How did majoritarianism create a problem for Sri Lanka?
Answers
Answer:
Majoritarianism was followed in Sri Lanka in the following ways:
After Sri Lanka became independent of the colonial rule in 1948, it had two major communities, the Sinhalese (74 per cent) and the Tamils (18 per cent). As the Sinhalese were in majority, they introduced a series of majoritarian policies to ascertain the supremacy of their community.
They appointed Sinhalese people to preferential positions in government and also made Sinhala as the only official language of the nation. Various government measures gradually increased the feeling of alienation among the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
This led to dissent among the community which with time strained the relations between the Sinhala and Tamil communities. The distrust between both the communities finally culminated into a Civil war, with Tamils demanding the formation of an independent Tamil state in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. This led to thousands of people being killed in the civil war.
The majoritarian policies of the majority community threatened the unity and integrity of the country.