scholarly journals Violence, Identity, and Alterity: Post-War Rhetoric of Sri Lanka’s Bodu Bala Sena

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bruno Marshall Shirley
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Nationalist Movements ◽  
New Development ◽  
War Rhetoric ◽  
Narrative Model ◽  
Post War

<p>The Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Strength Army) is a Sinhalese nationalist movement led by Buddhist monks that recently came to international prominence following a 2014 anti-Muslim rally that erupted into deadly violence. The Bodu Bala Sena is set apart from earlier nationalist movements in that its hostility is primarily directed towards Sri Lankan Muslims instead of Tamil separatists. Despite this difference I argue that the Bodu Bala Sena is best considered as a new development in this existing tradition of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, and that the re-orientation of the Bodu Bala Sena’s hostility from Tamils to Muslims reveals the extent to which Sinhalese nationalist conceptions of their own identity are built around various interpretations of a particular “identity narrative.” This identity narrative, which has its genesis in anti-colonial interpretations of the Mahavamsa, casts the Sinhalese people as defenders of a sacred island (the dhammadipa) against impious foreign invaders who threaten its unity and sanctity. The case of the Bodu Bala Sena demonstrates both the ongoing relevance of this identity narrative in the post-war era and, importantly, the availability of the narrative for contextual re-interpretation. The identity narrative model, which incorporates both mythic origins and contextual interpretation, helps to bridge some of the existing debates on the nature and origins of Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka which tend to favour either one or the other.</p>

scholarly journals Violence, Identity, and Alterity: Post-War Rhetoric of Sri Lanka’s Bodu Bala Sena

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Bruno Marshall Shirley
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Nationalist Movements ◽  
New Development ◽  
War Rhetoric ◽  
Narrative Model ◽  
Post War

<p>The Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Strength Army) is a Sinhalese nationalist movement led by Buddhist monks that recently came to international prominence following a 2014 anti-Muslim rally that erupted into deadly violence. The Bodu Bala Sena is set apart from earlier nationalist movements in that its hostility is primarily directed towards Sri Lankan Muslims instead of Tamil separatists. Despite this difference I argue that the Bodu Bala Sena is best considered as a new development in this existing tradition of Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism, and that the re-orientation of the Bodu Bala Sena’s hostility from Tamils to Muslims reveals the extent to which Sinhalese nationalist conceptions of their own identity are built around various interpretations of a particular “identity narrative.” This identity narrative, which has its genesis in anti-colonial interpretations of the Mahavamsa, casts the Sinhalese people as defenders of a sacred island (the dhammadipa) against impious foreign invaders who threaten its unity and sanctity. The case of the Bodu Bala Sena demonstrates both the ongoing relevance of this identity narrative in the post-war era and, importantly, the availability of the narrative for contextual re-interpretation. The identity narrative model, which incorporates both mythic origins and contextual interpretation, helps to bridge some of the existing debates on the nature and origins of Buddhist nationalism in Sri Lanka which tend to favour either one or the other.</p>

Adoption of integrated reporting in Sri Lanka: coverage and trend

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thilini Cooray ◽  
Samanthi Senaratne ◽  
Nuwan Gunarathne ◽  
Roshan Herath ◽  
Dileepa Neelangi Samudrage
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Disclosure Requirements ◽  
Comprehensive Index ◽  
Reporting Framework

Purpose This paper aims to examine the coverage of and trends in reporting content elements in the integrated reports of the Sri Lankan companies following the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF). Design/methodology/approach Based on a comprehensive checklist developed on the content elements of the IIRF, 171 corporate integrated reports were content-analyzed over a period of three years. The results were theorized subsequently using the legitimacy theory. Findings The study identifies that the extent of and trend in the coverage of content elements of the IIRF have increased during the period under consideration despite some under-addressed areas. It indicates that Sri Lankan companies are making progress in the preparation of integrated reports in line with the IIRF, which provides evidence in support of both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory because of the proactive actions taken by managers to acquire legitimacy along with the other normative and mimetic pressures available in the IR landscape. Originality/value This is one of the first studies that evaluate the compliance of IR adopters with the IIRF overtime in the entirety of a single country. It also develops a comprehensive index to capture the disclosure requirements of IR and extends the analysis to a voluntary context using both strategic and institutional perspectives of the legitimacy theory.

