"...In the Sinhala language, the words for nation, race and people
are practically synonymous, and a
multiethnic or multicommunal
nation or state is incomprehensible to the popular mind. The
emphasis
on Sri Lanka as the land of the Sinhala Buddhists carried an emotional popular appeal,
compared with which the concept of a multiethnic polity was a meaningless
abstraction..." [Sinhala Historian K. M. de Silva in Religion, Nationalism and
the State, USF Monographs in Religion and Public Policy, No.1 (Tampa, FLA: University of
South Florida 1986) at p31 quoted by David Little in Religion and Self Determination in
Self Determination - International Perspectives, MacMillan Press, 1996]
"..In countries with internal conflicts, the traditional
way of reconciling people with distinct identities within a single
nation state is through some form of power sharing and devolution..."
British
Commissioner in Sri Lanka on United Kingdom's Peace Building Efforts in
Sri Lanka, 15 June 2007
"...Having postulated a conflict between ‘primordial’ and
‘civil’ sentiments it is an easy step for politicians and social scientists
to argue for the substitution of one (civil ties) for the other (primordial
ties)...
But is one form of nationalism traditional and the
other modern? .. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the two
nationalisms? ... If modernity and cultural
nationalism are defined as in opposition to each other how do we understand the
resurgence of cultural nationalism (and the definition of cultural variables as
the relevant determinants of political identity) in many post-industrial
societies?.."
Marguerite Ross Barnett, Princeton
University in
Creating Political Identity: The Emergent South Indian Tamils
"...The problem in nationally divided societies is that the different groups
have different political identities... In this situation, the options available to
represent these distinct identities are very limited... if the minority group seeks to be
self-governing, or to secede from the larger state, increased representation
at the centre will not be satisfactory. The problem in this case is that the
group does not identify with the centre, or want to be part of that political
community... One conclusion that can be drawn is that, in some cases,
secession/partition of the two communities, where that option is available,
is the best outcome overall. .."
Professor Margaret
Moore in Normative justifications for Liberal Nationalism
June 28, Colombo: Sri Lanka President
Mahinda Rajapaksa met with Maha Sanga (Buddhist monks) from
all over the country at the Presidential Secretariat this
evening. Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa updated the
assembly on the current situation in the North and East. The
commanders of the three forces, IGP and President's
secretary Lalith Weeratunga were also present.
