A Dangerously Fraught Chapter in Post-war Sri Lanka

8/12/2019 A Dangerously Fraught Chapter in Post-war Sri Lanka

1/3

A dangerously fraught chapter

in post-war Sri LankaSunday, June 22, 2014

The atrocity that is Aluthgama 2014 happened at the instigation of outsiders brought into the

area That much is clear As said by stricken Sinhala and !uslim residents" #this had noin$ol$ement with our communities" we li$e ne%t to each other& but when outsiders came and

attacked" e$eryone was attacking each other'

(arefully planned communal $iolence

)ut baldly" a simple altercation between two local groups" a *uddhist monk with his dri$er and

a few !uslim youths" spiraled out of control due to carefully strategised tensions which had

been simmering long before The catalyst for the communal $iolence in Aluthgama and

*eruwala soon after this minor altercation was an unabashedly racist speech spewed by the

**S's +alagoda-atte +nanasara Thero on Sunday

,epeatedly raising his arm in militant gestures and pushing yellow robes which were falling off

his shoulders in a sight that any genuine *uddhist would ha$e repudiated in shuddering

distaste" he urged the annihilation of #!arakkalayos' !uslims. in Sri Lanka" e%horting that the

Sinhalese should not stay silent anymore but collecti$ely organi/e against !uslims

Sinhala and !uslim factions clashed thereafter while the police and the Special Task orce

ST. stayed silent This has been affirmed not only by !uslim $ictims but also opposition

members of parliament" one of whom had got personally attacked while trying to help !uslim

women and children escape hat shame is this

hy is the **S permitted to be at large

Amidst the chaos" there are a few clear truths that can be e%tracted irst and foremost" this

go$ernment's promises of action to be taken against the perpetrators are scarcely to be

belie$ed !ahinda ,a3apaksa's twitter message and his meeting up with $ictims and

community leaders after return to Sri Lanka were punctuated by an undertaking that the

instigators would be dealt with ew ha$e indeed been arrested" including !uslims accused of
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/columns/a-dangerously-fraught-chapter-in-post-war-sri-lanka-104521.htmlhttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/columns/a-dangerously-fraught-chapter-in-post-war-sri-lanka-104521.htmlhttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/uploads/STM211.jpghttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/uploads/kishali1.jpghttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/columns/a-dangerously-fraught-chapter-in-post-war-sri-lanka-104521.htmlhttp://www.sundaytimes.lk/140622/columns/a-dangerously-fraught-chapter-in-post-war-sri-lanka-104521.html


2/3

rising up against the Sinhalese

*ut the **S remains at large" free to engage in their repulsi$e politics of race hatred After

months of cowering under **S death threats" the moderate !ahiyangana monk en atareka

Thero was found bound" gagged and badly assaulted on Thursday ,eportedly his police

security had been withdrawn a month ago en atareka Thero had complained against the

**S" most recently after a press conference in a (olombo hotel was broken up by the **SThese complaints ha$e been to no a$ail

That go$ernment protection is afforded to the **S is a reasonable presumption therefore

ideo recordings and indi$idual testimonies afford sufficient reason for arrests *ut there is a

magic $eil drawn o$er associated political party ideologues of the **S These ideologues

protest $ehemently now that they had nothing to do with the Aluthgama $iolence These

incredulous denials should be treated with suitable contempt

Silence of law enforcement agencies

Second" we return to the culpability of Sri Lanka's law enforcement agencies as an underlyingpoint to this criti5ue 6n Tuesday" mainstream newspapers which had earlier marginali/ed

reports of the communal $iolence while the social media went abla/e" featured reports of the

ST protecting the town of Aluthgama in the #aftermath' of the $iolence The 5uestion is as to

why such protection was not manifested #during' and not only in the #aftermath' of the riots

hy was the **S allowed to hold a public meeting in Aluthgama during a tense time hy

was this monumentally racist Thero" whose $ery claim to a religious title comes as an affront to

the Sangha" permitted to speak publicly

The 7nspector +eneral of )olice 7+). e%plained lamely that a stay order was not obtained

because they #hoped' that good sense would pre$ail Apparently these optimistic presumptionswere discarded soon after the Aluthgama riots when the police obtained a stay order against a

similar rally being organi/ed by a supposedly **S affiliated group in !awanella The **S

itself" in the precise traditions of barefaced lying by Sri Lanka's politicians in this

8hammadweepa" land of the *uddha 8hamma." stoutly denied that it had links to this

particular group

(ommonalities of communal $iolence

e are grie$ously familiar with the commonalities of communal $iolence in this country

9nsubstantiated rumors" agent pro$ocateurs and the inaction of law enforcement agencies are

general features :$en after decades of $iolence which tore us asunder and blackened Sri

Lanka's name across the world" this go$ernment cynically allowed and e$en encouraged the

breeding of religious racist groups to gather strength post-war This is not to say that the faultlies purely with e%tremists who scream hatred while wrapping *uddhist robes around them or

indeed to deny that 7slamic fundamentalism is on the rise 6n the contrary" the responsibility

for the rise of fundamentalists due to the unscrupulous use of religious e%tremism for pure

political moti$es is $ested with the ,a3apaksa go$ernment" none other


3/3

!uslim !inisters should be ashamed to profess continuing allegiance to this administration

The shedding of tears by the ;ustice !inister this week is a particularly ironic 3oke 7nstead of

typical pre$arications" resignations from ministerial positions must be immediately e$idenced

*ut gi$en the nature of politics" principled positions cannot be e%pected

And with the honourable e%ception of the Amarapura !ahanayake Thero" the silence of the!ahanayakes of the *uddhist (hapters on the Aluhtgama $iolence is unsettling Apparently the

only matter to perturb the (hief 7ncumbent of the Asgiriya (hapter this week was the planned

holding of night races in

Documents

A Dangerously Fraught Chapter in Post-war Sri Lanka