{"id":3703,"date":"2014-06-17T05:58:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T05:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3703"},"modified":"2014-06-17T05:58:22","modified_gmt":"2014-06-17T05:58:22","slug":"sri-lanka-muslims-plead-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/06\/17\/3703\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Muslims Plead For Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka Muslims are pleading for help after three Muslims were killed and scores injured when extremist Buddhists attacked the southern Sri Lankan coastal towns, as security forces ignored Muslim pleas to stop the rampage.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently we are facing a tense situation at some parts of the island,\u201d a Sri Lankan Muslim wrote to OnIslam.net on Monday, June 16.<\/span>
\u201cMuslims have been attacked brutally by some extremist Buddhist groups, killing 3 peoples and injuring more than 80 Muslim civilians,\u201d he added.<\/span>
The rampage erupted on Sunday’s night when a protest march by the hardline Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) turned into a mob attack against Muslims in the popular resort towns of Aluthgama and Beruwala.<\/span>
The Sinhala Buddhists\u2019 attacks, that targeted Muslim properties and mosques in the Muslim-majority towns, have left at least three Muslims killed and more than 80 injured.<\/span>
In spite of Muslim leader’s repeated calls to offer protection and security to Muslims in the area, police failed to protect the religious minority.<\/span>
\u201cSome Buddhists are deliberately targeting Muslims. But unfortunately police have not been able to protect the minorities,\u201d Hilmy Ahmed, the spokesman of Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, told Al Jazeera.<\/span>
The imposed curfew in the area couldn’t deter the Buddhists attacks.<\/span>
\u201cThe curfew was extended to a neighboring area to prevent an escalation of clashes,\u201d a police spokesman said.<\/span>
\u201cThe curfew is only for Muslims, not for the rioters,\u201d Fathima Fazniya, a 65-year-old retired teacher, told Reuters.<\/span>
Reports say that violence extended to Lathugana town, despite the curfew imposed in Aluthgama and Beruwala.<\/span>
\u201cA petty feud between two individuals has been allowed to take a religious tone,\u201d the Muslim Council’s Ahmed said.<\/span>
\u201cThe extremist Buddhists led by Bodu Bala Sena attacked Muslims and are still in the area despite the curfew.\u201d<\/span>
Sri Lankan Muslims, known as \u201cMoors\u201d, are the third largest ethnic group in the country after the Sinhalese, who make up 70 percent of the populace, and Tamils, who account for 12.5 percent.<\/span>
Analysts say successive governments have been under pressure to give in to the Buddhist majority whenever there is an ethnic clash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Large-scale Destruction<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Muslim community leaders, the Buddhists attacks have left a large-scale destruction of the religious minority’s properties in the popular tourist town of Alutgama, around 60km south of the capital Colombo.<\/span>
\u201cAt least nine shops and up to 40 houses have been gutted in Aluthgama, while three mosques were attacked,\u201d Ahmed, the spokesman of Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, said.<\/span>
\u201cThey (the rioters) came in … lorries behind the police and looted all our houses. Then they torched my house,\u201d said Fazniya, the 65-year-old retired teacher.<\/span>
\u201cThey are well organized.\u201d<\/span>
Coming under pressure by his supporters to resign after Sunday’s anti-Muslims attacks, Rauf Hakeem, justice minister, has blamed the hardline Buddhist mobs for the violence, urging \u201call relevant parties to remain calm and not to instigate further violence\u201d.<\/span>
\u201cI just can’t understand a government which prevents even a trade union or student protesters going to protest marches … allowing the BBS to conduct the meeting,\u201d Hakeem, the leader of the country’s largest Muslim party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, noted.<\/span>
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has also condemned the attacks, issuing a statement that he will not allow \u201canyone to take the law into their own hand\u201d.<\/span>
\u201cAn investigation will be held for [the] law to take its course of action to bring to book those responsible for incidents in Alutgama,\u201d he said on Twitter.<\/span>
\u201cI urge all parties concerned to act with restraint.\u201d<\/span>
The attacks are not the first to target the Muslim community.<\/span>
Religious minorities like Muslims and Christians in the Asian Island have been facing \u201csystematic violence\u201d that points figure at the state’s involvement.<\/span>
In May, the Asian Island has taken the first legal action against Sri Lanka’s extremist Buddhists when four of Sri Lanka\u2019s fanatic Buddhist monks were summoned by a Colombo court over insulting the Noble Qur\u2019an.<\/span>
Last year, Sri Lanka has been thrown into tension following a string of serious incidents involving extremist Buddhist provocations against Muslims.<\/span>
In March 2013, Bodu Bala Sena called for the demolition of a 10th century mosque in Kuragala.<\/span>
The call has followed the group campaigns against halal food in Sri Lanka to force Muslims abandon halal logo on food products.<\/span>
In April 2013, a number of Buddhist monks disrupted Muslim prayer services in the village of Dambulla. The attackers claimed that the mosque, built in 1962, was illegal.<\/span>
In June 2013, some 200 demonstrators led by several dozen Buddhist monks converged on a small Islamic center in Colombo\u2019s suburb of Dehiwala.<\/span>
Throwing stones and rotten meat over the mosque gate, protestors shouted slogans demanding the closure of the Muslim worship place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: OnIslam<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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