Freedom and bondage: Lankans, then and now

Introduction

by Sajeeva Samaranayake-04/01/2014

There is a need to question the adequacy and suitability of current conceptions of both ‘human rights’ and ‘secularism’ to meet the challenges of unbridled majoritarianism, which seems perfectly at home within the institutions and procedures of the modern Sri Lankan state. In the first part of this article I propose an alternative vision of human rights. This leads us towards a comparative analysis of two historical periods. In the first period from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC when the ancient Lankan state was formed there is evidence of secular attitudes and beliefs providing a secure foundation for Buddhism itself to take root. In the second period from 1931-2011 we see how identity politics destroyed a carefully constructed balance of secularism to pave the way to a fragmented and dysfunctional society. A key proposition advanced is that identity formation remains incomplete until identity itself is renounced to merge within a broader collective identity. Such an act creates values that are not tied up with a particular race or religion but which belong to mankind as a whole.

A human rights framework for human learning and growth

The struggle of Sinhala Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims to assert and maintain their separate identities under the British were carried out within the parameters of a globally dominant economic vision. Both colonization and the post World War II development project in the Third World shared a specific conception of the human being identified by economic rationalists as consumers driven by an insatiable craving for material possessions. Communal separation and competition thus found its place within an overarching ethic that pitted man against man in the economic sphere.

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