Post-independence Sri Lankan history has been marred by phases of extreme political violence which have claimed over a hundred thousand lives. This has mainly been a result of the Sri Lankan state’s response to the Sinhalese struggle for social justice in the south and the Tamil struggle for an independent state in the north and east of the island. A meaningful transitional justice process is yet to be seen in relations to crimes committed by the military and state-sponsored paramilitary groups.

Today, Sri Lanka has become a paradise destination for tourists. It adds to the efforts of forced erasure of the collective memory of loved ones who were killed or simply ‘disappeared’ at the hands of successive governments. This popular paradise narrative is, however, constantly being challenged by the mass graves that have been surfacing around the island since 1994.