[Review of] S. J. Tambiah. Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy

Is it possible to analyze a political dilemma as convoluted and desperate as the turmoil existing today between the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus of Sri Lanka that has cost nearly 5,000 lives during the last five years alone? S. J. Tambiah succeeds most admirably in offering a clear assessment of historical, sociological, and other factors contributing to the current crisis in Sri Lanka. This is no mean feat considering that Tambiah is not a dispassionate observer but rather, as a Tamil, has experienced first-hand the effects of the increasing polarization of the two ethnic groups