The end of the civil war brought hopes that the country could become united. But attacks by radical Buddhists suggest Sri Lanka faces a new challenge to internal harmony.
Colombo’s suburb of Dehiwala is probably best known for housing the Colombo Zoo. But late last month, it became the site of a wild protest at a small mosque, a protest that has many Muslim leaders in Sri Lanka worried.
On the morning of May 30, police officials reportedly informed the leader of the Dehiwala branch of the Association of Muslim Youth of Seylan that an illegal demonstration was likely to take place at the group’s mosque. Sheikh Ramsy was instructed to cancel madrassa lessons.
True to the warning, by midday, some 200 demonstrators led by several dozen Buddhist monks allegedly converged on the small Islamic center and began throwing stones and rotten meat over the gate at the mosque. Fortunately, most projectiles landed harmlessly in front of the mosque. Protestors shouted slogans demanding the closure of the mosque, claiming it was performing daily animal sacrifices, a charge the mosque denies.
“This charge is really unbelievable and shows how little they know about the religion of Islam. We only conduct sacrifices associated with the Eid ul-Adha and often the meat is distributed to poor families,” Sheikh Rasmy explains.
The incident is the latest in a string of serious incidents involving extremist Buddhist provocations against Muslims in Sri Lanka. In April, for example, 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. Weeks later, monks are said to have drafted a threatening letter aimed at Muslims in the nearby town of Kurunegala, demanding Islamic prayer services there be halted.
Reza, a clerk at the Darul Iman Islamic Book House in Colombo, says he is confused by the outbreak of intolerance. “We in the Muslim community aren’t used to anything like this. But the last few months have seen new tensions across the country. We aren’t sure why this is happening now. Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus we have all lived together for a long-time.”
During, the 30-year civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam and the central government, the island’s Muslims, though Tamil-speaking, sided with the government against the LTTE. This was in part a result of thousands of Muslims being ejected from Jaffna in the early 1990s. During the conflict, the Sinhalese Buddhist majority courted the island’s Muslims, and many Muslims rose to prominent bureaucratic positions, while a handful even served in the Sri Lankan armed forces.
Photo Credit: Joseph Hammond
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Indigenous Sri Lankans
I can't understand why this issue has grown out of proportion. the buddhist and muslims have been living very cordially. If we turn back to past we can see, there are some actions of muslims which cause for this matter. Major incidents are Kuragala and Muhudu Maha viharaya. Lets have a look one by one.
Kuragala is a vast buddhist monastery complex 18 km's off Balangoda on the Kaltota road. This complex covers number of rock outcrops which is collectively known as Kuragala. The ruins of the complex dates back to the 2nd centaury BC and has been declared a archeological reserve by the the government. The Monastery covers 30-40 rock caves, some capable of holding 2000-3000 people. this monastery has been called 'Thandulayia Pabbatha' in ancient times.
Muhudu maha vihara is a Buddhist temple situated at Pottuvil in Eastern province of Sri Lanka. This temple is situated near a wide beach. In this temple there have a stone made statue of lord Buddha and two statues of old kings or gods. In today also there is a Buddhist temple. This temple is built in Anuradapura era by king Kaavantissa. As folklore princess Vihara Maha Devi had come to hear. The temple site which is under the heavy threat of encroachment by villagers has been reduced to a small shrine with three granite statues. The central statue is of the Buddha with two more sculptures believed to be those of royalty facing it. Believed to have been built in the 5th century A.D during the reign of King Dhathusena, many believe the royal figures depicted in worshiping position are to be those of King Kavantissa and his Queen Vihara Maha Devi.
Unfortunately these buddhist temples are now taken over by Muslim fundamentalists and in the process of systematically destroying all the evidence of the 2000 year old buddhist heritage. As peaceable civilians, we think if muslims are remove their mosques and handover these temples back to the Buddhist will help to build peace between Buddhist and Muslims in Sri Lanka. It will be a good full stop to the present situation in Sri Lanka. Beacuse destroying a religious place is hurt people either it is a mosque or not.