British colonial rule manufactured the Sinhala-Tamil fissure that later elites exploited.
Evidence
Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, after almost 450 years of colonial rule under the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. This history—and the country’s proximity to India—helped produce a polyethnic, multireligious population consisting of Buddhists (69%), Hindus (15%), Muslims (8%), and Christians (8%). Britain’s colonial policies and practices helped create fissures, especially between the majority Sinhala and the minority Tamils. Post-independence Sinhalese elites made use of this division both to pursue anti-Tamil policies that benefited their community and to build a Sinhalese Buddhist nation-state that marginalized minorities. Tamil elites, in the main, initially demanded a federal solution whereby the predominantly Tamil northeast, considered part of the Tamil homeland, could enjoy autonomy from the Sinhalese-dominated south. When such demands were disregarded, the moderate Tamil elites lost out to extremist youth, who by the early 1970s began clamoring for a separate state. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 605
Categorization
- QUESTION: The claim that Britain’s policies ‘helped create fissures’ between Sinhala and Tamil is asserted—does DeVotta detail the specific mechanisms of colonial divide-and-rule later in the book?
- XREF: Parallels with the manufactured-enmity literature on Rwanda under Belgian rule and on Hindu-Muslim tension under the Raj. — connects to: Grievances over colonial-era Tamil advantage fueled the Sinhala-only demand. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 123; Conceding language-inclusive equality was foreclosed by the Sinhala-only commitment. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 127; Tamil overrepresentation under colonialism fueled Sinhala-only demands. (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- Tamil overrepresentation under colonialism fueled Sinhala-only demands.
#expands(0.85) - Sinhalese governments invented Tamil separateness for political self-preservation
#qualifies(0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 228 - Colonial rule runs on force and manufactures a servile local elite
#expands(0.75) — Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism, 50 - British rule deliberately fanned caste and communal divisions in India
#exemplifies(0.75) - Sri Lanka was historically fragmented into several kingdoms before European colonization.
#qualifies(0.72) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 101 - A leftist party adopted anti-Tamil nationalism purely for political advantage.
#exemplifies(0.72)