Version imprimableThe crisis in Sri Lanka has shaken not only the citizens of Sri Lanka but also the neighbors and the World as a whole. At one level there is a humanitarian crisis at another we can see the impact of autocratic discriminatory policies on the citizens, particularly workers, Tamil and Muslim minority and average people. The sight of thousands of people surrounding and occupying the house of President and putting private house of Prime Minister Ranilsinghe on fire is very frightening. The shortage of food, petrol, medicines is leading to immense miseries among the population of the island nation.
The political tendency in Srilanka has been to bestow more powers to the President; autocracy has been the overall direction of the regime. Its autocratic nature has been complete from last few decades. The dictatorial autocrats have taken economic steps which have ruined the foundations of economy. Liberal imports particularly of luxury items and reckless privatization have been two major factors apart from whimsical mega projects like Mattala Rajpaksa Airport, which is hardly useful has emptied the treasury to a large extent.
The food crisis, apart from other things, has gone for a free fall due to a senseless ban on import of fertilizers and total emphasis on organic agriculture which has brought down the food production in a drastic way. Such economic misadventures have a lot to do with the dictatorial nature of regime, where one person (or family combo) takes the decision as per their whims and fancies. The rise of such an autocracy has a lot to do with the parallel policies which have oppressed and marginalized the minorities, Tamil (Hindu), Muslims and Christians.
This nation had close links with India and it was here where Emperor Ashoka sent his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghmitra to propagate the values put forward by Tathagat Gautam Buddha. It was here that large number of Tamils (mostly Hindus) migrated either as plantation labors or for trade relations. While the native Sinhala are mostly Buddhists, Tamil Hindus (12.9%) are in substantial number and are followed by Muslims (9.7%) and Christians (1.3%) in population.
Being a post-colonial state, it also had ethnic identity highlighted due to the British policy, which divides the population on the ground of religion in particular. The Sinhala Buddhists claimed to be the
