Power Sharing

Ethnic Composition of Belgium

1. 59% of the people spoke Dutch and lived in the Flemish Region (Majority)

2. 40% of the people spoke French and lived in the Wallonia Region (Minority)

3. Only 1% of the people spoke German

4. In the capital city of Brussels the spilt between French speaking and Dutch speaking was 80% Dutch and 20% French.

5. There was tension between them due to two main reasons

   1. The Dutch speaking who were a majority throughout the country were a minority in the capital

   2. The French speaking people were much more economically developed compared to the Dutch speaking people.

Accommodation in Belgium

(Trick - SEBC Socially and Economically Backward Classes)

1. The number of Dutch speaking minsters and French speaking ministers were to be kept equal in the Central Government. Some special laws required majority approval from both linguistic groups

2. The state governments of the Dutch speaking flemish region and the French speaking Wallonia region were not subordinate to the central government.

3. Brussels had a separate government with equal representation of both French speaking people and Dutch speaking people. The French speaking accepted this as the Dutch speaking had a majority in the country as a whole.

4. There were special community governments for each Dutch , French and German speaking people who had control over cultural , linguistic and educational matters.

Ethnic Composition in Sri Lanka

1. The Sinhala speaking consisted of 74% of people who were Buddhist

2. The Tamil speaking consisted of 18% people who were mostly Hindu

3. The Christians who were 7% were both Sinhala and Tamil speaking

4. Out of the Tamil speaking only 13% were Sri Lankan Tamils while the rest were Indian Tamils

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka

After the independence of Sri Lanka in 1948 , the Sinhalese established superiority using the majority in the government. This was done by the following:

1. In 1956 , an act was passed recognising Sinhala as the official language of the country.

2. Government had preferential policies for the Sinhalese in government jobs and university positions.

3. Laws were passed in favour of protecting and practising Buddhism

Conflict in Sri Lanka

1. Due to these policies there was a feeling of isolation among the Tamil speaking population.

2. They felt that they were not given equal political rights and discriminated for opportunities when it came to employment and education.

3. None of the major political parties. which were dominated by the Sinhalese supported the Tamil demands

4. The Tamils were demanding for Tamil also to be recognised as an official language and providing equal opportunities and removing discriminatory policies.

5. By the 1980s, there was a demand for the Tamil Eelam or Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka

6. A Civil War broke out within the country drastically affecting life for it’s people and the culutural , social and economic situation of the country.