No farewell to arms

Far from cashing a peace dividend by demobilising soldiers, the chief of the army has said he means to swell its ranks by 100,000, to 300,000 — out of a population of just 21m. An already highly militarised country is to become even more so, with soldiers deployed everywhere to nip any reborn Tamil nationalist insurgency in the bud. In the “liberated” north local elections are to be held as early as August. Many will have to vote from the camps. Few will believe the process free or fair, seeing it, like elections in 2008 in the east, as a way of installing candidates in favour in Colombo.

Having made a strong case that it was liberating millions of its own people from the terrorist yoke, Sri Lanka’s government seems to be doing its best to make those people feel newly oppressed. That is not the way to win reconciliation. It is a prescription for renewed rebellion.

© The Economist Newspaper Limited 2009