|
Sri Lanka Ethnic Group Relations
The different ethnic groups are not evenly spread throughout
the island, but live in concentrated areas, depending upon where
they settled historically
(see
fig. 6). The Indian Tamils are
heavily concentrated in the highland districts, especially in
Nuwara Eliya, where they constitute almost half the population.
This settlement pattern reflects their strong relationship with
the plantation economy for which they provided much of the
unskilled labor. The Sri Lankan Tamils, on the other hand, make
up more than 95 percent of the population in the Jaffna
Peninsula, more than 70 percent of the population in Batticaloa
District, and substantial minorities in other northern and
eastern districts. This pattern reflects the historical dominance
of Tamil kingdoms in the northern half of the island. The Muslims
are not in the majority anywhere, although they make up large
minorities in Mannar District on the northwest coast and in the
east coast districts; their strongest presence is in Amparai
District, where they comprise 42 percent of the population. The
Sinhalese exist in substantial numbers everywhere except in the
Jaffna and Batticaloa districts, and in some southern districts
they comprise almost the entire population. Colombo District
approaches the closest to an ethnic melting pot, with a Sinhalese
majority and substantial Tamil and Muslim minorities. Colombo is
also home to most of the Burghers (72 percent) and Malays (65
percent).
In many cases, the different ethnic communities live in
separate villages or sections of villages, and in towns or cities
they inhabit different neighborhoods. The fact that primary
education is in either Tamil or Sinhala effectively segregates
the children of the different communities at an early age.
Business establishments run by, or catering to a specific ethnic
group, tend to broadcast their ethnicity by signs either in
Sinhala or Tamil, each of which possesses its own distinctive
script. Sports teams tend to include members of only one
community, while Buddhist and Hindu religious services are
automatically limited to one ethnic group. Relatively few persons
are fluent in both Tamil and Sinhala, and accents betray which
native community a person belongs to very quickly. Countering the
intense pressures favoring segregation, however, are official
government policies that treat all citizens equally and numerous
personal networks within neighborhoods and among individuals that
link members of different ethnic groups and foster friendships.
Ethnic segregation is reinforced by fears that ethnic
majorities will try to dominate positions of influence and
repress the religious, linguistic, or cultural systems of
minorities. The Sinhalese are the overwhelming majority of
residents within Sri Lanka, but they feel intimidated by the
large Tamil population in nearby India; the combined Tamil
populations of India and Sri Lanka outnumber the Sinhalese at
least four to one. The recent memories of Tamil prominence in
colonial and postcolonial administration, combined with a modern
renaissance in Tamil consciousness in south India, are constant
reminders of the potential power of the Tamil community. The
Sinhalese feel quite isolated as the only group in the world
speaking their language and professing their variant of Theravada
Buddhism. The Tamils, on the other hand, are a minority within
Sri Lanka. They cannot be sure of Indian support, and they
experience increasing restrictions on social mobility as the
Sinhalese majority increases its hold on the government. AntiTamil riots and military actions in the 1980s alienated a large
sector of the Tamil community. In the middle are the Muslims, who
speak Tamil but whose religious and cultural systems are alien to
both other ethnic groups. Muslim leaders increasingly seek to
safeguard the cultural heritage of their own community by
adopting a public stance of ethnic confrontation.
Data as of October 1988
|
