Deprivation of Dharmapala thought in Local History of National Freedom and the Dominance of Western Ideology and the Problem of Local Thinking

Abstract

National freedom struggle from Britain in the early 20th century has been much concentrated by the works of urban elite class, who were comprised by both communist labor leaders and the people who educated at the British Ox-bridge tradition. However, the contribution of Anagarika Dharmapala on the Freedom Struggle has been underestimated by the contemporary political and social discourses. Resurrection of Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism is the most popular and much focus concern of Anagarika Dharmapala. This has not limited only towards the Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism but also it has earlier influence for the construction of freedom struggle before the scattered opinion among local people. However, widely accepted notion on the freedom achievement drew from the western educated and urban labor leaders, has established in the spheres of political science and Mass communication studies. In Conclusion, Dharmapala has immensely contributed for making a pre-conditional concrete social thought and national political environment for national freedom in Sri Lanka. However, dominant social and political thought were establishing from the British colonialism and urban elite class from the very beginning of mid-19th century. As a result, contribution of Dharmapala was neglected by the colonial educators at the mid-20th century simultaneously with the construction of British ruling and educating system in the national policy planning. This was mostly due to the facts that British educated local people, who were represented in the parliament and the negligence of the contribution of Dharmapala by ill-treating and misconceptioning on narrow ethnic and cultural perspectives by the local people.