Sri Lanka from Ethnocracy O.Yiftachel

Yiftachel O. (2006), Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine, Pennsylvania Press, p.368 Sri Lanka : From Biethneic Democracy to Sihnalese Ethnocracy     The island state of Sri Lanka (previously Ceylon) in composed to of two main ethnonational groups. Sinhalese, who are mainly Buddhist, make up 75 percent of the state's 19 million inhabitants. Tamils, who are mainly Hindu, make up 18 percent. Historical accounts of ethnic settlement are hotly contested, although there is evidence that both groups have existed on the island for more than two millennia (Perera 1990). Sri Lanka gained its independence from Britain in 1948 after an anticolonial struggle dominated by the Sinhalese groups but shared by Tamils, as well as other ethnic groups on the island. However, in the decade following independence the state gradually turned toward a Shinhalization strategy. This orientation intensified owing to Tamil resistance and an ensuing process of ethnic polarization. Sri […]