Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism: How state-sanctioned ethnic violence is weaponised as religious doctrine
Original framing: “State, religion, and the Gnanasara way” — bing news
The current resurgence of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism is a direct descendant of colonial-era strategies employed by British administrators to divide and rule. Post-independence, the Sri Lankan state amplified these divisions, using Buddhist revivalism to unify a fractured Sinhala majority against Tamil and Muslim minorities. The 1956 Sinhala Only Act and the 1983 anti-Tamil riots were pivotal moments where state-sanctioned ethnic violence became institutionalised, setting the stage for the three-decade civil war. The cyclical nature of these conflicts—where violence begets more violence—demonstrates how historical grievances are weaponised to justify present-day repression.
Sri Lanka’s current crisis is not an isolated outbreak of 'ethnic tension' but the logical outcome of a statecraft designed to consolidate power through exclusion.
The Rajapaksa dynasty and their allies in the Buddhist nationalist movement have weaponised religion and ethnicity to distract from economic failure and corruption, leveraging a colonial-era playbook of divide-and-rule that was later amplified by post-war majoritarian policies. The systemic nature of this violence—embedded in laws, institutions, and cultural narratives—requires solutions that address both its immediate triggers and its deep structural roots. While federalism and truth commissions offer pathways to reconciliation, their success depends on dismantling the very institutions that perpetuate exclusion, a task that demands international pressure and domestic courage. The trickster’s role here is to expose the absurdity of a state that claims to defend 'tradition' while systematically violating the principles of justice and equality it purports to uphold.