Unruly Street ‘Wirathus’- A Bane To Sri Lanka

By Mohamed Harees –SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

Lukman Harees

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves

honored  by the humiliation of their fellow beings. —Mahatma Gandhi

The Rohingyans in recent times are fleeing a campaign of indiscriminate violence by Myanmar’s military, whose tactics are being widely condemned the world over as a form of ethnic cleansing. Entire villages have been burned to the ground, indiscriminately killed, tortured ,women raped leading to mass exodus to other countries seeking safety and security. Addressing the UN Security Council, UN Secretary General António Guterres quoted bone chilling accounts from those who had fled — mainly women, children and the elderly, and summed up the Rohingya Crisis saying: ‘this humanitarian crisis has spiralled into the world’s fastest developing refugee emergency and a humanitarian and human rights nightmare’. It is rightly being said that ‘of the scars which Rohingya refugees carry, the most difficult ones to heal will be those that violence has caused to their hearts & minds’. Despite this humane catastrophe, rogue monks and hate peddlers in Sri Lanka are attempting to mislead the peaceful Sinhala Buddhist people by painting the unfortunate victims as terrorists and perpetrators of violence against the Myanmar Buddhists.    

It was in this context that the brutality of the attacks on Rohingya refugees in Sri Lanka should be viewed. What happened in Colombo on the 26th September was both inhumane and sickening and totally incompatible with all norms of humanity and Buddhist principles. The government and even the Police knew that these refugees are under UNCHR custody and no plans were afoot to grant them asylum in Sri Lanka. In a repeat enactment of the unofficial policing drama seen during MR times, saffron clad hooligans and anti-Muslim hate peddler thugs (which included the ‘cardboard Sando’ Dan Prasad as well) led a mob that stormed a UN safe house broke down gates, shouted profanities and threats, pelted stones and entered the walled multi-storied compound as frightened refugees huddled together in upstairs rooms.

One of the ‘monks’ who stormed the building posted a provocative video on the social networking site filmed by his radical group as he urged others to join him and smash the premises. “These are Rohingya terrorists who killed Buddhist monks in Myanmar,” the monk said in his live commentary, pointing to Rohingya mothers with small children in their arms. The lawyer looking after the interests of these refugees told at a press interview that refugees have told him that a monk who came to the Police Station has threatened them with hand gestures that their throats will be slit and heads chopped off,which shows the lowest depth of barbarity, these so-called Buddhist monks who are expected to carry the peace epistle of the Buddha, have stooped to.

Police officers merely stood mum despite already knowing the background, thus giving the perpetrators the leeway to operate without fear or sanction.  Perhaps the refugees would have begun to relive their agony which they faced in Myanmar under Wirathu, the so-called ‘The Face of Buddhist Terror‘ (called as such by the ‘Time’ magazine). Government too dragged their feet in keeping the country informed about the correct position, although Ministers Rajitha and Mangala more in their personal capacity condemned this barbaric act by these saffron clad thugs calling them ‘animals’ and the apathy of the law enforcement authorities. Complaints have already been lodged against these culprits and also against the Police for their inaction, failure to arrest those responsible as well as their usual double standards in dealing with complaints made by Muslim victims. 

As we have seen in the past, the failure of the nation to take timely effective action against these anti- patriotic elements in the garb of Buddhist monks and raising emotional Sinhala Buddhist slogans has led Sri Lanka to 1983 style situations and it will lead to repeats if this trend is not arrested. Thus, it is imperative that we need to at least look beyond this Refugee episode and send a strong message to these thugs in robes that this type of thuggish behaviour will no longer be tolerated.

Wirathu incidentally not only carried out a well-orchestrated anti-Muslim hate campaign which led to killings, burning of villages and ethnic cleansing through 969 movement in Myanmar, but also exported his campaign to Sri Lanka during the MR regime time, creating a Sri Lankan Wirathu class in the process. His sermons were so toxic that even the Sangha Council in Maynmar banned him for a stated period, although his movement carried on their campaign regardless at the grass-root levels. Wirathu become the God father of the BBS in all aspects, who partnered with the Wirathu of Sri Lanka- Gnanassara ( I apologize for omitting the prefix like Ven and suffix like Thero when referring to these thugs in saffron clothing as I believe they do not deserve them),who under patronage from the higher ups in the MR government (which promoted Sinhala Buddhist supremacism and majoritarian attitudes), polluted the prospects of peace and unity in the Post –war period by systematically and strategically targeting Muslims branding them as the next enemy. Wirathu was ironically the guest speaker at the BBS convention in October 2014.  Other diehard Islamophobes such as Akmeemana Dayarathana of Sinhala Ravaya and Ithekande Saddhatissa of Ravana Balakaya become his partners in crime, both on the streets and anywhere they thought fit. All this drama made Post war Sri Lanka a hell on earth for the minorities – not just Muslims and Tamils, but even Sinhala Christians too.

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