Mob attacks against Muslim minorities in Sri Lanka sparked the governed to declare a statewide emergency this past Tuesday.
The unrest began on Sunday, as mobs attacked Muslin houses and buildings, including a mosque, resulting in at least one casualty. Hundreds of forces were deployed in the city of Kandy to curb the violence, declaring a curfew to limit activity.
A state of emergency was declared to stop the spread of violence across the country after an audio recording of a victim was released. “We have decided to declare a state of emergency to ensure these clashes and tensions don’t spread elsewhere in the country,” government official Dayasiri Jayasekara stated.
The state of emergency will last for 10 days to ensure no outbreaks occur. Police are present throughout the area, though their presence is not always beneficial, as Jayasekera mentioned in the initial incident. “There were mistakes on the part of the local police in implementing the law. Some of the attacks happened in front of them.”
This was not the first attack against Muslims in Sri Lanka in the last few weeks. One week earlier, an attack against a bus driver prompted retaliatory attacks on Muslims in the eastern region of Sri Lanka.
Tensions between Muslims and the majority Sinhalese Buddhists have been steadily on the rise. The Sinhalese Buddhist majors has become increasingly nationalistic in the past years, and the government has struggled to curtail the growing anti Muslim sentiments.
While Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in 2009 after an uprising by the minority Muslims was crushed, the underlying causes of that initial conflict continue to incite violence today. Many of the minority still seek justice for their harsh treatment following the rebellion, and many still have missing family members who have yet to be found.
Unfortunately, government officials have hurt the peace effort in recent public actions. A high ranking government official was seen on duty in London making a slitting throat gesture at Tamil minorities. Such actions undermine the fragile peace efforts in the region. The government recalled the official, not to be disciplined, but for his own security, a telling sign of the bias against the Muslims by those in charge.
