Jathika Hela Urumaya and ethno-religious politics in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's April 2004 parliamentary elections were a watershed because for the first time a political party comprised solely of Buddhist monks contested the polls. Despite being created just two months before the elections and generating passionate debate over the appropriateness of Buddhist monks participating directly in politics, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), or National Heritage Party, fielded over 260 candidates and won nine seats. The party claimed it wanted to institute a righteous society; yet its goals and policies were similar to those advocated by other Buddhist nationalist groups,and seemed set to complicate further the attempt to end the island's civil war. Nearly four years later the JHU's politicking has tarnished its members' reputations and the Buddhist clergy's image. Indeed, it appears the JHU may be an epiphenomenon and its rise the apogee of political Buddhism, which has dominated Sri Lankan politics for the past fifty years. The Buddhist clergy has, for better or worse, been involved in Sri Lanka's affairs for a long period of time. From that standpoint, the JHU is not necessary for Sri Lankan Buddhist nationalism; its weakened status and even demise are unlikely to especially affect the island's war and peace trajectories.