Abstract
Although proclaimed as a democratic republic, the Sri Lankan state is strongly controlled and ruled by Sinhala Buddhist influence due to a deep engrained belief that the island belongs to the Sinhala Buddhists. The modus operandi of the Sri Lankan state apparatus outlines the ethnocratic characteristics of the state. This mono-ethnic and mono-religious attitude has led to the widening and deepening of the discrimination against a particular ethnic group known as the Tamils who traditionally inhabit the North and East of the island. Ethnocracy continues to be defended and justified by the state in the name of sovereignty, territorial integrity and national security and has led to further polarization of the already divided ethnic groups. As a consequence and outcome of the ethnocratic nature of the Sri Lankan state, a bloody war erupted between successive governments of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). After nearly 38 years the prolonged war came to a brutal end in May 2009 amidst blatant violations of international law. However, the root causes of this conflict, which occurred due to ethnocratic nature of the state, have not yet been addressed resulting in the continuation of the ethnic conflict despite the end of the war.
Highlights
Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon, is a tropical island nation off the southeastern coast of the Indian subcontinent
Of the co-constituting communities in the island the Sinhalese make up 74.9% of the population, the Tamils make up 15.4%, and the ‘Moors’ (Sri Lankan Muslims) make up 9.2%, with other ethnic groups comprising only 0.5% of the total (Department of Census and Statistics – Sri Lanka, 2012)
The Sinhalese, whose mother tongue is Sinhala, are the numerical majority in the island and most of them are Buddhist. They form the majority population across the South. Their dominance and power is present throughout the island because of the state’s support of this ethnic group through all state structures
Summary
Sri Lanka, previously known as Ceylon, is a tropical island nation off the southeastern coast of the Indian subcontinent. The Sri Lankan state’s continued ethnocratic nature resulted in the ethnic conflict developing into a fierce war between successive governments of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This paper explores the ethnocratic nature of the Sri Lankan state structure influenced by Sinhala Buddhist nationalism.
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