Majoritarianism is a philosophy which asserts that the majority community should be able to rule a country in whichever way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minority. It means submission of the minority group to the majority group for all the decisions affecting their lives.
A series of majoritarian measures were adopted by the democratically elected government in Sri Lanka after its independence in 1948. It adopted majoritarianism to establish Sinhala supremacy. In 1956, an Act was passed to recognise Sinhala as the only official language, thus disregarding Tamil. The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for university positions and government jobs. A new Constitution advocated that the state shall protect and promote Buddhism. All these measures taken by the government gradually increased the feeling of alienation among Sri Lankan Tamils.
