Ethnic Politics in Sri Lanka: The Question of India’s Implications

From the identity and population displacement perspective South Asia has a long and unique history. Ethnicity refers to a sense of the unity of identity and culture of a particular group. The question of Identity becomes an important factor for „locating oneself in society‟ in contemporary world society. The attitude of identity represents the image of „Self‟ and „others‟. This idea is complex and analyzed distinctively in various contexts. Ethnic problem rise in national and international politics in various ways: a) Civilization of Clashes, b) Tribalism, c) Resource Scarcity, d) Over-population. Political identity of each group becomes an important political phenomenon of developing nations in the 20th century. Sri Lanka is a multi – ethnic, multi – religious and multi - lingual nation in the South Asia. Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a portion of land extending from the mainland of India separated by Palk Strait and almost surrounded by water. In the third world nations it is a unique state which occupied the different characters of regimes: authoritarian, fascist and democratic. The ultimate goal of its authoritative political system with centralized presidentialism is to establish the stable society in the state. In my paper I want to explore the root causes of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and point out the various ways in which this civil conflict/war posed the menace to the Indian national security. The ethnic crisis between Sinhala and Tamil nationality has an implication for India‟s security due to the existence of Tamil community in Tamil Nadu of India.