Caste and Islamic Revivalist Movements: A Case Study of Eastern Muslims in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Caste exists in all South Keywords: caste discrimination, education, globalization, Islamism, Islam in Sri LankaCaste system, which has been in existence in South Asia over the past three millennia and is an integral part of Hindu ethos, social structure and cultural traditions, is a unique hierarchical system of social stratification. Among the different social stratifications exist in the society, caste can be named as one of them. The term caste was derived from Spanish word 'casta' meaning breed or race (Farook 2012). Caste system is basically a way of dividing people into different social classes ranking them in a range between the highest and the lowest (Rao 2010). To be precise, it is based on the varna system comprising of four-fold division of society as well as smaller, innumerable units within the hierarchy, which are called jatis in Tamil. The overarching system of social hierarchy as represented by the varna model suggests an idealized and oversimplified picture of society. The varna model is fraught with ambiguities. The various Brahman jatis, for example, are not only endogamous but are also ranked in terms of high and low. Various jati clusters, which are generally perceived as homogenous are in fact internally differentiated and have a ranking hierarchy of their own (Dube 2010).

The Sinhala‐Buddhicization of the state and the rise of authoritarianism in Sri Lanka

“…While the IS group claimed responsibility for the attacks (Winsor & Jovanovic, 2019), it is not clear that the Muslims who exploded the bombs had any contacts and/or working relations with the IS. Nevertheless, the 2016 publicization of the news story that “thirty‐two Sri Lankan Muslims from well‐educated and elite families…joined the Islamic State in Syria” (Aneez, 2016) fueled the fears surrounding possible security threats.…”