The Flip Side Of Sinha Le (aka Minority Racism)

By Yudhanjaya Wijeratne –January 23, 2016

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne

When is racism not racism? Apparently, when it’s a minority doing it.

Many people who read my article ‘Wali Kukul Le’ liked it. Many didn’t. Ironically, it was those who hated it that saw through to the next question:why are we bashing one particular ethnic group for being inordinately proud of their race? What about the others?

Granted, the question was never worded as politely as that. The closest someone got to being polite was asking, But aren’t the Muslims racist, too? Isn’t EVERYBODY racist? before recounting incidents that had happened to him on his travels throughout the country.

That’s a good question, because we are.

Sri Lanka, despite the marketing, isn’t as multi-cultural as it seems. Go to Pannipitiya and you’ll find people who won’t rent you a house if you’re not a Buddhist or a Catholic. Go to Pasikudah and you’ll find Muslims and Hindus who won’t sell or rent you their property unless you, too, are Muslim or Hindu. Go to Pettah and talk in Tamil and pretend to be a Muslim and you’ll find that prices plummet gently and discount materialize out of nowhere.

Or forget all that: look at Colombo, this weird little city where everybody knows each other and has slept with each other. Geographically, Colombo divided: Cinnamon Gardens is, by and large, a bunch of old Sinhala or Catholic families; Dehiwala is predominantly Muslim; Wellawatte is largely Hindu. Despite living all of three kilometers apart from each other, people have managed to sort themselves into their own little ethnic and belief groups and act accordingly. And in all but a few circles of society, disparaging remarks – usually prefaced with I don’t mean to sound racist, but… are gently slung across the dinner table. Sure, you nod and shake hands with people of all religions and skin colors, but at the end of the day, once the gloves are off and the office has closed and the requirement for civilized politeness has worn thin ….

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