At a time when
the Sri Lankan government should have seized the bull by the horns and ensured
ethnic harmony, the opposite is seen as unfolding with very little interference
from the government.
Today, there are verified charges against that form of complacency by a
government not willing to act against a rising terrorist force in the form of an
extremist Sinhalese Buddhist group that calls itself the Bodu Bala Sena, or the
Buddhist strength force. It has in recent times focused its target of racial
hatred against the peaceful Muslim minority of the island.
A Sri Lankan Muslim had this to say: “We have been inhabitants of the land for
centuries. We have assimilated with the culture and consider ourselves Sri
Lankans. Unfortunately, we do not get cooperation in return. Many of us are
denied job opportunities in the government because of our religion. There are
many educated Muslim Sri Lankans, yet they are not preferred for good posts.
There is discrimination in all walks of life against us, but we manage, hoping
for the day things will change.”
She continued, “When the war against the Tamils was over, we thought that now
the country would mend itself and become strong. Instead, it seems that the
victory has given some of these extremist Buddhist groups more courage to carry
out further carnage against all minorities including the Muslims and Christians
of the island.
“The government seems to be going along with these militant groups as they have
not carried out their steps for reconciliation. We are not supported for quality
state education, nor does it seem lately that our safety is something which
concerns the government. Our places of worship have been attacked, our people
assaulted, and the terrorism continues unabated.
“There are a number of militant groups operating openly in Sri Lanka and
spreading their message of rabid racism and intolerance. The government can put
a stop to all of this if they want. Not only the government but also the
country’s security forces have got into the act and are cooperating with these
thugs.”
She goes on, “As you know, Muslim camps remain open and around 130,000 Muslim
refugees from the north of the island continue to languish in refugee camps in
appalling conditions three and a half years after the war. The irony is that
this is happening three years after the 30-year ethnic war ended. What lessons
have we learnt from the past carnage? Absolutely nothing!”
Events took a more sinister turn recently when thousands of supporters of the
militant group Bodu Bala Sena joined in a rally calling for the boycott of halal
foods. The rally that took place in Colombo drew thousands who heard the calls
of ethnic divisiveness and nationalist speeches by the group’s monks. These
exhortations come at a time of mounting religious tension in the country. In
recent times, there have been many recorded attacks on both mosques and
churches, and Muslim-owned businesses and the clergy have not been spared
either.
A three-member BBC team who were covering the rally was “seriously threatened
with violence by some members of a mob of more than 20 young men who told us not
to drive off.” According to the team leader Charles Haviland of BBC News, “Some
police arrived and looked on as my Sri Lankan colleagues were verbally abused in
filthy language, described as ‘traitors’ and accused of having ‘foreign parents’
and working for a ‘foreign conspirator who was ‘against Sri Lanka’”.
“Some of them warned us that if we returned to the location - the mainly
Buddhist suburb of Maharagama - it would ‘be the end’ of us. The police held
back the more aggressive youths but appeared to comply with the mob by
barricading our vehicle, calling us ‘suspicious’ and ordering us not to leave
until they got the go-ahead from their superior. That was worrying.”
A news agency reported that the leaders explicitly called for a boycott of halal
meat and demanded shops clear their stocks by April or else. This message was
loudly cheered by the attendees at the rally sporting T-shirts denouncing the
Muslim halal method of slaughtering animals prior to eating.
Mujeebur Rahuman of the opposition United National Party worries that at “any
moment, the ethnic riot will start between Sinhalese and Muslims. They are now
working freely. Nobody is talking about this organization and the government is
not trying to stop their activities.”
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the government of President Mahinda
Rajapakse is again giving tacit support to communal provocations against Sri
Lanka’s minorities to deflect attention from the country’s deepening economic
and social crisis. But that is a dangerous strategy, one guaranteed to backfire.
Meanwhile, GCC countries with their economic muscle and the OIC should begin to
sit up and take notice of the events happening on the island. A message should
be sent to the Sri Lankan government that the widening of racial and ethnic
hatred against the Muslim minority or any other will not be tolerated. Failure
to heed that message should bring economic and political sanctions into
consideration.
We wish the island well, but not under the present circumstances.
