Karava - Political Influence

Political Influence

The democratic system of Sri Lanka, where the main political parties are run as family organizations, dominated by the elite Radala and Govigama castes has prevented Karava and other minority community politicians from ever reaching the top or gaining political influence. Young leaders rising up against the system have been continually eliminated by the Sri Lankan state since the 1970s.

Non–Govigama representation in Parliament has steadily declined since independence and representation of non-Govigama castes are well below their population percentages. . Caste representation in the Cabinet is limited to a few very visible, but unconcerned and disconnected members from a few leading castes. However none of these representatives are known to have ever spoken on behalf of their respective communities or done anything constructive for the progress of these communities.

Whereas Karave are very vocal about their Sinhala Buddhist identity and drive the nationalistic political parties such as the SLFP and JVP, both aligned to Sinhala nationalism. Some sociologists have commented that the current civil war in Sri Lanka has become a vehicle by which both the Karave have sought to marginalize the post-colonial elites by taking extremely partisan but opposite views.