Sri Lanka predominantly a Buddhist country has seen years of violence effected between the Government and the minority Tamils who largely follow the Hindu faith. The oppressive posture towards the Tamils has seen years of bloodshed on this small island a conflict which flared up when "the people" gained their independence from the British and Ceylon, as it was known, became Sri Lanka. An island off the tip of southern India Ceylon was, in my youth famous for its tea plantations, largely run by British expatriates and know world wide for its Ceylon tea, the main export.
The turbulence which bubbled up was sown over many many years and as in so many places in the world once the colonial governance was removed old scores and petty rivalry took hold. Africa, the Middle East, India with the partition of India and Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, the list goes on. For all its condemnation Colonialism seemed the cement needed to bind the communities into some sort of collaboration. Perhaps the claim that Colonialism didn't do enough to encourage self governance is laid bear by the apparent inability of these factions, religious and political to have a common purpose in unifying the national ideal. Perhaps that is why Colonialism, British, French, Portuguese knew that, at the coalface the irredeemable differences were not united and that political and religious ideology are the most destructive forces on earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment