Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities

Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Edited by John Clifford Holt

Proposes an alternative view of Muslims where, unlike in the Middle East, they are the victims of majoritarian politics
Discusses events that invert the common stereotypes of Buddhists as pacifists and Muslims as violent jihadists

Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities

Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Edited by John Clifford Holt

Description

When the civil war in Sri Lanka between Sinhala Buddhists and Tamils ended in 2009, many Sri Lankans and foreign observers alike hoped to see the re-establishment of relatively harmonious religious and ethnic relations among the various communities in the country. Instead, a different type of violence erupted, this time aimed at the Muslim community. The essays in Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities investigate the history and current state of Buddhist-Muslim relations in Sri Lanka, in an attempt to identify the causes of this newly emergent conflict. Euro-American readers unfamiliar with this story will be surprised to learn that it inverts common stereotypes of the two religious groups. In this context, certain groups of Buddhists, generally considered peace-oriented in the West, are engaged in victimizing Muslims, who are increasingly seen as militant. The authors examine the historical contexts and substantive reasons that gave rise to Buddhist nationalism and aggressive attacks on Muslim communities. The rise of Buddhist nationalism in general is analyzed and explained, while the specific role, methods, and character of the militant Bodu Bala Sena ("Army of Buddhist Power") movement receive particular scrutiny. The motivations for attacks on Muslims may include deep-seated perceptions of economic disparity, but elements of religious culture (ritual and symbol) are also seen as catalysts for explosive acts of violence. This much-needed, timely commentary promises to shift the standard narrative on Muslims and religious violence.

Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities

Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Edited by John Clifford Holt

Introduction
By John Clifford Holt

1. Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and Muslim Identity in Sri Lanka: One Hundred Years of Conflict and Coexistence
By M. A. Nuhman

2. Rethinking Muslim Identity in Sri Lanka
By Dennis B. McGilvray

3. Refuge in the State: Buddhist Monks and Virtuous Governmentality
By Jonathan A. Young

4. Configurations of Buddhist Nationalism in Modern Sri Lanka
By Benjamin Schonthal

5. Gossip, Rumor and Propaganda in Anti-Muslim Campaigns of the Bodu Bala Sena
By Kalinga Tudor Silva

6. Adjudicating Antiquity: The Politics of Historical Confrontation at Devanagala, Sri Lanka
By Philip Friedrich

7. Stories in the Aftermath of Aluthgama
By Farzana Haniffa

8. A Religious Syntax to Recent Communal Violence in Sri Lanka
By John Clifford Holt

Bibliography
Notes about Contributors

Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities

Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Edited by John Clifford Holt

Author Information

John Clifford Holt is a Professor of Religion and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College. He is the author of more than a dozen books on the religious cultures of South and Southeast Asia.

Contributors:

Philip Friedrich is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Farzana Haniffa is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Colombo.

John Clifford Holt (Ph.D., Chicago) is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Humanities in Religion and Asian Studies at Bowdoin College.

Dennis B. McGilvray is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and President of the American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies.

M. A. Nuhman, Retired Professor of Tamil, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, is a well known scholar, poet, literary critic, linguist and a creative translator in Tamil.

Benjamin Schonthal is Lecturer in Buddhism / Asian Religions at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

Kalinga Tudor Silva holds a BA from the University of Peradeniya and PhD from Monash University, Australia.

Jonathan A. Young is Visiting Assistant Professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.

Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities

Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Edited by John Clifford Holt

Reviews and Awards

"Islamophobia has triggered communal violence and poisoned social relations in several Theravada Buddhist countries in recent years. Exploring the case of Sri Lanka, the present collection offers scholarship at its best: informative and stimulating, engaging and sophisticated. It presents original field observations, hard-hitting facts on Buddhist extremist derivations and comprehensive analyses, as it introduces the reader to the stunning complexity of the lives of Sri Lanka's Muslim minorities. Yet this is not just an insightful and timely collection of fine essays. It promises to be immensely useful as a resource for studying ethno-religious instability and will be required reading for anyone who takes an interest in contemporary Buddhist-Muslim relations." --Jacques P. Leider, École française d'Extrême-Orient, Yangon