The New ‘Other’: Islamic Radicalisation and De-radicalisation in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
pp. 097492842110477
Author(s):  
N. Manoharan ◽  
Drorima Chatterjee ◽  
Dhruv Ashok
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Small State ◽  
The Core ◽  
Incipient Stage ◽  
Island State ◽  
Key Terms

One of the key terms to understand the nature of violence and conflicts world over is ‘radicalisation’. Sri Lankan case is instructive in understanding various dimensions of Islamic radicalisation and de-radicalisation, especially in South Asia. Though a small state, Sri Lanka has witnessed three radical movements, the latest being Islamic that got manifested in deadly Easter attacks of April 2019. Eco-space for Islamic radicalisation existed in the island for decades, but the rise of ultra-Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism post the end of Eelam War IV acted as a breaking point. The underlying context is perceived insecurity feeling projected by hardline Sinhala-Buddhist elements. In due course, the primary ‘other’ shifted from Tamils to Sri Lankan Muslims. Apart from inter-communal dissonance, international jihadist network also fostered radicalisation process in the island’s Muslim community. Political instability due to co-habitation issues between the then president and the prime minister was a perfect distraction from the core security and development issues. In response to the violent manifestation of radicalisation, de-radicalisation measures by the successive Sri Lankan governments were mostly military in nature. Socio-economic and political components of Islamic de-radicalisation are at the incipient stage, if not totally missing. The article suggests wide-ranging measures to address the issue of radicalisation in the island state.

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

scholarly journals Islam, Politics and Violence in Eastern Sri Lanka

2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 730-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bart Klem
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Islam And Politics ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Academic Debate ◽  
Contemporary Islam

This article bridges Sri Lankan studies and the academic debate on the relation between contemporary Islam and politics. It constitutes a case study of the Muslim community in Akkaraipattu on Sri Lanka's war-ridden east coast. Over two decades of ethnically colored conflict have made Muslim identity of paramount importance, but the meanings attached to that identity vary substantively. Politicians, mosque leaders, Sufis and Tablighis define the ethnic, religious and political dimensions of “Muslimness” differently and this leads to intra-Muslim contradictions. The case study thus helps resolve the puzzle of Sri Lankan Muslims: they are surrounded by hostility, but they continue to be internally divided. Akkaraipattu's Muslims jockey between principled politics, pragmatic politics and anti-politics, because they have to navigate different trajectories. This article thus corroborates recent studies on Islam elsewhere that argue for contextualized and nuanced approaches to the variegated interface between Islam and politics.

Sri Lanka is likely to face early elections

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
National Party ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Party Discipline ◽  
Content Type

Subject Political instability in Sri Lanka. Significance Parliament resumed early last month after being prorogued by President Maithripala Sirisena. Sri Lanka’s National Unity Government (NUG), formed after the 2015 legislative elections, is a coalition between Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP). Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leads the Joint Opposition (JO). According to the constitution, a two-thirds parliamentary majority would be required for Sirisena to bring forward the next legislative elections due in 2020. Impacts The breakdown in party discipline in parliament suggests instability will be a long-term feature of Sri Lankan politics. Judicial campaigns against the Rajapaksa family will intensify, despite its sustained political influence. Political uncertainty will cause the Sri Lankan rupee to fall further against the dollar.

New Sri Lankan president will zero in on 2020 poll

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
National Party ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Security Concerns

Significance The front runners are Gotabaya Rajapaksa, from the opposition Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), and Sajith Premadasa, from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP). The next elections to parliament, where no party or alliance currently has a majority, are due by end-2020. Impacts As president, Rajapaksa would be better able than Premadasa to negotiate the uncertain period between presidential and parliamentary polls. Delhi and Beijing will quickly congratulate the victor, eager to demonstrate a wish for strong ties with the new administration. Recent arrests in Malaysia of suspected sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam will raise some security concerns in Sri Lanka.

The unresolved constitutional dilemma: Persisting Imbalance of power exposed by the Constitutional Coup 2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-141
Author(s):  
Binendri Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Constitutional Reforms ◽  
Governmental Power ◽  
The Way

On 26th October 2018, Sri Lankan President surprised the nation with his abrupt removal of the Prime Minister in office and the appointment of another Prime Minister on ambivalent constitutional grounds. Through his actions, President Sirisena was attempting to bring to the power the former strongman Rajapaksa from his own party to entrench himself as well as their party, while undercutting Wickremasinghe and his party. Constitutional Coup 2018 was executed meticulously to ensure that the President and his old enemy, now his new-found ally could capture governmental power. The result was that Sri Lanka had two Prime Ministers claiming to be appointed to office. The paper discusses the dramatic and complicated actions and reactions that occurred during the Constitutional Coup 2018. This paper analyzes how the Constitutional Coup exposed the persisting imbalance of power as a weakness of the Sri Lankan Constitution of 1978 that undermines constitutionalism and how this weakness persisted despite the 2015 constitutional reforms. Even though the constitutional coup 2018 was resolved affirming the supremacy of the constitution the paper analyzes how the weakness exposed during then paved the way towards the deterioration ofthe system of checks and balances.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Fragmented Sri Lankan Muslim Politics in Post-Ashraff Era

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Mohammad Agus Yusoff ◽  
Athambawa Sarjoon ◽  
Zawiyah Mohd Zain
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
National Politics ◽  
Minority Politics ◽  
The North ◽  
Leadership Crisis ◽  
Muslim Politics

The traditional Muslim politics in Sri Lanka transformed with the formation of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and its active communal politics under its founder-leader, M.H.M.Ashraff. While representing the interests of the Muslim community, particularly those living in the north-eastern region, SLMC through its politics of bargaining and consensus voiced and advocated for the interests, rights and privileges of the Muslim community as well as contributed to their socio-economic and cultural upliftment at the crossroad of ethnic conflict and civil war. Although SLMC received popular mandate from the Muslim community, the party fell into fragmentation with the unexpected demise of its founder-leader in 2000, and splits were instigated shortly. This fragmentation caused a severe effect in the distinct path of Muslim politics in Sri Lanka. This study examines the fragmented nature and the trends of Muslim politics, particularly the politics of SLMC in post-Ashraff era and their impact. This study reveals that the fragmentation within SLMC caused leadership crisis and emergence of many Muslim political parties that promoted ugly politics of opportunism. This trend ultimately reduced the bargaining strength of Muslim politics, negatively influenced representative politics, leading to the negligence and marginalisation of Muslims’ concerns and grievances in national politics. The leadership crisis and regionalism also negatively influenced the politics of SLMC and other Muslim parties in post-Ashraff era. This study also finds that unifying splinter-groups, reforming party structure and procedures, and redefining goals and path of achieving them would not only strengthen the politics of SLMC and other Muslim political parties but also would give a new brand for Muslim minority politics in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka: testimony to state terror

Race & Class ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
The South ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
State Terror ◽  
Authoritarian State

There are two nations in Sri Lanka, both ruled by the Sri Lankan government - one, the Sinhala/Buddhist South, under civilian rule, and the other, the Tamil North (and increasingly the East), under a military dictatorship. Ironically enough, the cause of this separate dispensation is alleged by the Sri Lankan government to be the figirt for a separate state by the Northern (and Eastern) Tamils. That story however, has been told at length in the special issue of Race & Class ('Sri Lanka: racism and the authoritarian state') which appeared in Ju ly 1984 on the anniversary of the '83 pogroms. Here we wish to record a few of the 200 affidavits (sworn before justices of the peace) from witnesses testifying to the atrocities of the security forces in Jaffna in the period March November 1984. (A fuller dossier, from which these documents have been excerpted, is published by the South Asia Bureau. *)

scholarly journals TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF Liopeltis calamaria (GÜNTHER, 1858) (REPTILIA : COLUBRIDAE), INCLUDING REDESCRIPTION OF THE SYNTYPES

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe ◽  
◽  
Suranjan Karunarathna ◽  
Patrick D. Campbell ◽  
S.R. Ganesh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South India ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Gangetic Plains

Liopeltis calamaria, a rare non-venomous colubrid snake of South Asia, is redescribed. Its syntypes and all the available type specimens of its recognized synonyms are examined, including information about the respective populations found across India and Sri Lanka. Our literature compilation and mapping analyses reveal three distinct populations – (I) Sri Lankan (probably also present in some parts of South India as well), (II) Peninsular Indian, and (III) Himalayan / Nepalese, separated by the Palk Strait and the Indo-Gangetic plains respectively.

scholarly journals Problems Faced by Muslim Converts in Sri Lanka: A Study Based on Anuradhapura District

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 10
Author(s):  
Ahamed Sarjoon Razick ◽  
Mohamed Anifa Mohamed Fowsar ◽  
Ameer Rushana
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Married Couples ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Significant Finding ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
Financial Issues

Muslim converts are living with several problems after the conversion, and they are disowned and separated by their original relatives. Muslims by birth call Muslim converts as 'Moula-Islam' which is keeping off them as a different segment. The aim of this research is, therefore, to identify the problems faced by Muslim converts in Anuradhapura district, Sri Lanka. This is an empirical study with the applications of qualitative and quantitative data. The study adopted the questionnaire survey and in-depth interview techniques to collect primary data and randomly selected sixty-five samples out of three hundred sixty-five Muslim coverts living in Anuradhapura district. The significant finding of the study reveals that Muslim converts are facing several socioeconomic problems including the separation from family and relatives, the language problem, financial issues, the disparity in the aspect of marriage and the occurrence of divorces among married couples. The study further highlights difficulties faced by Muslim converts in terms of Islamic knowledge, learning Al-Quran, adopting Muslim cultural identity. Muslim converts are the most vulnerable people in the Muslim community, and they do not receive financial help, including Zakat from traditional Muslims. Hence, this study argues that current problems faced by Muslim converts should be addressed meaningfully and the Muslim community and voluntary organizations should take corrective measures to improve the life of Muslim converts in the Sri Lankan context.

scholarly journals Divine Kingship in Medieval Sri Lanka: Dynamics in Traditions of Power and Virtue in South Asia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen C. Berkwitz
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Hindu Tradition ◽  
Cultural Borrowing ◽  
Local Traditions ◽  
Divine Kingship

The present article focuses on Sri Lankan views of divine kingship to illustrate how the figure of the king was developed in ways that borrowed and were shaped by the transfer of Hindu notions of kings and gods around the period of intensive Hindu interventions into the island from the tenth to thirteenth centuries CE. After discussing the paradigmatic figure of King Aśoka, the virtuous king (*dhammarāja*) held to be the model for all subsequent monarchs in the tradition, we will examine inscriptional and poetic writings that conflated Sri Lankan kings with Hindu gods. The dynamics of comparing kings with gods has ancient roots in India, and these notions were adopted by Sri Lankan Buddhists during the long “medieval” period of roughly the tenth to the sixteenth centuries CE. The dynamic introduction of new strands of Buddhist kingship expanded upon the figure of the king. I argue that this development was primarily metaphorical in nature, and it was further enhanced by eulogizing kings as bodhisattvas, or future Buddhas. By incorporating much of the language and notions of divine kingship from the Hindu tradition, Sri Lankan Buddhism made kingship into the dynamic site for cultural borrowing. Yet it stabilized and reinforced its local traditions by comparing kings with gods and bodhisattvas, presenting them as being *like* extraordinary beings in the context of praise for their power and virtue.

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