A critical review of the misconceptions and reconciliation between the Sinhalese Buddhists and Muslims in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnoreligious country, whose constitution has given the freedom to manifest one’s own religious beliefs and promote peaceful co-existence. Research has shown that there has been polarization between the majority of Sinhalese Buddhists and the minority Muslim ethnoreligious groups in Sri Lanka in the recent past. The objective of this study is to identify the reasons for blaming the “other” in the context of the two ethnoreligious groups in the study and propose remedies. The study adopted a descriptive and interpretive paradigm within the qualitative approach. Data were drawn from secondary sources to critically examine the phenomenon under study. In contextualizing the concepts of “self” and “other” in the context of “blaming the other”, the “self” needs to be open to accept the “otherness”. This study found the causes and consequences of the misconceptions that have been targeted against the Muslim ethnoreligious group that acts as barriers to the Buddhist- Muslim relationship in Sri Lanka. Placing the Muslims to take the “other” position, the shift in attitudes, perceptions and behaviour of the Sinhalese Buddhists’, “self” is not due to their own judgement or internal reasoning but due to the misconceptions and irrationalities constructed by the social influence and social media. Though the Muslims’ reconstruction of their ethnoreligious identity is due to cultural dimensions and their urge to reform their ethnoreligious group, they are questioned for radicalization. The transformation of Muslim women’s attire from “saree” to “abaya” has posed a threat to mainstream society. However, whether the attire is the “saree” or “Abaya”, it is alien acculturation. To have unity in diversity, inter-religious education and inter-faith dialogue between followers of the two religions, Buddhism and Islam need to be promoted as both religions command engagement with the “other” on the basis of peace, tolerance and non-violence, regardless of the differences that may exist. Understanding the fundamental unity of the human kind and their ethno-religious and cultural plurality as the two sides of the same coin, they need to engage with and understand one another as a “Sri Lankan”.