Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations in Sri Lanka: Peacemakers or Parasites?
Since of late Sri Lanka's nationalist forces have branded local NGOs and activists promoting peace to be unpatriotic and claimed that they undermine the country's sovereignty. The pro-peace groups that especially rely on foreign funding for their activities are also branded parasitic. Such attacks can be said to be part of a nationalist ideology rooted in chauvinism and a belief that Sri Lanka's minorities live there under the majority community's sufferance. The fact, however, is that their shortcomings notwithstanding, most NGOs have done valuable service, and this was especially so after the December 2004 tsunami devastated the country's southern and eastern coasts.