The Demand for an Administrative District for the Coastal Belt of Amparai District in Sri Lanka: An Assessment of Its Root Causes

Abstract

Both in Sri Lanka’s national as well as in Muslim politics in the recent past, the demand for an administrative district in the coastal belt of Amparai district has been one of the contested topics of debate and discourse and has been an influencing subject in electoral politics. This research attempts to explore the major factors that have induced the emergence of the demand in detail. The finding reveals that four major interconnected causes have been severely influencing on the origin and the advocacy of the demand, namely: (1) the domination of an ethnic group (majority) and their language over the administration of Amparai district, (2) the violation of constitutional provisions on language of administration, (3) the marginalization and (4) discrimination of ethno-linguistic minorities and their rights in resource utilization and other aspects of district administration. All these factors have persuaded the people of the area (referred as ‘South Eastern region’) to claim and advocate a separate administrative district for the region. The study suggests that the proper implementation of the constitutional provisions on minority language and the institutional restructuring of the district secretariat can reconcile the issues facing by the people of the region in the affairs of district administration which also would challenge the demand to a certain extent.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s3p434