“We Are All Sri Lankans”: Sri Lankan Muslim Organization's Reaction Towards Islamofobia

The civil war in Sri Lanka between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government ended in 2009. In this ethnic conflict there was a third group whose ‘own’ identity was strengthened by the war, this was the minority Muslim population. Muslim politicians were using religion as an ethnic marker to strengthen their identity in the civil war and not getting involved in it. The war ended but Sri Lanka once again might face a conflict in the country. Clashes between Sinhala and Muslim groups are already a fact. Behind this is a Buddhist organization called Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist power force), and the target this time is the Muslim community with Islamofobic rhetoric’s.

This paper focuses on how Muslim organizations in Sri Lanka try to face organizations like Bodu Bala Sena in their counter rhetoric’s. ‘We are all Sri Lankan’s is one of the most common slogans that is used by Muslim politicians and other actors in the way of facing Bodu Bala Sena, at the same time they want to safeguard the Muslim interest and the Muslim identity. This “dual-nationalism” is not uncommon in post-colonial societies and in the case of Muslim organizations in Sri Lanka Islamofobia trigs this.

This paper is based on interviews with 45 members of Muslim political organizations in Sri Lanka and material from these organizations websites and social media.