Inscriptions and Erasures; Grief, Hope, and Rights: A Struggle for Truth and Justice for Disappearances in Postwar Sri Lanka

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My thesis examines the failed transitional justice project and related impunity for war-related atrocities in postwar Sri Lanka. It does so by exploring the struggle for truth and justice waged by minority Tamil women on behalf of their relatives who disappeared during the civil war (1983 - 2009) between the Sri Lankan state and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE), a militant group from the minority Tamil community. Transitional justice refers to a set of judicial and non-judicial measures, such as prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations, apologies, lustration, etc., implemented to deal with legacies of massive human rights abuses in postwar and post-authoritarian societies.My work has ongoing significance as the women's struggle for truth and justice that I documented and analysed in my thesis continues and haunts the body politic. Sri Lanka's postcolonial history has been characterized by recurring cycles of disappearances committed by the state and non-state actors linked to three separate violent uprisings: the first southern insurrection of 1971; the second southern insurrection of 1988-1991 and the civil war between the Sri Lankan state and the LTTE. According to the United Nations, Sri Lanka has the second-highest recorded incidences of forced disappearances in the world. This is also a long history of impunity, where the legal record contains only two cases in which perpetrators have been held to account. The refusal of the Sri Lanka state to address the demand for truth and justice in relation to war-related atrocities has denied closure for these families and undermined peace and reconciliation in postwar Sri Lanka. Beyond the Sri Lanka focus, and following an interdisciplinary approach, my thesis builds on existing scholarship to offer new insights into a) the state as seen and experienced by marginalised groups, b) the feminist scholarship on political resistance, and c) the role of international actors in processes of accountability. This fellowship application will enable me to consolidate my profile and pursue a career in academia. To do so, I will:1. Aim to publish research in international, peer-reviewed journals;2. Disseminate my work to academic and non-academic stakeholders and contribute to international scholarly and policy discussions about accountability for human rights violations;3. Develop my teaching philosophy and skills;4. Develop a grant proposal to pursue further research for submission to the British Academy and the Leverhulme and Wellcome Trusts. This fellowship will enable me to concretely grow as a researcher, give me time to publish my research, build networks, and engage in knowledge exchange and impact activities. Prior to my PhD, I acquired extensive experience over many years working with high-profile government bodies such as the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process and the Consultation Task Force Reconciliation Mechanisms; local NGOs such as the Muslim Women's Research and Action Forum and the International Centre for Ethnic Studies; and the international solidarity network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). I will build on that experience to implement a robust impact and knowledge exchange agenda. The beneficiaries of my research include the women next of kin of the disappeared, Sri Lankan and international human rights activists and policymakers, UN Officials working on human rights and transitional justice, and academics. I have chosen Edinburgh as the host university because it is a globally recognised institution for research excellence on law, politics, and violence, as well as human rights and transitional justice. I will collaborate with two Edinburgh centres of excellence-Peace & Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform and Centre for South Asian Studies-working specifically on transitional justice and South Asia respectively to implement the KEI aspect of this fellowship.