Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: The dilemma of building a unitary state

Abstract

The tsunami that swept the shores of Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004, killed over 30,000 people regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliations. This article deals with a different conflict – one fashioned by human beings, which has caused the loss of an estimated 70,000 lives. The vast majority of the lives lost have been from the minority Tamil population. The basic argument of this article is that the desire to uphold a unitary state in Sri Lanka established by the British colonial rulers in 1833 has really been the desire to establish Sinhala hegemony over the minorities, particularly the Tamil minority.

Citation

Imtiyaz, A.R.M. (2008), "Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka: The dilemma of building a unitary state", Chatterji, M. and Jain, B.M. (Ed.) Conflict and Peace in South Asia (Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, Vol. 5), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 125-147. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1572-8323(08)05009-1