spotlight on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and its role in Sri Lanka s upheavals over the last few decades. While tracing the emergence of this separatist group and the events that led to its recent collapse, de Silva also seeks to explore the complex relationship between the so-called moderates in Sri Lankan Tamil politics and the Tamil terrorist groups. What emerges is a layered portrait of the dynamics of Sri Lanka s political system.

Includes maps of: Sri Lanka: Provinces, Administraive Districts and Main Cities; Sri Lanka and Southern India; Army Operations in Western Vanni, MAY-DEC 2008; Final Battlefield, JAN-MAY 2009)

Acronyms--Maps--Introduction--Sri Lanka: The Travails of a South Asian Democracy--Separtism and Terrorism in South Asia and Sri Lanka--Sri Lanka's Prolonged Ethnic Conflict: Negotiating a Settlement--Mediation and teh Inddian Intervention--Sowing the Wind: Sri Lanka: From Demilitarization to Militarization--Appraisals of the Conflict--University Admissions Policy--Language Policy--State Sector Employment--The Defeat of the LTTE: A Weak Government and a Resurgent LTTE--The LTTE's Last Phase: 'No War NO Peace'--The Collapse of the LTTE--After the Defeat of the LTTE--The Challenges of Militarization: 1986-2011--After the Rout of teh LTTE: Reconciliation and Reconstruction: The Passage to Reconciliation--Reconstruction--Conclusion--Notes--Select Biography--Acknowledgements--Index