Their motivation may be to raise their ethnic group's status in society or simply a poorly disguised attempt of the leadership to obtain power. Either way it does not change the nature of their needs. Political leaders mobilize their followers on the basis of economic offers and social factors or ethnicity. Tamil nationalism is no different than Sinhalese pride in being a Sinhalese Buddhist. Most ethnic conflicts may be the consequence of militant or extremist nationalist views but this should not provide support for the belief that ethnicity or strong ethnic ties are bad.
Modern society needs ethnicity.
Finally, the public debate over devolution and the government's devolution proposal has failed to address the important issues. The debate over devolution in Sri Lanka is not a debate over giving minorities special rights. It is a debate over whether Sri Lanka wants to extend its democracy to all communities in the society. From a political scientist's perception, one may debate whether the government's devolution plan is the best alternative for Sri Lanka. If it is not the best alternative, the question to address is what devolution plan is better.