Abstract:
Caste exists in all South Asian societies. Although the caste has become contentious
among Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka, it suffered a fatal blow among the Tamils
during the civil war. However, it has re-emerged once again during the post-war
context. In contrast, the caste among Muslims in Sri Lanka gained no significance, since
Islam has not subscribed to discrimination and inequality in the form of caste.
Nevertheless, one may come across endogamous groups analogous to caste and such
groups are subjected to certain discrimination among Muslims. As such, this study
explores whether caste still exists among the Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka and examines
the role of Islamic revivalist movements in the caste dynamics. This study employed
qualitative method for data collection such as observation, in-depth interviews and
focus group discussions. It was found that various groups occupying a higher or lower
strata of Muslim society in the Eastern Sri Lanka existed in the past, thanks to the
influence of non-Muslim neighboring communities such as Tamils, as they live side by
side in the Eastern Sri Lanka. However, such caste divisions do not exist anymore, given
the Islamic revivalism that swept through South Asia including Sri Lanka in 1970s.
Moreover, the study has also found that the advancement of education, westernization
and globalization contributed significantly to erosion of caste discrimination among the
Muslims in Eastern Sri Lanka.
