A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
(Full Story)
Search This Blog
Back to 500BC.
==========================
Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, June 6, 2017
Anti-Muslim violence: The puzzle of continuing impunity
By Jehan Perera-June 5, 2017, 8:29 pm
Some
years ago, in 2011, there was a phenomenon called the "grease devils"
that struck fear in communities in different parts of the country, and
particularly those living in areas in which the Tamil people
predominate. Semi clothed men with grease on their bodies started to
infiltrate into the homes of people. They broke inside and sometimes
groped women but usually they only caused utter fear and no other
physical harm. As in the case of the present upsurge in anti Muslim
violence, the grease devil attacks took place in a number of places
almost simultaneously, as if pre-planned. On occasion when people from
the affected communities gave chase they found the suspected grease
devils running into camps of the security forces in their bid to
getaway. As suddenly as it started the grease devil phenomenon ended.
There were no arrests by police that led to convictions.
In the last two months there have been several violent attacks targeting
the Muslim community which appear to have ended at least temporarily.
Muslim owned business enterprises and places of religious worship were
especially targeted. These incidents, numbering over 20, caused economic
ruin to many people, hurt their religious sentiment and brought dismay
to the entire community. However, attacks on the Muslims have been
taking place on an irregular basis for the past several years. They
spiked in 2014 with the burning of a section of Aluthgama town in which
the Muslim community was dominant. The most recent attacks took place in
different parts of the country. While not simultaneous, they were
sufficiently widespread and systematic to suggest a pre-planned effort
to target the Muslims. None of the recent attacks led to deaths. It
appears that the attacks had been carefully calibrated. None of the
attackers are known to have been arrested.
The failure of the security forces to apprehend those who have broken
the law is at the root of the puzzle. It has led to calls for action by
the government to uphold the Rule of Law. These calls have been made by
civil society organizations, political parties, foreign governments and
also by the Bar Association. The statement issued by the Bar Association
sets out the provisions of law under which the police can arrest those
who perpetrate violence and hate crimes against the Muslim community and
under which the Attorney General’s Department can file indictments in
the courts of law. The puzzle is that the police have been inactive in
taking the first step which is to obstruct the violent actions of those
who are terrorizing the Muslim community and arrest those who have been
videoed and documented as having been in the attacking parties.
MYANMAR EXAMPLE
The evidence of attacks and the identity of the attackers are readily
available. A national television station, for instance, showed an
incident where the temporary shelters of Muslims in a rural area were
being physically pulled down and demolished by a group of people with a
prominent Buddhist monk in the picture. Those who have suffered violence
and destruction at the hands of violent groups have also provided the
police with footage of the attacks. The irony is that the governmental
leaders who are in charge of the security forces have been affirming
their opinion that the police ought to act, even in Parliament, but
there continues to be governmental and police inaction that is difficult
to explain.
It may be that the governmental leadership does not believe that this is
the time to act. The massive crowds bused in by the Joint Opposition
for their May Day rally was larger than any other. It is also indicative
of the political opposition’s ability to muster people power onto the
street, even if they have to be provided with a handout inclusive of
transport, meals and drinks. In this context the government’s instinct
may be to delay taking decisive action and hope that the problem will go
away. The government may also be trying to follow the example of
Myanmar, where the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi has sought to
accommodate the hardline Buddhist nationalist groups within the
government in order to win their support.
In Myanmar, the greatest threat to the stability of the democratically
elected government comes from the military that ruled the country for
over five decades. It has only been in the last five years that the
military has taken a step back from its direct hold on power and
relinquished power to the elected civilian government that is led by
Aung San Suu Kyi. But the government is afraid that the military
generals are waiting in the wings to take back power and this is why the
democratically elected government has preferred to try and bring the
Buddhist nationalist groups within its own fold. During the period of
military rule the Buddhist monks were a powerful and non-violent force
that stood resolutely in opposition to the military dictatorship.
ACT SOONER
The problem is that while the Buddhist nationalists in Myanmar are
opposed to the military dictators, they have also identified the Muslims
as a source of future threat to Myanmar especially in terms of changes
in the demographic composition of some regions of Myanmar. As a result
the Myanmar strategy of trying to bring the hardline nationalists within
the government has not been successful. Instead it has further
legitimized the hardliners in the eyes of the general public and they
have become more active in attacking the Muslims in Myanmar. It is
ironic, and unfortunate, that in a similar manner in Sri Lanka, the
government appears to be seeking to pacify hardline Buddhist nationalist
groups in order to deal with the political challenges posed by the
Joint Opposition which can exploit Buddhist nationalist sentiment and
insecurities.
Although the anti Muslim violence has got the centre stage at this time,
there is also anti Christian violence that has been directed for a
longer period against evangelical Christian groups that engage in
conversion activities. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance has
reported that since the beginning of this year, over 20 incidents of
violence and intimidation took place against Christian places of worship
across the country. In this context, the government may want to prevent
the Joint Opposition and the Buddhist nationalist groups from coming
together for fear that they can create conflict on the streets in a way
that would make the country difficult to govern. It is noteworthy that
the anti Muslim attacks grew in numbers after the Joint Opposition’s
show of strength at its May Day rally. But whatever may be the
motivations of the anti Muslim violence it cannot be condoned, justified
or permitted.
The right to equal protection of the laws is not only a constitutional
right; it is an absolute human right in any civilized society that
cannot be violated. The government has a particularly strong political
mandate to uphold the equal protection of the laws for the ethnic and
religious minorities. These are the groups that gave their wholehearted
support to the government at the last elections. All Sri Lankans need to
keep in mind the lessons from the past in which the failure to protect
minorities from discrimination became a cause for three decades of war.
We have seen that when problems are not resolved and are permitted to go
on unchecked that they escalate with time. With terrorism spreading
throughout the world, it is important that Sri Lanka should be committed
to its non-recurrence in Sri Lanka, and for this it needs the fullest
support of all its people who benefit from the equal protection of the
laws.