Home  ⁄  Tag Archives: Sri Lankan society

Peace process: Some reflections – By Oscar E. V. Fernando What really is the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka, is an oft repeated question. In any case an ethnic issue could only arise due to some grievance harboured by a minority. Such a grievance could arise from a thwarted aspiration, or wanton ill treatment of a minority with racial hatred. Up to the time the British gave us Independence one could say that the voice of grievances was not loudly heard, as at that time Tamils were well placed in society, mainly due their good knowledge of English among other reasons. But however up to Independence and before that, there was a notion of Tamil Arasakatchu, which implied some form of separation. With the passage of time we witnessed two abrogated Sinhala/Tamil pacts which dealt with some form of autonomy to an area which was densely populated by Tamils in ...

Nov 16, 2024 Posted by In Articles, Oscar Fernando Tagged , , ,
Read More →

Contradictions in the Sri Lankan Society – By Randika Jayakody & Jerome Perera Contradictions are rife within Sri Lankan society. Sri Lanka has an indigenous population that is over 48,000 years old with a wealth of knowledge and history, yet the nation’s origin stories focus on the much younger Sinhalese civilisation. Sri Lanka is home to the majestic Sri Lankan elephant, but the nation often represents itself with references to a lion, an animal that has never lived on our islands. Millennia of multicultural interactions with South India, Rome, Greece, Europe, Africa, Middle East, the Far East, and Austronesia and the tens of ethnic groups that settled our islands is ignored and discounted. Instead ethnic purity has dominated the mindset of society for decades leading to ethnic conflicts and societal disintegration and instability. We consume potatoes, corn, tomatoes, chillies, papayas, smoke tobacco brought to us from the Americas by the ...

Oct 1, 2024 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , ,
Read More →

Reflections on state formation by Sunil Bastian This short article explains a framework for analysing Sri Lankan state formation and understanding the current challenges that the country is facing. My interest in state formation began when trying to make sense of the data on political violence and state repression that I had collected from 1977. I realised that I could easily expand this data base to cover the entire post-colonial period. It was also clear that this violence was not an abberation or exception, but a systemic characteristic of Sri Lankan society. The data collected largely consisted of numbers and reports of individual events. It just touched the surface of the problem. To understand the impact of political violence and state repression in Sri Lankan society you need to go deeper, preferably using a case study method. This is a task for future researchers. The dominant essentialist categorisation of the ...

Jan 28, 2023 Posted by In Articles Tagged , ,
Read More →

The Colombo Chetties of Sri Lanka : Three Essays – By Michael Roberts Source : thuppahis I. The Colombo Chetties of Sri Lanka by Shirley Pulle Tissera The Colombo Chetties form an integral part of Sri Lankan society. They are a separate ethnic group different from the Tamils, Moors, Malays, Burghers, and the majority Sinhalese community. In the census of 1946 (Vol I Para I) the Superintendent of Census, Mr. A.G. Ranasinghe, states that the Colombo Chetties must receive mention in a racial distinction of Ceylon. The term does not include the Nattukottu Chetties who have formed themselves into a guild for carrying on business in Ceylon and are only temporary residents of the Island. Colombo Chetty –a representation painted by Hippolyte Silvaf  in the 1840s or so ** Origin: The Colombo Chetties belong to the Tana Vaisya Caste. The Vaisyas compose nobility of the land, and according to the classification made by Rev. Fr. ...

Dec 20, 2022 Posted by In Articles, Michael Roberts Tagged , ,
Read More →

 SRI LANKA CAN  QUICKLY BOUNCE BACK IF SRI LANKANS WANT IT – by N.S.Venkataraman Sri Lanka has a population of   slightly more than 22 million.  Sri Lanka’s population is reported to have an adult literacy rate of  more than  92 percent , which is above average by world and regional standards. Computer literacy is more than 30  percent and website users  are  reported to be more than 32  percent of the population.  Certainly, Sri Lankan society  can be considered as .well informed one , as education plays a major part in the life and culture of  Sri Lanka. In such circumstances, people around the world , who have knowledge about Sri Lanka’s history, culture and tradition , are taken aback to see the type of violence that is now sweeping the country ,  which have made many people wonder as to how Sri Lanka would come out of the present crisis. In ...

May 12, 2022 Posted by In Articles Tagged , , , , , , ,
Read More →