Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

What were the majoritarian measures taken in Sri Lanka to establish Sinhala supremacy?

seo-qna
Last updated date: 30th Apr 2024
Total views: 335.7k
Views today: 4.35k
Answer
VerifiedVerified
335.7k+ views
Hint:The Sinhalese are an ethnic group of Indo-Aryans native to the island of Sri Lanka.
They make up about 75% of the population of Sri Lanka and account for more than 16.2 million people. Language, historical heritage, and religion are the basis of Sinhalese identity.
Sinhalese people speak Sinhala, an island language of Indo-Aryan, and are predominantly Theravada Buddhists, although a small percentage of Sinhalese follow Christian branches.

Complete answer:
1. To create Sinhala Dominance, the government introduced a majority measure. An Act to accept Sinhala as the only official language was passed in 1956, thereby disregarding Tamil.

2. Governments have adopted preferential policies that have benefited Sinhala candidates for university and government positions.

3. A new Constitution stipulates that Buddhism must be preserved and encouraged by the state.
Tamils felt that none of the Sinhala Buddhist leaders' major political parties were sensitive to their language and culture.

4. As a result, overtime was strained by relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities, and it soon turned into a Civil War.

5. The Sinhalese are mostly found in Sri Lanka in the north, central, south, and west.

Note:Observations of current religious beliefs and practices show that, like Buddhists, the Sinhalese have a complex worldview as a religious community.
There are numerous areas where Buddhists and Hindus share religious beliefs and practices because of certain doctrines' proximity and similarity.
Sinhalese Buddhists have, in their religious practices, adopted religious elements from Hindu traditions. Some of these practices may be related to Hindu deities' worship, ancient indigenous beliefs, and traditions of spirits.
In healing rituals, some of these demonic figures are used and may be native to the island.

Recently Updated Pages