Two new species of Lagenandra (Araceae) from the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka

Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 522 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
INDRAKHEELA MADOLA ◽  
DEEPTHI YAKANDAWALA ◽  
KAPILA YAKANDAWALA ◽  
SENANI KARUNARATNE
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
The Other ◽  
Critically Endangered ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Taxonomic Key ◽  
The World ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Conservation Assessments ◽  
Wet Zone

Taxonomic revisions are the most reliable pathway in unfolding new species to the world. During such a revision of the genus Lagenandra in Sri Lankan, we came across two new species: Lagenandra kalugalensis and Lagenandra srilankensis from the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka. The two new species were studied in detail and compared with the morphology of the other species described in the genus, and based on field collected data conservation assessments were performed. A detailed description for the two new species and an updated taxonomic key to the Sri Lankan Lagenandra is presented here for easy identification. Recognizing two new endemic members enhances the number of Sri Lankan species of Lagenandra to eleven and global to nineteen. According to the IUCN red data category guidelines, L. kalugalensis qualifies for Critically Endangered category under Criterion B1ab (ii,iii,v) + B2ab (ii,iii,v) while L. srilankensis qualifies for Critically Endangered category under B1ab (iii, iv) + C2 (a) (i, ii). Hence, immediate conservation measures are imperative.

Nest density and other observations on a population of Aneuretus simoni Emery, 1893 (Formicidae, Aneuretinae) and other ants in Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ratnayake K. S. Dias ◽  
Warnakulasuriyage S. Udayakantha
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Current Distribution ◽  
The Other ◽  
Nest Density ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Forest Reserve ◽  
Species Frequency ◽  
Nest Abundance

The Sri Lankan Relict Ant, Aneuretus simoni Emery, survives in several wet zone and intermediate zone forests in Sri Lanka. Nests of this species and other ants were surveyed at 159 m and 291 m elevations in Indikada Mukalana Forest Reserve by laying 20 quadrats of 1 m × 1 m at two plots of each locality in December, 2015. The number of ant nests within each quadrat was recorded; then the frequency of nest occurrence out of 40 quadrats, percentage nest abundance and mean nest density of A. simoni, as well as associated ant fauna were calculated. Percentage frequency of worker ant occurrence was also investigated using pitfall traps. Eighteen genera and 21 species in Aneuretinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae and Ponerinae were recorded from the two methods. Nests of A. simoni were found only in the locality at 291 m altitude in the forest; 17.5 % of quadrats with an A. simoni colonies, 9.7% of nest abundance in relation to that of other ant species and 0.18 m2 ofmean nest density were observed. Nest density of A. simoni had the fourth rank among that of the other species. Frequency of occurrence of A. simoni workers in the pitfall traps at lower and upper elevations was 2% and 3%, respectively. An actualized map showing the current distribution of A. simoni is produced.

scholarly journals Languages Speak Reconciliation: An Interdisciplinary Study on the Impact of National Language in Post War Reconciliation Sri Lanka

2022 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 665-679
Author(s):  
Aruna Jayathilaka ◽  
Thisiri Medagama ◽  
Udeshini Panadare ◽  
Prawardhani Menike
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
National Language ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Post War ◽  
Mixed Approach ◽  
National Languages ◽  
The Impact

The Role of National Language is endorsed in different contexts and it has triggered an inspirited debate within the Sri Lankan political history when its discriminatory nature policies marked a triumph of linguist nationalism. The recognition of the Sinhala language as the only National Language in Sri Lanka and its dominance, drifted both communities apart causing frustration and tension among ethnic groups, which have ultimately culminated in ethnic strife that lasted almost three decades. National Languages, hence wield as a sociopolitical tool that demands a balance among languages, recognition, and policies. Similarly, Sri Lanka, in its path to reconciliation also demands a balance among National Languages, policies, and its recognition among the communities. This study thus explores the Role of National Language in promoting social cohesion and coexistence among ethnic groups to achieve anticipated “Reconciliation” within Sri Lankan social fabric.  The paper draws upon a mixed approach employing qualitative methods, including in-depth interviews. Data were gathered from interviewing 20 undergraduates from the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages at the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. Data were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis.   Findings revealed that the recognition of National languages in their due status will make a huge impact on fostering reconciliation within Sri Lankan Society. It is further not to be confused with the Link Language as a National Language since its duty in social integration is relatively limited in the cases where the understanding of cultural, traditional, and historical attributes of an ethnic community is more pronounced especially in grappling with attitudinal problems inherited within ethnic communities.

scholarly journals Post-War Religious Violence, Counter-State Response and Religious Harmony in Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-223
Author(s):  
Mohammad Agus Yusoff ◽  
Athambawa Sarjoon
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
State Response ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War

Abstract Sri Lankan military forces and government authorities have succeeded to counter measure terrorism by defeating the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). However, their initiatives and efforts to restore peace and harmony among different ethno-religious groups in the post-war context are highly complex. The additional space given to the reemergence of radical religious groups has negatively influenced the process of fostering religious tolerance and harmony, which have been maintained for centuries in the country. Ethno-religious minorities became the major targets of religious hatred and violent attacks. At both the societal and political platforms, majoritarian religious sentiments and discourse have established a dominant presence in opposing the existence and practice of the religious fundamentals of minorities. This study has attempted to investigate the nature and impact of majoritarian religious violence in post-war Sri Lanka, as well as the efforts made by the government authorities to control them in order to foster religious tolerance and harmony in the country. This study argues that religious violence under the shadow of religious nationalism has been promoted by many forces as a mechanism by which to consolidate a majoritarian ethno-religious hegemony in the absence of competing ethnic-groups context in post-war Sri Lanka. In many ways, state apparatuses have failed to control religious violence, maintain religious tolerance and inter-religious harmony, particularly of accommodating minorities in nature. The study concludes that the continuous promotion of majoritarian religious hegemony through anti-minority religious hatred and violence would further promote religious intolerance and radicalism challenging the establishment of religious harmony in the country.

