Sri Lanka and (Scottish) Panama
Five years since the end of its civil war, Charles Haviland asks whether Sri Lanka is ready for reconciliation. Plus, Allan Little's lessons from Scotland's colonial misadventure.
Sri Lanka has just commemorated the fifth anniversary of the end of its long and bloody civil war, which government forces won against the Tamil Tigers. Charles Haviland was in the northern, Tamil province of Vanni. As Sri Lanka rebuilds itself, he asks whether Sri Lankans are also ready to reconcile.
Allan Little offers a lesson from history - specifically, about Scotland's doomed attempt to start a colony off the coast of modern-day Panama. Why did the settler's failure signal the end of Scottish independence, and what might it have to do with the present debate?
Presenter: Pascale Harter
Producer: Ben Weisz
Photo: A memorial for the Sri Lankan army is seen in the northern district of Mullaittivu, May 13, 2014.
Photo credit: LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images
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- Wed 21 May 2014 19:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service Online