Sri Lanka Muslims at the cross roads – 9
By Izeth Hussain-
The focus of this article will be on the external dimension of the Sri Lankan Muslim ethnic problem. Way back in the seventeenth century the great English poet John Donne declared in one of his sermons, "No man is an island". It has had much vogue as a quotation over several decades for more than one reason. It figures in the epigraph to Hemingway’s best-selling novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, which was followed by an enduringly popular film starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. More importantly, the quotation could have been expected to have much resonance during a period when the perception was growing that the West was suffering from an excess of individualism. Even more importantly, the vogue of the quotation corresponded to a time when the greater part of the world was going through a process of modernization, which among other things entails a loosening of traditional social bonds. In that situation there was a deep need to affirm collective solidarity.
