Buddhist nationalism behind Sri Lanka's violent surge
The island nation's government is receiving new support from an unusual political group.
from the June 18, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Earlier this month, the government rounded up more than 350 Tamils in Colombo and transported them by bus to the north and east – a move human rights groups described as a "pogrom." Sri Lanka's Supreme Court intervened to halt the evictions soon after they began.
This was a "minor example," says Jehan Perera, executive director of the National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, a group working for reconciliation. Throughout Sri Lanka, Tamils felt insecure and vulnerable, says Mr. Perera, who is Sinhalese.
On the Jaffna Peninsula alone, the only part of the Tamil-majority north controlled by government forces, more than 300 civilians have been murdered in the past 18 months; many of them, it is suspected, by a paramilitary force with close ties to the military intelligence agency.
Both Sinhalese and Tamils trace their presence in Sri Lanka back centuries. Until relatively recently, theirs was a harmonious coexistence.
But in the 19th century, many Buddhist Sinhalese felt that the British, who then ruled Ceylon, gave the Tamils preferential treatment. At independence in 1948, a disproportionate number of civil servants were Tamils.
In 1956, the Sinhalese made swift and brutal amends. Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike, an ardent Buddhist nationalist, launched a successful campaign to make Sinhalese the official language.
He was heavily backed by the island's monks in a move that excluded many Tamils from educational opportunities and prestigious jobs. In 1970, university admission rules were changed to favor the Sinhalese.
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