Dr Gulbin Sultana is an Associate Fellow with the South Asia Centre in the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi. Her area of research in the institute includes Sri Lanka and the Maldives. She has written extensively on the politico-economic and foreign policy developments of these two countries. Additionally, Dr Sultana takes interest in the study of small island states particularly in the Indian Ocean Region and also issues pertaining to maritime security. She has done her MPhil on “India’s Naval Support to Sri Lanka and the Maldives” from the South Asian Studies Division of School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was awarded a PhD degree too by the same university. Her doctoral thesis was on “Sri Lanka Maritime Security: A Study of Military and Non-military Responses.Before joining MP-IDSA, she worked with the National Maritime Foundation and the United Service Institution of India in New Delhi.
Acknowledging the fact that military victory over the LTTE is not the final solution, Mahinda Rajapaksa has promised to restore the rights and dignity of the Tamils through a political solution.
The Panel has recommended genuine investigations into the alleged violations of the international humanitarian and human rights law committed by the GOSL and the LTTE.
Infrastructure development projects in the North and the Eastern province is undoubtedly important to banish poverty but cannot be a “major part of political solution” as pronounced by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Sri Lankan government seems to be in a desperate hurry to bring about all the necessary revisions in the constitution to strengthen the Executive Presidency without any provision of checks and balances. Sri Lanka, under Rajapaksa, is headed towards nepotism and dictatorship as the 18th amendment suggests.