An analytical view on Muslim ethno-centric political party system in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan Muslims formed an ethno-centric political party in 1986 and it has completed almost three decades. This formation is considered as a paradigm political shift for north and eastern Muslims of the Island in particular. The main aim of this study is to explore the main reasons why Mohamed Ashraf, a civil activist as well as a senior lawyer, who was son of Kalmunai of Ampara district in Sri Lanka, wanted to form an ethno-centric party which is Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), instead of involving in one of the national parties and to identify the contributions as well as the shortcomings of the party from its inception to present. Qualitative data, mostly secondary data, has been used in this study. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews, literary books, journal articles and internet sources. Nine Interviewees were selected from the following three categories: Political activists, Journalists and Academicians. This study finds that there are considerable influential factors which compelled north-east Muslims to form an ethno-centric political party. Further, it identifies that SLMC focused on some development projects rather than gaining Muslim rights, especially from 1994 onwards.