Abstract:
After a thirty-year ethnic and civil conflict, Sri Lanka's post-war reconciliation process is
framed around the concept of 'One Nation One State'. This concept refers to how nations and
nationalities are reorganized in one spatial framework so as to correspond to the idea of a unitary
Sri Lankan nation and the unified state of Sri Lanka. After the end of the war in 2009, the
government attempted diverse reconciliation efforts. However, these efforts took place very
slowly and to a great extent were of no avail. Within this context, little effort was made to
understand the historical consciousness which prevailed amongst the Sinhalese and Tamil
populations, which was necessary to bring about an effective solution for reconciliation. The
objective of this paper is to examine how the historical consciousness of the Sinhalese and
Tamils affects the process of social reconciliation in Sri Lanka. It will seek to determine how
ethnicity is represented in the national identity of the country. The paper is written from the
perspective of university students who participated in the History and Community Project of
2013 which was organized by the Department of History, University of Colombo. Data was
collected using primary research and secondary sources. Primary research was carried out by
interviewing a sample selection of undergraduates and graduates from the University of
Colombo and University of Jaffna, using telephone conversations, face to face conversations
and questionnaires. The research findings indicate that both Sinhala and Tamil ethnic
communities are based on a fantasized historical consciousness. The creation of a Sri Lankan
national identity is obstructed by the separate historical consciousness of the Sinhalese and
Tamils, who associate the nation with their respective ethnic identities. Their historical
consciousness is derived from the education system of the country which narrates a fantasized
version of the historical past. There is also a desire amongst the Sinhalese communities to live
in a 'One Nation One State' situation. However, there needs to be a long term approach to
reconciliation which deals with the historical consciousness of both communities. This can be
achieved by revising the education system, especially the syllabuses of text books, in the
country. Although there is much discussion about the need for ethnic reconciliation, it is
important to revise the secondary school syllabus as it contributes to creating a problematic
historical consciousness. Intellectual approaches to the problem of historical consciousness are
analyzed through this research paper.
