In any study of developing societies and particularly when efforts are made to analyse the process of transition from traditional patterns to those of modernity, it is inevitable to blur the line between different institutional structures—both traditional and secular. It is very difficult to separate religion from politics. In fact, this is precisely the task which Urmila Phadnis has undertaken. She has chosen to study the inter-relationship between religion and politics in Sri Lanka. Buddhism has always been the religion of more than 90 percent of the population of Sri Lanka and this has important implications, for, Buddhism dominates the entire life of the people in Sri Lanka.
July 1976, volume 1, No 3