thanks for that excellent well researched response. I agree with you on many issues.

However, I also differ on a few. For example you said “Yes, the Sinhalese consider themselves superior in the sense of being the “creators of ancient Sri Lankan civilization” and therefore feeling that everything being Sinhala is good enough,”- I would add that the Sinhalese feel superior because they were the first to arrive in this country. The very fact of having being the first to arrive goes a long way in making them feel superior. Civilisation came later.

“The Sinhala only acts have been reverted and Tamil has been made a national language.”- Tamil was made a national language(under the 13 amendment) due to Indian pressure and not because the Sinhalese wanted it to be made national.
The 13 amendment faced severe criticism from the Sinhalese and the politicians in general at the time.
Even now certain people supportive of the JHU want the amendment to be scrapped.

“It’s in this context that I would also ask you a question. Tell me, what in modern day Sri Lanka is different from any other country, that would make it impossible for these remaining issues to be corrected? What makes it impossible to move ahead within a unitary state?”-

First Sri Lanka is not modern. The majority of the population is engaged in agriculture. Any country which is engaged too much in agriculture will not modernise.

The majority of people engaged in agriculture have a feudal or semi-feudal mentality. They think day to day and not in terms of bigger issues. The thinking of the majority community matters a lot for remaining issues to be corrected in this country in terms of minorities and coexistence. If the majority community thinks that the minorities do not matter then no politician will want to take up minority issues or address them. After all it is the people who elect Parliamentarians.

Besides the education system is totally out of date. Rationality is lacking in our education system. This is something which needs to be corected. As a result our population is not thinking rationally and are mass educated. They are educated in terms of quantity and not quality. What we need is a rational quality education or at least something close to that.

However, the biggest obstacle to correcting the remaining issues in this country are its politicians. All political parties and individuals to a great extent lack vision for the country. They are simply playing politics(crossing over) and are not looking at the bigger picture. Look at what happened to the 2000 draft constitution. The UNP opposed it in Parliament. Minority issues were addressed in that Constitution. We had experts like Neelan, GL, Lakshman Kadir involved in that draft. Only GL is alive now.

What makes it impossible to move ahead under a unitary system? The following are the issues that make it impossible to move ahead-Devolution of power under the 13 amendment is not done properly. There are issues over police and land powers to be resolved.
Just take a look at the election results for the North and the East? Is that not an indication of where the minorities stand even after the war. Are they happy with the devolution that they have?

The issues with regard to minorities will take years and years to solve. In certain respects we have regressed. The APRC process is in the back burner. The UPFA is expected to win the Parliamentary election and once that happens minority issues will be put aside as the new Government will not have any use for them. After all it is the majority Sinhala community that elected them into power going by election results so of what use are the minorities at least for the Government?
In Sri Lanka the negatives outweigh the positives.

Thanks for the clarifications. I have been abroad some years now, so my gauge of popular sentiment comes largely from dissecting the comments section of various newsgroups and forums like this one.

Regarding the JVP, my premise was based on their staunch opposition to open door economic policies (e.g. Western economic models) and devolution of power to the minorities. As per their position, devolution on any large-scale equates to separation, which is, of course, the position held by right-wing Sinhalese nationalists. I am not overly familiar with their economic theories, but the opposition to free trade is probably based on some notion of total self-sufficiency. The actual implementation of a program that had total self-sufficiency as its objective would involve some element of nationalism, e.g. communal farming supervised by the State. The litmus test here would, of course, be if the JVP actually came to power (one of their own held the seat of Executive Presidency). Right now, they do not enjoy that level of privilege, so like all political parties, certain things must be done to stay afloat – certain concessions must be made, and the platform of the party must encompass a somewhat broader scope than normal to encourage membership from the larger society. I believe the JVP is a wolf in sheep’s clothing – it will appear tame enough until the appropriate moment to strike presents itself. The Weerawansa debacle and the back-and-forth oscillations between lending support to the ruling party and withholding it would seem to back up that point.

The statistics you gave for JHU support are interesting. Then again, it is only 6 years old. On the other hand, it is a partner of the government. Very few of its policies actually differ from the policies stipulated in Mahinda Chinthanaya or some similar SLFP document. If the SLFP does not take any action to do away with the Executive Presidency, JHU will not oppose, since the JHU goal is to have a strong Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist at the Center. If the SLFP does not bother with devolution for minorities, the JHU will not raise a ruckus. Similarly, we do not see the internal fractures in the JHU, that we saw in the JVP. Could it be because the JHU is satisfied with the performance of the present government? On a larger scale, it would mean that the Sinhalese nationalist ideology is also alive and well.

As far as the Sinhalese diaspora goes, what I meant to say is that they have very little stake in the future of SL, and so, regardless of any developments in the latter, the diaspora would come to some sort of understanding much easier than say, a farmer in the rural South of SL. In other words, the diaspora would not automatically equate a federal model of devolution with separatism; neither would they interpret every action by the West as part of some great conspiracy to destabilize the region.

Being of southern origin myself, I agree with you that the region is quite nationalistic. But it is a JVP stronghold, not JHU. The JHU got its votes mostly in the middle-class Colombo suburbs.

Here are the popular vote percentages for the JHU at the 2004 general election (from wikipedia):

Galle: 4.2%
Matara: 4.0%
Hambantota: 0.5%

They didn’t get a single seat from the South.

By contrast, check out the Western Province:

Gampaha: 19.4%
Colombo: 18.0%
Kalutara: 10.1%

They got 6 seats from this area, plus 1 from Kandy.

