Tamil Scholars Critique Rohini Hensman’s Post-War Sri Lanka Analysis for Omitting Core Tamil History

Tamil scholars say post-war Sri Lanka analysis overlooks Tamil historical continuity, weakening reconciliation and democratic solutions.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, December 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tamil Scholars Critique Rohini Hensman’s Post-War Sri Lanka Analysis for Omitting Core Tamil History

Tamil Diaspora News — Tamil scholars and historians have raised concerns regarding Rohini Hensman’s widely cited academic paper, “Post-war Sri Lanka: Exploring the Path Not Taken” (Dialectical Anthropology, 2015), arguing that while the work critiques ethnic majoritarianism, it significantly overlooks essential dimensions of Tamil history and political continuity in Sri Lanka.

Hensman’s article offers a strong critique of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism and authoritarian governance, and it rightly documents post-independence discrimination, pogroms, and democratic erosion. However, critics say the paper’s emphasis on identity fluidity, hybridity, and solidarity politics comes at the cost of adequately recognizing Tamils as a historically rooted people of the island’s North and East, with continuous habitation, pre-colonial political institutions, and distinct civilizational traditions.

Tamil historians note that the analysis largely compresses Tamil history into the post-1948 period, framing Tamil political mobilization mainly as a reaction to Sinhala nationalism. This approach, they argue, sidelines crucial historical realities such as the Jaffna Kingdom, Tamil Buddhist and Saiva Hindu heritage, and the role Tamils played in governance, education, and administration during pre-colonial and colonial eras. Without this grounding, Tamil claims to autonomy and equality risk being mischaracterized as modern ethnic nationalism rather than responses to long-term dispossession.

Another key concern is the paper’s tendency to place Sinhala and Tamil nationalisms on near-parallel moral footing. While abuses committed by Tamil militant groups deserve scrutiny, critics argue that this framing underplays the structural asymmetry of power between a centralized state and a stateless people. Constitutional exclusion, state-sponsored pogroms, demographic engineering, and prolonged militarization, they say, cannot be equated with non-state violence without obscuring historical responsibility.

Tamil scholars also point out that non-violent Tamil political traditions receive insufficient attention. Decades of federalist demands, language parity movements, and constitutional engagement—often met with broken agreements and repression—are not fully explored. As a result, the paper’s proposed solution of moving beyond ethnic frameworks appears detached from the lived historical experience of Tamils.

While acknowledging the value of Hensman’s critique of authoritarianism, Tamil academics stress that reconciliation and democracy cannot be built on frameworks that abstract identity away from history, land, and power. They argue that any serious post-war analysis must engage deeply with Tamil historical nationhood to avoid repeating patterns of marginalization—this time in academic discourse.

Tamil Diaspora News urges that Hensman’s work be read alongside historically grounded scholarship by K. Indrapala, S. Pathmanathan, and early R.A.L.H. Gunawardana, as well as Tamil federalist writings, to ensure that post-war debates do not erase Tamil history in the pursuit of theoretical balance.

True reconciliation in Sri Lanka requires recognition of history—not its dilution.

Editor
Tamil Diaspor News
+1 516-308-2645
email us here

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.