Abstract
The notion of ‘races’ divided by such fundamental and immutable differences that they cannot live together has long been rejected as unscientific and ideological. The notions of ‘nationalities’ and ‘ethnic groups’ at first seem more acceptable, yet they too are increasingly being used to refer to supposedly monolithic entities that are permanently divided from each other. When used by those who are trying to establish the supremacy of their own nationality or ethnic group in a given territory, they can be a pretext for persecution of minorities and ethnic cleansing, but all too often, the very same notions are used by those who see themselves as fighting against such policies. Sri Lanka offers a striking illustration of the impossibility of resolving the problem of persecution of minorities while using the same racist ideological framework that was used to create it in the first place. A completely different framework, acknowledging multilayered, multifaceted identities and multiple belongings, in combination with the politics of solidarity rather than segregation, has proved to be far more promising.
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Notes
For many years these people were called ‘Indian Tamils’, then ‘Tamils of Indian Origin’ or ‘Tamils of Recent Indian Origin’. However, the name by which they refer to themselves (Malaiyaha Tamirar) can be translated as ‘Hill-country Tamils’ (see Daniel 1996: 23).
The classificatory zeal of the colonisers, especially the British, played a part in making communities fixed where they had been fluid before. However, the numerous identities they recognised were neither clear-cut nor mutually exclusive but vague and overlapping. Of these, only two were selected and further elaborated by the Sinhala and Tamil nationalists, who therefore have the main responsibility for constructing these identities. (See Wickramasinghe 2006: 44–50).
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