POWER

SHARING
IN
SRI LANKA
 WHAT IS POWER SHARING ?
THE PROCESS OF DISTRIBUTION OF THE
POWER OF A COUNTRY OR A REGION
AMONGST THE DIFFERENT PARTS OR
ORGANS OF ANY PARTICULAR
GOVERNMENT SUCH AS JUDICIARY,
EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATURE CAN BE
DEFINED AS POWER SHARING
● Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon,
island country lying in the
Indian Ocean and separated
from peninsular India by the
Palk Strait.
● IT HAS A POPULATION
OF APPROX. TWO
CRORE
● IT HAS AN AREA OF
65.61K KM²
ETHNIC COMPOSITION IN SRI
LANKA
 MAJORITISM
Majoritarianism means that the desires and needs of
minorities are ignored by the majority in a country.
Furthermore, the majority community’s wishes
govern the country. As a result, it is detrimental to
national unity because minorities may feel as if they
lack a voice.
 MAJORITISM IN SRI LANKA
After Sri Lanka became independent of the colonial rule in 1948, it had two major communities,
the Sinhalese (74 per cent) and the Tamilians (18 per cent). As the Sinhalese were in majority, they
elected themselves to power, introduced a series of majoritarian policies to ascertain the supremacy
of their community. They appointed Sinhalese people to preferential positions in government and
also made Sinhala as the only official language of the nation. Various government measures
gradually increased the feeling of alienation among the Tamilians of Sri Lanka. This led to dissent
among the Tamilian community, which with time strained the relations between the Sinhala and
Tamil communities. The distrust between both the communities finally culminated into a Civil war,
with Tamilians demanding the formation of independent Tamil state in northern and eastern parts
of Sri Lanka. This led to thousands of people being killed in the civil war.
Thus, the assertive policies of the majority community threatened the unity and integrity of the
country.
“THE MINORITIES ARE SOMETIMES
RIGHT. THE MAJORITIES NEVER”

—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW