Tag Archives: Bodu Bala Sena

Sri Lanka’s surprising election result will have complex effects on the India-China-Sri Lanka strategic triangle.

Many Sri Lankans do not recognize the extremist Bodu Bala Sena as embodying Buddhist values at all, but they are increasingly unwilling to speak out about their opposition to it. The only punitive action seems to have come from Facebook, which took the BBS page offline after a flood of complaints.

Notwithstanding all the glib assurances by Sri Lankan politicians, including President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on the cohesiveness of its people in this island nation, ground realities tell another story. The Tamil nation, whose struggle for a separate homeland began in 1983, were long targeted by government forces until the massive military maneuvres by the Sri Lankan armed forces came to a …