My feeling is that this performance was a one-off, a protest vote against the mainstream parties at that point in time. It is highly unlikely that the JHU would replicate these results at the upcoming general election should they decide to contest under their own banner (which they won’t).

It is fashionable to lump the JVP and JHU together, but there are very significant ideological differences between the two. The JVP, although fiercely nationalistic and opposed to devolution, is not a communal party. They are ardently secular. They have done considerable outreach work among the Tamil and Muslim communities (I remember Taraki writing about this some years back). No other major party is as studious in including both Sinhala and Tamil in their campaign materials.

As for the ’83 riots, they erupted in Colombo. I’m not sure if you consider the city part of the south, but most Sri Lankans certainly don’t. As far as I know, most of the violence was in the capital and the upcountry, including Kandy, not down south. Although that’s possibly because there was a relatively small Tamil presence there.

I’m not as certain as you are that there is less racism among Sinhalese Christians, but I’ll admit it wouldn’t surprise me if that were proved to be so. They are second to none in religious bigotry though, in my opinion.

As for the Sinhalese diaspora, my goodness, there is far more racism among them than I find here in SL. Some are certifiably nuts. But if you are referring to the sons and daughters of the immigrants, those who have spent most of their lives abroad, well then you may be right.

“Sinhala superiority is based on the argument that the Sinhalese were the first people to arrive and settle in SL.
Sinhala superiority is based on race.”

I think I wasn’t clear in my earlier post. Unlike in the case of white racism, where other races are considered mentally and physically inferior, the racism found in Sri Lanka is not really of that variety. Yes, the Sinhalese consider themselves superior in the sense of being the “creators of ancient Sri Lankan civilization” and therefore feeling that everything being Sinhala is good enough, just as the Tamils feel superior in terms of considering their language and culture to predate all others and that they are equally deserving of special status, maybe even an Eelam. This is why I agreed at the outset that there was tribalism present in both communities.

However, I don’t think either of the two races necessarily consider the individual person to be less “human” or intrinsically lack worth, which is where I see a difference from white racism.

This is further evidenced by the fact that both communities in fact have relented on many issues. For example, Buddhism has been awarded state patronage in recognition of its historical legacy. The Sinhala only acts have been reverted and Tamil has been made a national language. Again, highly positive acts and certainly not the acts of irredeemably racist people. Such positive indicators are generally ignored by those seeking to further their own racist goals. The emphasis should only be on the negative aspects, after all, any possibility of reconciliation would immediately scuttle their agendas!

I personally believe it is possible to reconcile the two communities. Indeed, apart from those vocal racists, the average person is co-existing reasonably well. Further levels of “enlightenment” must come, but gradually, as further intellectual and moral awakening takes place over time (which is why development and education are critical factors). I mean, tell me one country where the races don’t feel different or slightly superior for whatever imagined reason? Until the mindset shifts to measuring the worth and merit of individuals, as opposed to the merit of one’s ancestors which one really doesn’t have any claim to, this problem will remain. That is the reality of a third world country, and just as often first world ones, so let’s take things a bit easy!

It’s in this context that I would also ask you a question. Tell me, what in modern day Sri Lanka is different from any other country, that would make it impossible for these remaining issues to be corrected? What makes it impossible to move ahead within a unitary state? Any severe problems that would justify the need for an Eelam over reform? (yes, there are issues with societal attitudes which need to be corrected over time and with development as I mentioned, but can you point to reasons why co-existence is impossible)? Please keep third world realities in mind when answering that question.

Interesting comment. You have differentiated racism from racialism.

“This is because, unlike in the case of white racism, there is no perception of actual superiority on account of race.”- disagree. “there is no perception of actual superiority on account of race.”? -Sinhala superiority is based on the argument that the Sinhalese were the first people to arrive and settle in SL.
Sinhala superiority is based on race.

Interesting article.

“The problem is with the Sinhala-Buddhists in the South,”- agreed.
But not all Sinhala Buddhists.
It is better to use the word “Sinhalese” without the word “Buddhism.” Buddhism is a philosophy and at least in the Sri Lankan context religion/philosophy does not seem to have played a major part in the conflict.

The South has to get its act together( as a former boss of mine in the foreign ministry was fond of saying) But it is doubtful as post war politics is taking a very different turn as to what was expectated.

In you well researched post you made an interesting distinction between racism and racialism.

However, I disagree with your claim that “This is because, unlike in the case of white racism, there is no perception of actual superiority on account of race.”-
I think there is a perception of Sinhala superiority over the Tamils and Muslims. This is largely due to historical reasons such as the Sinhalese having arrived in SL first. There is definitely a line of thinking(JHU and some members of the public) which seems to suggest that Sri Lanka belongs to the Sinhalese because they were the first settlers(quite apart from the Veddhas).

My observations are based on conversations that I have had with quite a few Sinhalese over a long period of time and not one or a few as you claim.

There are racist Sinhalese as well as Tamils. There are non-racist Sinhalese as well as non-racist Tamils. The problem starts when racists become a majority in any community.

Groundviews is a public forum. “Misleading and misguided” is your own intepretation. You are entitled to your views.

“keeping your mouth shut”- I am writing and not talking. elementary my dear watson elementary.

“I presume is a good service you can render to the whole world.”- childish and silly statement.

Yapa I dont take your comments seriously. There is a well researched comment by somewhat disgusted just above yours.