Buddhist extremism, anti-Muslim violence and civil war legacies in Sri Lanka

ABSTRACT

A post-civil war country may cease military activity, but the social rupture impacts political discourse and ethnic relations, and can lead to collective violence against minorities. Sri Lanka has witnessed multiple examples of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence since the civil war termination, most infamously in 2014 when ethnic riots affected large numbers of people. Buddhist monks appeared to play a prominent role. The lengthy war and ethnonationalist ideologies have produced politico-religious shifts associated with ‘Buddhist extremism’, implicated in these riots and other aggressions. This paper uses interview data to explore the question: what causal mechanisms link post-civil war and extremist ideologies, and how this can lead to ethnic rioting. Interview respondents argue that promoting a monolithic national identity in a heterogeneous country enhances divisions, which can be politically expedient. An outright war victory, militarization of society and lack of peacebuilding sustain ethnic tensions that can be mobilized for further anti-minority violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Sri Lanka
• Buddhist extremism
• ethnic riots
• Muslims
• post-civil war

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Gunatilleke, The Chronic and the Acute.

2. In Sri Lanka, it is common to refer to Muslim priests as Maulavi, an honorific title meaning Islamic scholar but also applied to any Muslim preacher.

3. Monks in Sri Lanka are generally called ‘Bhikku’ or ‘Hāmuduruwo.’

4. See note 3 above.

5. Many of the respondents, especially those with some media visibility, discuss the dangers of such work.

6. For example, interview 17, Catholic priest or interview 7, Buddhist monk.

7. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict; and Kaufman, Modern Hatreds.

8. Sambanis, “Do Ethnic and Nonethnic Civil Wars Have the Same Causes?” 259–82.

9. Wucherpfennig et al, “Ethnicity, the State and the Duration of Civil War,” 111.

10. Paez and Liu, Collective Memory of Conflict.

11. Collier et al., Breaking the Conflict Trap.

12. Gombrich, Is the Sri Lankan war a Buddhist fundamentalism?

13. Deegalle, Buddhism, Conflict and Violence.

14. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict, 52.

15. Anderson, Imagined Communities.

16. Holt, Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities, 2.

17. Horowitz, Ethnic Groups in Conflict.

18. Uyangoda, “Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka,” 27.

19. The LTTE used the term ‘Tamil Eelam’ to refer to a large area of the island’s North and East that they claimed as the Tamils’ homeland, and which would achieve autonomy through violent struggle. For several years, the LTTE had de facto control over parts of this territory. Eelam is the ancient Tamil name for Sri Lanka.

20. Imtiyaz and Amjad, “Muslims in Post-War Sri Lanka,” 186–202.

21. Devotta, “Religious Intolerance in Post-Civil War Sri Lanka,” 278–300.

22. Devotta, “From civil war to soft authoritarianism,” 331–43.

23. Bouma, Ling and Pratt, Religious Diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

24. Girard, Violence and the Sacred.

25. Lilja and Hultman, “Intraethnic Dominance and Control,” 171–97.

26. Wood and Kathman, “Too Much of a Bad Thing?” 685–706.

27. Höglund and Orjuela, “Winning the Peace,” 19–37.

28. Ibid.

29. See note 22 above.

30. Höglund and Orjuela, “Hybrid Peace Governance and Illiberal Peacebuilding,” 89–104.

31. Uyangoda, “Ethnic Conflict, Ethnic Imagination and Democratic Alternatives for Sri Lanka,” 959–88.

32. Uyangoda, “Ethnic Conflict, Ethnic Imagination and Democratic Alternatives for Sri Lanka,” 959–88; and Uyangoda, “Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka.”

33. Sarjoon, Yusoff and Hussin, “Anti-Muslim Sentiments and Violence,” 1–18.

34. See note 20 above.

35. All figures from Department of Census & Statistics 2012.

36. Klem, “Politics and Violence in Eastern Sri Lanka,” 730–53.

37. Ibid.

38. Jones, Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and Islamophobia in Contemporary Sri Lanka.

39. Hirst and Zavos, Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia.

40. Devotta, “Religious Intolerance in Post-Civil War Sri Lanka,” 278–300. Also see note 135.

41. See note 21 above.

42. See note 22 above.

43. Horowitz, The Deadly Ethnic Riot.

44. Wilkinson, “Riots,” 329–43.

45. Wilkinson, “Riots,” 329–43; and Horowitz, The Deadly Ethnic Riot.

46. Toha, “Political Competition and Ethnic Riots in Democratic Transition,” 631–51.

47. Brass, Theft of an Idol.

48. Wilkinson, Votes and Violence.

49. Sunday Leader, “The Human Tragedy of Aluthgama.”

50. Gravers, “Anti-Muslim Buddhist Nationalism in Burma and Sri Lanka,” 1–27.

51. Aliff, “Post-War Conflict in Sri Lanka,” 109–25.

52. Gravers, “Anti-Muslim Buddhist Nationalism in Burma and Sri Lanka,’ 1–27; and Aliff, “Post-War Conflict in Sri Lanka,” 109–25.

53. See note 49 above.

54. Ibid.

55. Klem, “Politics and Violence in Eastern Sri Lanka,” 730–53; and Geopolitical Monitor, Islamic State in Sri Lanka - Situation Reports.

