Out of Many, One People

One of the things I mused about was that this Island, which is twice the size of Belgium (or approximately the same area as West Virginia), has a surprising variety of ethnicities and religions among its 21 million people. I knew, of course, that there were at least two ethnic groups because that’s what the 30 year long civil war was about – a group of radical Tamils from the North wanting independence from the rest of the country. But I discovered that the population was more complex than that. Sri Lanka could easily share the Jamaican motto I’ve borrowed for the title of this piece – a translation of the latin phrase found on the Great Seal of the United States.
The Sinhalese make up nearly 75% of the population and live mostly in the southwest. Lankesh is Sinhalese and so is Arulpriya. The Tamils, originally from South India and not all of whom are terrorists, have also been in Sri Lanka for centuries. They make up another 12% of the population and live mostly in the north. I learned that there are also Indian Tamils (as opposed to the Sri Lankan Tamils mentioned above.) The British brought them over in the 19th century to work on their tea and rubber plantations where they mostly remain today. They remained stateless until several years after Sri Lanka became independent.
The Moors, descendents of Arabic traders who first came to Ceylon in the 7th century, form another minority group as do Burghers, descendents of European colonists. There are also a few Veddas -- descendents of the very first people on the Island, before the arrival of the Sinhalese.
A number of religions are practiced here and correspond largely, but not exclusively, to the various ethnic origins of their believers. The majority are Buddhist (largely the Sinhalese). Many of the Tamils are Hindu. Most of the Moors are Muslim and the Burghers are the main Christian community. According to Lankesh, people of different religions coexist peacefully. I hope he’s right and will continue to be so. A profusion of shrines, temples, mosques and churches along the main roads support his statement.

Buddhist shrine



Hindu temple



Mosque


Christian shrine



It was impossible for me, an outsider, to see any ethnic differences among the people. Those placing offerings at the Hindu shrines looked like those chanting before the Buddhist statues and those singing hymns in the Anglican church in Galle.
The following are some of those whose paths I crossed for a short while. My wish is that they be and remain as friendly, kind and hard-working as they seemed.