Monks lead mob to attack Muslim store in Colombo

29 March 2013

A Muslim owned store in Colombo came under attack by a violent mob lead by Buddhists monks in Colombo on Thursday night.

Buddhists monks were filmed hurling stones at the ‘Fashion Bug’ store in the centre of Colombo, to cheers from crowds as policemen stood by.

Previous video was removed by YouTube user. See this video for footage from the Sinhalese 'Hiru TV'. Skip to 25 seconds for footage of monk's attack.

The BBC reported that around 500 people were outside the store, who chanted insults against the shop’s Muslim owners.

Journalists and those who attempted to film the events were attacked by the mob, leaving many with injuries, including the store’s owner.

Police spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena, later stated, "the situation was brought under control within a few hours," and added that no arrests have been made.

The Sinhala Buddhist organisation, Bodu Bala Sena denied all involvement with the attack and labelled it an attempt to “disrupt the Sinhala Buddhist revival movement initiated by them”, according to the Daily Mirror.

Commenting on the presence of monks at the attack, BBS Secretary, Ven. Galaboda Aththey Gnanasara thera went on to add,

“that quite a number of non-Buddhists have guised themselves”.

UNP SLAMS ‘LUKEWARM’ ACTION ON PEPILIYANA INCIDENT

March 30, 2013 
Condemning Thursday’s attack on clothing store in Pepiliyana by a violent mob, the UNP today said it’s dissatisfied with the manner in which the government acts regarding such incident. 

The intervention of security forces to resolve the situation had been delayed and that a lukewarm approach was evident in the legal steps which had followed, charged UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake.

He claimed that the government had followed a neutral policy regarding such lawless acts from the start and that instead finding a solution to the issues had created divisions between various Buddhist clergy and sections.

The United National Party (UNP) had directed its full attention towards this issue and will hold discussion with the major Muslim organizations, Mahanayakes and other Buddhist leaders as well as with other religious leaders, Attanayake said in a statement today.  

However, the government here has a special duty of properly implementing the law, the UNP MP emphasized while urging the public to exercise utmost patience and respect for rule of law.