scholarly journals THE TORTUOUS PATH OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO ENSURE POST-WAR RECONCILIATION—THE CASE OF SRI LANKA

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jehan Perera
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Counter Measures ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
Post War ◽  
Main Engine ◽  
Horizontal Inequalities

For the past three decades Sri Lanka was stalemated between governments that were not prepared to devolve power to the Tamil majority provinces and a Tamil militant movement that wanted a separate country. In February 2002, the Sri Lankan government and LTTE signed a ceasefire agreement under Norwegian government auspices that appeared to offer the real prospect of a final end to violence as a means of conflict resolution. The ceasefire between the government and the LTTE held for nearly four years despite significant problems affecting the peace process, problems that led to the LTTE’s withdrawal from the peace talks. However, the ceasefire collapsed in early 2006 with a series of ambushes of government soldiers by the LTTE, eventually leading to counter measures and counter attacks by the forces of the government, measures in which the government wrested back control of territory placed under the control of the LTTE by the terms agreed upon by the Ceasefire Agreement. Today Sri Lanka is a country that continues to be deeply divided on lines of ethnicity, religion and politics. Horizontal inequalities, defined as severe inequalities in economic and political resources between culturally defined groups, were undoubtedly a contributing factor for the perpetuation of Sri Lanka’s long-running conflict. No sooner it won the war, the government asserted economic development to be the main engine of reconciliation.

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 A revision of the genus Teleopsis Rondani (Diptera, Diopsidae) in Sri Lanka with descriptions of two new species and a review of the other stalk-eyed flies from the island

ZooKeys ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 946 ◽  
pp. 113-151
Author(s):  
Hans R. Feijen ◽  
Cobi Feijen
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Sexual Dimorphism ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Species Group ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sister Species ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Two New Species

The literature on Sri Lankan Diopsidae is reviewed. Eight Diopsidae are now known to occur in Sri Lanka, five species in the genus Teleopsis and one species each in the genera Sphyracephala, Diopsis, and Cyrtodiopsis. The presence of Cyrtodiopsis requires confirmation to exclude the possibility of mislabelling. All five Teleopsis species are endemic, as are the Diopsis species and probably the Cyrtodiopsis species. Only Sphyracephala bipunctipennis Senior-White has a larger distribution as it also occurs in India. A key is presented for the Diopsidae of Sri Lanka. Three Teleopsis species were already known to occur in Sri Lanka: T. ferruginea Röder, T. krombeini Feijen and T. maculata Feijen. These species form the T. ferruginea species group. Two new species are now described for this group: Teleopsis neglectasp. nov. and Teleopsis sororasp. nov.Teleopsis ferruginea is redescribed, as an earlier redescription turned out to be based on a series of specimens of its sister species T. sororasp. nov. The other three Diopsidae of Sri Lanka are listed and illustrated. Allometric aspects of the five Teleopsis species are discussed. Three Teleopsis species are sexually dimorphic with regard to eye span, while two species are monomorphic. It is assumed that sexual dimorphism developed independently in the T. ferruginea species group. This brings the number of known cases of independent development of sexual dimorphism in the Diopsidae to ten.

scholarly journals Contested Histories, Multi-Religious Space and Conflict: A Case Study of Kantarodai in Northern Sri Lanka

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 537
Author(s):  
Harris
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Religious History ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Post War ◽  
Ethnic War

This article focuses on the archaeological site of Kantarodai (Tamil) or Kadurugoda (Sinhala) on the Jaffna peninsula at the northernmost tip of Sri Lanka to examine the power of spatially embodied, contested histories within postcolonial and post-war communities. The Sri Lankan military who control Kantarodai view it simply as a Sinhala Buddhist site. However, when it is viewed through the lens of international archaeological scholarship, its multi-ethnic and multi-religious history becomes clear. Its present situation speaks of a failure to affirm the narratives connected with this history. In examining this case study, I first evoke the changing political and religious landscapes of the peninsula in the recent past, drawing on my own visits to Jaffna during Sri Lanka’s ethnic war. Second, I examine one dominant imaginary that is projected onto the peninsula, from the Sinhala Buddhist community, the most powerful community in the island. Thirdly, I move to Kantarodai, focussing on two recent representations of its history and the privileging of one of these in Sri Lanka’s post-war polity. I then assess the consequences for Sri Lanka of the failure to affirm multiplicity at Kantarodai, drawing out its wider relevance for the study of post-colonial and post-war societies.

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