56. Gunatilleke, The Chronic and the Entrenched.

57. Reuters, “Sri Lanka sees New Threats of Terrorism, Muslim Extremism.”

58. Time, “How an Extremist Buddhist Network Is Sowing Hatred Across Asia”; and Gravers, “Anti-Muslim Buddhist Nationalism in Burma and Sri Lanka,” 1–27.

59. Colombo Telegraph, “Butchers of the Muslims Get Together.”

60. BBC, “Sri Lanka MPs Receive Controversial Civil War Report.”

61. BBC, “Sri Lanka: UN says Army Shelling Killed Civilians.”

62. United Nations Association UK, “Human Rights Council Mandates Investigation into Sri Lanka War Crimes.”

63. BBC, “Sri Lanka army ‘Killed Civilians’.”

64. Goodhand, “Sri Lanka in 2011,” 130–37.

65. Lewis, “The Failure of a Liberal Peace,” 647–71.

66. See note 64 above.

67. See note 33 above.

68. Berkwitz, “Recent Trends in Sri Lankan Buddhism,” 57–71.

69. Theravada (School of the Elders) refers to the school of Buddhism found mostly in South East Asia, which relies on Pali texts from India that are generally older than the Sanskrit texts held as canonical by later Mahayana schools. Theravada tends to be more austere, monastic and orthodox than the Mahayana.

70. Kapferer, Legends of People, Myths of State.

71. Rampton, “Deeper Hegemony,” 245–73.

72. Ali, “Political Buddhism, Islamic Orthodoxy and Open Economy,” 298–314.

73. See note 70 above.

74. Dalton, The Taming of the Demons.

75. Devotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology.

76. Devotta, “Parties, Political Decay and Democratic Regression on Sri Lanka,” 139–65.

77. Government of Sri Lanka, The Constitution.

78. See note 75 above.

79. See note 68 above.

80. Deegalle, The ‘Army of Buddhist Power’ in Sri Lankan Politics.

81. Bartholomeusz, In Defense of Dharma.

82. Uyangoda, Militarization, Violent State, Violent Society.

83. The monastic community of ordained monks [and nuns in some countries].

84. See note 81 above.

85. Barnes, “Making Torture Possible,” 333–58.

86. See note 21 above.

87. Bopage, “Sri Lanka: Is there a way forward for peace and reconciliation?” 355–64.

88. Interview 5, Buddhist monk.

89. Interview 6, Catholic priest.

90. Interview 4, secular humanist.

91. Interview 14, Catholic priest.

92. Dept. of Census and Statistics, Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka.

93. Interview 3, Buddhist monk.

94. Interview 12, Catholic priest.

95. Interview 9, interview 11.

96. Interview 9, Muslim scholar.

97. Interview 1, Muslim.

98. See Reuters, “Sri Lanka sees New Threats of Terrorism, Muslim Extremism.”

99. Interview 15, Catholic priest.

100. Focus group discussion.

101. Goodhand, Klem and Korf, “Religion, Conflict and Boundary Politics in Sri Lanka,” 679–98.

102. Interview 6, Catholic Priest.

103. Interview 1, Muslim; interview 9, Muslim scholar.

104. Ibid.

105. See note 88 above.

106. See note 96 above.

107. See note 97 above.

108. Interview 11, Muslim Maulavi.

109. See note 99 above.

110. Reporters Without Borders, “Sectarian Violence in South Declared Off-Limits for Media.”

111. See note 96 above.

112. See note 93 above.

113. Interview 7, Buddhist monk.

114. See note 96 above.

115. Interview 16, Catholic priest.

116. See note 93 above.

117. See note 88 above.

118. For example, the focus group discussion; interview 7 with a Buddhist monk leading an interfaith peace association; interview 5 with Buddhists working for a peacebuilding NGO; and interview 4 with secular humanists working for another peacebuilding NGO.

119. Interview 2, Muslim leader of interfaith NGO.

120. See note 108 above.

121. See note 96 above.

122. See note 88 above.

123. Interview 9, Muslim scholar; Interview 8, Catholic sister.

124. See note 89 above.

125. See note 90 above.

126. Interview 10, Hindu priest.

127. See note 90 above.

128. Focus group discussion, Buddhist monk speaking.

129. Ancient town in North Central Province.

130. See note 119 above.

131. Focus group discussion, Buddhist monk and Muslim Maulavi.

132. Focus group discussion, Muslim Maulavi.

133. See note 119 above.

134. One senior Buddhist monk (interview 7) openly working for a peaceful Sri Lanka was labelled a ‘Tamil Tiger’ i.e. a terrorist sympathiser.

135. The Island of the Buddha’s Teaching, in Pali. A metaphor for planet Earth, or at least the regions where Buddhism flourished.

136. See note 93 above.

137. Dhamma is a Pali word (Dharma in Sanskrit) word referring to the collection of Buddhist teachings, and can also refer to all phenomena, or truth itself.

138. See note 93 above.

139. See note 90 above.

140. See note 113 above.

141. See note 126 above.

142. See note 96 above.

143. See note 115 above.

144. See note 97 above.

145. See note 93 above.

146. See note 108 above.

147. Ibid.

148. See note 88 above.

149. See note 91 above. Priest.

150. See note 21 above.

151. See note 88 above.

152. See note 102 above.

153. See note 100 above.

154. See note 88 above.

155. Interview 17, Catholic priest.

156. See note 96 above.

157. See note 93 above.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Chas Morrison

Chas Morrison is Research Fellow in Reconstruction at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK. His research interests broadly cover impacts and legacies of conflict and disaster, and citizen and civil society responses to these challenges.