{"id":39911,"date":"2012-04-26T15:58:25","date_gmt":"2012-04-26T15:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=39911"},"modified":"2012-04-29T11:34:48","modified_gmt":"2012-04-29T11:34:48","slug":"not-in-our-name-against-religious-extremism-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/not-in-our-name-against-religious-extremism-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Not In Our Name: Against Religious Extremism In Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Please Read and sign!!<\/h1>\n<p><strong>What happened<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/not-in-our-name-against-religious-extremism-in-sri-lanka\/religion\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-39912\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-39912\" title=\"Religion\" src=\"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Religion-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Religion-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Religion-50x50.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>A week ago, a violent\u00a0a mob of about 2,000 Sinhalese, including a group of Buddhist monks led by the\u00a0Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter Inamaluwe Sumangala thero, stormed and vandalised a mosque in Dambulla. The mosque was declared an illegal structure, but it is unclear\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/24\/deed-of-mosque-in-dambulla-and-photos-of-damage-how-is-this-structure-illegal\/\" target=\"_blank\">how this far this is accurate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Several\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/23\/bigoted-monks-and-militant-mobs-is-this-buddhism-in-sri-lanka-today\/\" target=\"_blank\">videos<\/a>, broadcast on national TV in Sri Lanka and now circulating globally on YouTube capturing the violence beggars belief.\u00a0There are members of the\u00a0<em>sangha<\/em>\u00a0engaged in physical violence and verbal abuse. There is a member of the\u00a0<em>sangha<\/em>\u00a0who disrobes and exposes himself, in public, in front of the mosque. In one video, Ven. Inamaluwe\u00a0Sumangala thero\u00a0suggests that the maniacal\u00a0mob is actually a\u00a0<em>shramadaanaya<\/em>, and that destroying the mosque is something that they should in fact be helped by the government.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from the physical violence, which includes scuffles with Army and Police personnel, the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/23\/bigoted-monks-and-militant-mobs-is-this-buddhism-in-sri-lanka-today\/\" target=\"_blank\">derogatory and racist language<\/a>\u00a0employed by\u00a0Ven.\u00a0Inamaluwe\u00a0Sumangala thero and other Buddhist monks during the attack against the mosque, and a nearby Hindu kovil, is appalling. Though the violence of the Sinhala idiom employed loses much in translation,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/23\/bigoted-monks-and-militant-mobs-is-this-buddhism-in-sri-lanka-today\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Groundviews<\/em><\/a>\u00a0put into English the most disquieting\u00a0comments for a wider appreciation.\u00a0More startling\u00a0are anti-Muslim, Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/23\/bigoted-monks-and-militant-mobs-is-this-buddhism-in-sri-lanka-today\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook groups<\/a>\u00a0that have thousands of active members and with content too inflammatory to even translate.<\/p>\n<p>A week after this violence,it has not received the condemnation it deserves from the President, government or mainstream media.\u00a0Ven. Inamaluwe\u00a0Sumangala thero, perhaps reacting to the indelible record of violence captured in film, attempted to suggest to the BBC that the footage of the mob broadcast on TV was doctored. Ironically, his own media websites showcase the same violence,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/24\/fake-video-and-lies-the-strange-case-of-dambullas-inamaluwe-sumangala-thero\/\" target=\"_blank\">in greater detail<\/a>. \u00a0A Press Release issued on 25th April from the Government Information Department,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/groundviews\/status\/195104334206353408\" target=\"_blank\">only in Sinhala<\/a>, strangely referred to the violence as a \u2018minor misunderstanding\u2019, yet\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/groundviews\/status\/195203264206209026\" target=\"_blank\">reiterated that Sri Lanka is<\/a>\u00a0\u201ca multi-religious, multi-ethnic society\u201d and that \u201cin\u00a0addition to respecting their constitutional obligations, as well as the policies and principles of the government, all Sri Lankans have a long standing tradition of being respectful of each other\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the fall-out?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The photographs, audio and video recordings of the violence in Dambulla have gone global. They cannot be erased.\u00a0Incensed by this incident and those who led it, there are now growing threats of violence by sections of the Muslim community, though there are many voices, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/groundviews\/status\/195480685912408066\" target=\"_blank\">the Muslim Council<\/a>, who are calling for calm, and a more reasoned approach to the transformation of this conflict, noting that the actions of a few are not indicative of the nature of the majority.<\/p>\n<p>There is a real danger that unaddressed or if simply glossed over, this militant religious extremism can very quickly and very seriously undermine Sri Lanka\u2019s post-war reconciliation, and contribute to new, more geographically dispersed violent conflict. Extremists from both the Sinhala-Buddhist community and the Muslim community can also use this incendiary incident in Dambulla to stoke up communal tensions, leading to heightened fear and anxiety.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What can we do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The shameful\u00a0behaviour and expression employed by\u00a0the\u00a0Mahanayaka of the Rangiri Dambulu chapter, along with the monks he led and the crowd of thugs is not remotely associated with or reflective of the philosophy of the\u00a0<em>Dhamma<\/em>, the teachings of the Buddha, or the way in which a Buddhist monk is supposed to behave and speak. Many online have already\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/groundviews.org\/2012\/04\/24\/fake-video-and-lies-the-strange-case-of-dambullas-inamaluwe-sumangala-thero\/#comment-43509\" target=\"_blank\">expressed their dismay and deep concern over the actions of a few<\/a>, placing Sri Lanka in the media spotlight again for all the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We have a choice, but time is running out.<\/strong>\u00a0Speak up. Put your name in a comment below, in English, Sinhala or Tamil. Say that last week\u2019s violence was not in your name. Renounce a fringe lunacy and resist extremism. By putting your name below, oppose mob violence and bigotry\u00a0as ways to resolve disputes.<\/p>\n<p>If we have to fight, let\u2019s fight to keep Sri Lanka free of extremists who threaten not only what they seek to destroy, but also who and what they claim to represent. Add your name below, and please pass the message on.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What will be done?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After a month, the names and comments of those who signed up will be printed out and sent to the Presidential Secretariat, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.priu.gov.lk\/Ministries_2007\/Min_religious_aff_and_moral_upliftment.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ministry of Religious Affairs &amp; Moral Upliftment<\/a>, along with the\u00a0Department of Buddhist Affairs,\u00a0Department of Christian Religious Affairs,\u00a0Department of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs and the\u00a0Department of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Click <a href=\"http:\/\/notinournamesl.wordpress.com\/2012\/04\/26\/put-your-name-down-and-resist-violence\/#comment-14\">here<\/a> to sign\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":39912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.3 - 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