2025: A Year of Reckoning
This year began following the NPP’s electoral victory, signaling a decisive shift away from corrupt political elites towards a more hopeful future, built on social justice and economic relief for the working class. However, as the year comes to a close, the excitement of the NPP’s electoral triumph has dissipated, facing the reality of a nation still grappling with its past and an increasingly volatile future – particularly in the wake of the recent devastation of Cyclone Ditwah.
Events throughout the year have shown that Sri Lanka is still haunted by unresolved legacies of the civil war and systemic ethnic tensions. In Thaiyatty, the persistent struggle of families against military land acquisition showed that, despite the war ending sixteen years ago, state agencies continue to appropriate land under the guise of “heritage protection.” The unearthing of skeletal remains at the Chemmani cemetery in Jaffna further highlighted this, reopening the painful dialogue surrounding enforced disappearances and the stalled engine of transitional justice. In Trincomalee, the sudden installation and subsequent removal of a Buddha statue created a volatile atmosphere, proving how easily religious symbolism can be weaponized to destabilize regional peace. Simultaneously, the influx of Israeli tourists with military ties to Arugam Bay sparked local anxieties, illustrating how global geopolitical tensions can have an impact in Sri Lanka as well.
In Mannar, local communities mobilized against sand mining extraction projects and wind farm developments that threaten the island’s fragile ecology and cultural heritage. Although renewable energy is crucial for Sri Lanka’s future, environmental concerns raise urgent questions about transparency, governance and survival for local communities.
While parliament celebrated its highest-ever number of female representatives, this milestone was marred by digital violence and sexist abuse towards them. Additionally, the tragic suicide of a young schoolgirl Amshi, exposed a culture of failing to protect victims of sexual abuse. Initiatives for LGBTIQ-inclusive tourism were met with fierce online vitriol, misunderstanding inclusivity as a threat of ‘promoting homosexuality.’ These incidents suggest that while the political surface has shifted, there is a deep-seated social conservatism that remains entrenched in society.
On November 28th, Cyclone Ditwah, the most destructive natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami, claimed over 650 lives and affected over a million people. The tragedy exposed institutional failures, and state negligenceleft the population vulnerable despite accurate scientific forecasts. Critically, Ditwah laid bare the reality of climate injustice. The impact was disproportionately severe for the Hill Country Tamil community in Nuwara Eliya and Badulla. Living in landslide-prone plantation settlements, this socio-economically marginalized group bore the brunt of the storm’s fury. While local communities self-mobilized amidst global media silence, the state’s response faced immediate scrutiny.
Looking towards 2026, we must now find ways to learn from this disaster and navigate the road to recovery.
