Religious Studies: A Global View

work was significant for two reasons: first, its emphasis on urban religion, and

second, its view of religious tradition in a historical framework.

In Seneviratne (1997) the accent is on identity politics in India and Sri Lanka,

where religion along with caste are taken into account. Seneviratne’s The Work

of Kings(1999) looks at the emergence and consolidation of political Buddhism

in Sri Lankan politics. As with political Islam and Hinduism in pre-Partition

India, this process began to take place before Independence and has continued

to date. Tambiah’s Buddhism Betrayed(1992) similarly traces the origins and

development of Buddhism’s participation in ethnic militancy and violence.

Perera’s work (1995; 1999) is perhaps singular both in its focus by a South

Asian scholar on new Christian movements in the region as well as for the

comparative perspective that brings together Nepal and Sri Lanka and to some

extent India. Perera looks at the activities of evangelical groups in the region

and concludes that these have the potential for producing conflict and even

violence. Works published in English appear to have less real impact on local

university-based knowledge production in Sri Lanka. Books published by Sri

Lankans overseas may not be widely available and may therefore not form a

key part of undergraduate teaching. However, they are definitely part of the

work that scholars and researchers in Sri Lanka must and do take note of and

are therefore documented here. Along with these, works like that by Nalin

Swaris, published locally, may be read both by scholars and students as well

as have a wider reach among the general educated reader. Swaris’ (1999) The

Buddha’s Way to Human Liberationis an interesting inquiry into the social

and historical contexts of the Buddha’s teachings. He elucidates the key

concepts of early Buddhist thought by drawing on categories from Western

philosophers including Marx, Francis Bacon, and Freud.

Bangladesh, Pakistan, and comparative studies^2

While Pakistan and Bangladesh do not provide a great deal by way of secular

studies on religion, some writings are of interest. Perhaps the relationship

between state and religion in these countries has made this a difficult theme for

scholars, though one to which several studies consciously turn. A lot of the

work on religion, particularly Islam, tends towards textual interpretations and

conventional theological approaches. Of course, one has the names of Maulana

Mawdudi, the founder of the Jama’at-i-Islami, and Fazlur Rahman, whose

scholarship on the theological and historical aspects of Islam is well known.

Rahman was, for a time, Director General of the Central Institute of Islamic

Research in Pakistan, which was given the mandate of reviving Pakistan’s

national spirit through political and legal reform within an Islamic framework.

Among other institutions, the Islamic International University, Islamabad,

Al-Mawrid in Lahore and the International Policy Institute, Islamabad, have

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ROWENA ROBINSON AND VINEETA SINHA