Sri Lanka Buddhist Mob Storms Mosque
Reigniting images of fierce anti-Muslim attack, a Buddhist mob has attacked a new mosque in a Colombo neighborhood, injuring at least 12 and leaving the Muslim minority in fear of further violence.
"The community is very worried and concerned about safety," N. M. Ameen, president of Sri Lanka Muslim Council, an umbrella organization of Muslim civil society groups, told Agence France Presse (AFP) on Sunday, August 11.
"There were police deployed to guard the mosque, but unfortunately the constables were unable to maintain law and order," he added.
The attack by Buddhist mobs carrying swords occurred late on Saturday on Masjid Deenul Islam in Colombo’s Grandpass district.
The attack resulted in the injury of at least twelve worshippers and two policemen who were guarding the mosque.
After the attack, hundreds of police, including anti-riot squads and elite Special Task Force commandos, imposed a curfew that was lifted early on Sunday.
"The curfew was lifted this morning, but we have a strong presence in the area," a police spokesman said.
Though the new mosque was constructed to replace an older place of worship, Buddhist have expressed opposition to it, according to a security official who asked not to be named.
"The Buddhist temple had objected to the relocation of the mosque and the troubles started during Saturday evening prayers of the mosque," the official said.
There was no immediate reaction from the government to the violence, which followed Buddhist objections to the opening of the new mosque.
Sri Lanka has been thrown into tension following a string of serious incidents involving extremist Buddhist provocations against Muslims.
In June, some 200 demonstrators led by several dozen Buddhist monks converged on a small Islamic center in Colombo’s suburb of Dehiwala.
Throwing stones and rotten meat over the mosque gate, protestors shouted slogans demanding the closure of the Muslim worship place.
Last April, 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 drafted a threatening letter aimed at Muslims in the nearby town of Kurunegala, demanding Islamic prayer services there be halted.
The new attack has reignited Muslim concerns about their safety.
"We were surprised because we thought things were settling down," Fazin Farook, spokesman for the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, Sri Lanka's apex body of Islamic clerics, told AFP.
"With this attack, we are worried again and we see this (anti-Muslim) trend continuing. We condemn this attack."
Farook noted that the latest violence came five months after an anti-Muslim campaign culminated in the torching of two Muslim-owned businesses just outside the capital.
Three Buddhist monks and 14 others who were arrested in connection with the arson attacks in March were later freed as police and the victims did not press charges.
"We thought things were settling down since then," Farook said.
“The government had also done a lot to calm the situation, but this incident came up suddenly and that has worried the community.”
Sri Lankan Muslims, known as “Moors”, 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.
Analysts say successive governments have been under pressure to give in to the Buddhist majority whenever there is an ethnic clash.
Source: On Islam
"There were police deployed to guard the mosque, but unfortunately the constables were unable to maintain law and order," he added.
The attack by Buddhist mobs carrying swords occurred late on Saturday on Masjid Deenul Islam in Colombo’s Grandpass district.
The attack resulted in the injury of at least twelve worshippers and two policemen who were guarding the mosque.
After the attack, hundreds of police, including anti-riot squads and elite Special Task Force commandos, imposed a curfew that was lifted early on Sunday.
"The curfew was lifted this morning, but we have a strong presence in the area," a police spokesman said.
Though the new mosque was constructed to replace an older place of worship, Buddhist have expressed opposition to it, according to a security official who asked not to be named.
"The Buddhist temple had objected to the relocation of the mosque and the troubles started during Saturday evening prayers of the mosque," the official said.
There was no immediate reaction from the government to the violence, which followed Buddhist objections to the opening of the new mosque.
Sri Lanka has been thrown into tension following a string of serious incidents involving extremist Buddhist provocations against Muslims.
In June, some 200 demonstrators led by several dozen Buddhist monks converged on a small Islamic center in Colombo’s suburb of Dehiwala.
Throwing stones and rotten meat over the mosque gate, protestors shouted slogans demanding the closure of the Muslim worship place.
Last April, 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 drafted a threatening letter aimed at Muslims in the nearby town of Kurunegala, demanding Islamic prayer services there be halted.
The new attack has reignited Muslim concerns about their safety.
"We were surprised because we thought things were settling down," Fazin Farook, spokesman for the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, Sri Lanka's apex body of Islamic clerics, told AFP.
"With this attack, we are worried again and we see this (anti-Muslim) trend continuing. We condemn this attack."
Farook noted that the latest violence came five months after an anti-Muslim campaign culminated in the torching of two Muslim-owned businesses just outside the capital.
Three Buddhist monks and 14 others who were arrested in connection with the arson attacks in March were later freed as police and the victims did not press charges.
"We thought things were settling down since then," Farook said.
“The government had also done a lot to calm the situation, but this incident came up suddenly and that has worried the community.”
Sri Lankan Muslims, known as “Moors”, 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.
Analysts say successive governments have been under pressure to give in to the Buddhist majority whenever there is an ethnic clash.
Source: On Islam
