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DATE=10/13/00

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=Sri Lanka Nationalism

NUMBER=5-47167

BYLINE=Jim Teeple

DATELINE=Colombo

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: For 17 years, civil war has raged in the island nation of Sri Lanka as minority Tamil Separatists have battled government troops to

carve a separate homeland out of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The war is a modern conflict but one that mirrors an age-old rivalry between

the majority Sinhalese who make up 76 percent of Sri Lanka's population and the Tamils who make up 18-percent of the population. The war also has religious overtones because nearly all Sinhalese are Buddhist, and most Tamils are either Hindu or Christian. V-O-A's Jim Teeple reports there are growing signs of a resurgent nationalism within the majority Sinhalese community, which could complicate any efforts to end Sri Lanka's long-running civil war.

TEXT: // ACTUALITY OF BELLS..EST AND FADE UNDER TEXT //

TEXT: As they do every day, the bells of the Vidyodaya Pirivena temple draw hundreds of Buddhist faithful to worship. The temple with its

leafy garden and stately buildings, built over one hundred years ago, occupies an entire city block in an old section of Sri Lanka's capital,

Colombo. Like thousands of other temples in this devoutly Buddhist land, the Vidyodaya Pirivena temple is not only a center for religious observance -- but also the place where ordinary Sri Lankans gather every evening -- to see their neighbors and friends.

// OPT // Buddhism has two schools of teaching one based in Sri

Lanka and the other originally from Tibet. It is from Sri Lanka that Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia. Buddhism is a monastic culture and Sri Lanka's Buddhist monks consider themselves the guardians of Buddhist faith and the Sri Lantern identity. For Buddhist monks the two are inseparable. To divide Sri Lanka along ethnic lines into separate Sinhalese and Tamil states would violate the very message given by the Lord Buddha, to keep the faith whole and pure. // END OPT //

Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have long played an important behind-the-scenes role in political life. Now, Buddhist monks are increasingly speaking out publicly condemning everything from how Sri

Lanka's 17-year war with Tamil separatists is being fought, to what they say is growing political corruption. Akuratiye Nanda is the senior

abbot at the Vidyodaya Pirivena temple. He says he speaks for many in Sri Lanka's Sinhalese community when he criticizes the country's two

main political parties -- the Peoples' Alliance, which leads the government, and the main opposition United National Party.

// NANDA ACTUALITY //

I think many Sinhalese think that both the government and the main opposition parties are not considering the majority voice. This has been a Sinhalese Buddhist country for 25 centuries and now the majority

is being suppressed. Both the government and the opposition are only appealing to the ideas of the minorities.

// END ACTUALITY //

Many in Sri Lanka's Tamil community complain they face discrimination in jobs, education and use of the Tamil language. Their grievances led first to political discontent, and eventually to armed conflict although Sri Lanka's government argues that discriminatory practices against Tamils are a thing of the past.

Now similar complaints are coming from influential Sinhalese, like Akuratiye Nanda who says more attention is being paid to the rights of

Tamils and other minorities than to the majority Sinhalese population.

// 2ND NANDA ACUALITY //

We are threatened because we cannot live in Jaffna, we cannot live in the northeast, in Trincomalee, or Batticoloa. They (Tamils) claim it is

their native place but we think that Sinhalese or Tamils or Muslims should be entitled to live anywhere in Sri Lanka. They (Tamils) can live in Colombo, in the southern part of the island, or in the central

part of the island, but Sinhalese are not supposed to live there according to their view and that is, I believe, unfair.

// END ACTUALITY //

Several months ago Buddhist monks like Akuratiye Nanda led street protests against President Chandrika Kumaratunga's proposal to amend Sri Lanka's constitution to give Tamil minority-dominated areas in the north and east of the country a degree of political autonomy. The plan so incensed the Buddhist clergy that many like Akuratiye Nanda joined

disaffected lawmakers in forming a new political party Sihala Urumaya or Sinhalese Heritage. The party has grown rapidly and won one seat in Sri Lanka's just-concluded parliamentary elections. Thilak Karunaratne, the General Secretary of Sihala Urumaya says Buddhist monks have not been politically active in recent years -- but that is changing.

// KARUNARATNE ACTUALITY //

It is not a new phenomenon, but it had been shelved for some time since 1977 or so. We thought that this relationship between politicians

and Buddhist monks should be revived, and their support has been good. But to convert that into actual votes will take time.

// END ACTUALITY //

Thilak Karunaratne says the key to winning elections in Sri Lanka is to

have a strong grass-roots political network. He says because Sihala Urumaya is so young the party has not had time to construct such a network -- but he says the party has a built-in advantage over other

more established parties in Sri Lanka. Thilak Karunaratne says nearly every village in Sri Lanka has a Buddhist temple. He says that means there is potential support for Sihala Urumaya in nearly every village in Sri Lanka. (Signed)

neb/jlt/plm