19 March, 2024

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Zero Tolerance Policy Is Necessary To Forestall Another Communal Conflict

By Jehan Perera

Jehan Perera

Jehan Perera

The government appears to have woken up to the gravity of the problem posed by repeated attacks on the Muslim community.  The police have announced that they will not permit meetings that cause ethnic or religious hatred to be generated.  This new policy is to be welcomed to the degree that it is implemented in fact, and is not simply restricted to rhetoric. The police have become a scapegoat for permitting the BBS to hold the public rally that ended up in anti Muslim violence.  However, there is a doubt whether the government will instruct the police to go ahead and arrest and prosecute those who instigated the violence and that this will be done on the ground.  Although President Mahinda Rajapaksa himself has denounced those who engage in violence, the indications are that the momentum in favour of continuation of sporadic violence that keeps the country on tenterhooks will be hard to reverse in these circumstances.

The latest victim of anti Muslim carnage has been the large “NOLIMIT” Department Store in Panadura, a town that is close to the scene of the large scale anti Muslim violence the previous week in Aluthgama.  Although the preliminary police reports stated that it was possibly due to an electrical fault in the middle of the night, the timing of the fire suggests a connection with the previous violence.  The Police Spokesman has been reported as saying that a group had asked all Muslim shops to be closed on Thursday but NOLIMIT stores in Wellawatte and Dehiwela had remained open. Six persons, four in a three wheeler and two on a motorbicycle had met the managers at the two shops and demanded to know why they remained open while other shops were closed. This suggests a pre-planned operation, just as much as the way in which the Aluthgama violence took place suggests another pre-planned operation.

However, there is an effort to downplay the significance and the seriousness of the anti-Muslim violence by both those who are public spirited and those who are narrowly nationalist. There are public spirited citizens who believe that the violence must not be given prominence as it is detrimental to the country’s national interests. Already some countries have put Sri Lanka on their travel advisories due to the violence, which would negatively impact on the tourist industry.  It would also lead to prospective foreign investors deciding to invest in other countries rather than take the risk of seeing their investments go up in flames due to an eruption of communal violence. There are also some who would wish to downplay the violence by saying that the violent acts of a few tarnish the good name of the majority of Sinhala Buddhist people who do not agree with what is being done in their name.

Political Benefit

The anti Muslim violence in Aluthgama has once again highlighted the vulnerability of Sri Lankan society to ethnic and religious polarization. The attack on Muslim-owned shops and houses in the town was by people who came from outside for the most part.  However, previous such attacks were on individual targets, including mosques and shops.  In most of those previous incidents the responses by the police and security forces was slow or ineffective with the miscreants going free, which created a climate of impunity for the attackers.  The costs have been high with at least four persons being reported killed, more than 80 injured and many shops and houses destroyed or damaged.  The actual casualty figures may be more.

Aluthgama ViolenceThe government failed in its duty on more than one count.  The immediate failure was to permit a public rally in Aluthgama that led to the mob violence.  The rally was held in the aftermath of an altercation between a small group of Muslim men and a Buddhist monk over a traffic dispute on the road.  The version that appeared in the media was that three Muslim men assaulted a Buddhist monk after getting into an altercation with his driver.  Another version is that it was the driver who got assaulted and not the monk.  Whatever be the truth of the matter, it is totally unacceptable that there should have been any sort of attack on shops and homes of others merely because they belonged to the same ethnic or religious community of the persons with whom a private dispute had arisen.  Such acts of collective vengeance are what racism is about.  It would be necessary for the government to compensate those who lost their lives and properties in the communal attacks in which the government failed in its duty to protect them.

On the other hand, the political benefits that accrue to those who are instigating or justifying the violence remain high.  The Sinhalese nationalist parties within the government which appeared to be on collision course with the government a few weeks ago, on issues such as corruption and devolution of power to the Tamils, now have emerged as its strongest defenders.  They are claiming that the violence was actually started by the Muslims and that they too should be blamed, which is comforting to the Sinhalese majority who are unsure of the facts of the case. The government has therefore been able to rally together the Sinhalese and able to claim even an international conspiracy to discredit the country and put it further into trouble.  The political benefits that therefore accrue to the government can tend to perpetuate the violence that has been continuing now for over two years.

Government Failures

The danger in permitting the situation to drift is that it can lead to radicalization.  Inter community relations between Sinhalese and Muslims are currently not based on fear of each other.  Undoubtedly there are misapprehensions and prejudices that members of different communities have with each other.  But even though some of them might look down or in askance at the others cultural and religious practices, there is no fear of each other.  This can change if the present sporadic violence engaged in organizations such as BBS are permitted to grow.  Sections of the media that valorize those who have been at the forefront of attacking the other community can create role models for youth which will lead to violence in the future.  If the situation deteriorates the next step in the downward spiral will be fear of the other.  Sri Lanka will move in the direction of further entrenched conflict.  We only recently got out of one, now we are heading towards another.

Thus far the Muslims have chosen the path of engagement as their way of conflict resolution.  They have stayed within the framework of overall government policy even while asserting their rights.  This is because the Muslims have decided that they are going to live side by side with the other communities in Sri Lanka and there is no desire for separation on their part.  Although the SLMC presented a document to the UN Human Rights Commissioner giving details of incidents of harassment of Muslims, it continues to remain a partner of the government.  Although Minister Rishard Bathiudeen filed legal action against the BBS for marching into his ministry and defaming him, he remains committed to the government.  This is evidence of both pragmatism and also the desire to solve problems within the existing framework.  This needs to be appreciated by the larger community of Sri Lankans, cherished and built upon.

Sri Lanka’s own history and international experience shows that inter-community relations are fragile, and there is a need for eternal vigilance, which is the price of democracy.  The deeper failure of the government has been its unwillingness to come out and affirm to the country at large that the Muslims and other ethnic minorities are part and parcel of Sri Lanka’s plural society and hate campaigns against them are impermissible.  Instead for two or more years the BBS has been permitted to propagate the view that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist country, and that the Muslims in particular are a threat to its unique identity. The sustained hate campaign against the Muslim community in the Aluthgama area and elsewhere in the country has not been countered by either legal or political means.  It is tragic that five years after the end of an ethnic-based civil war, another dimension of communal violence is opening up to cause immense suffering to innocent people.  A policy of zero tolerance to those who promote communal hatred needs to be implemented.

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Latest comments

  • 5
    0

    ‘The danger in permitting the situation to drift is that it can lead to radicalization.’

    Is the writer blind? Radicalization has been going on for many years. BBS terrorism is the result of ignoring it and hoping it will go away.

    https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/wikileaks-a-growing-wahhabi-presence-in-eastern-province-muslim-leaders/

    https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/wikileaks-muslim-militancy-in-sri-lanka-four-groups-based-in-colombo-former-us-intelligence-officer/

    http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/30910

    • 6
      1

      This guy Jehan Perera goes on like a broken old record churning out garbage to make a living.

      Sri Lanka is in a terminal stage needing palliative care. It is beyond redemption: new political structures must be put in place by the international community.

      The Sinhala Buddhist ruling elite has failed in their project of nation building given to them on a platter by Britain in 1948.

    • 4
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      BBS is under the patronage of MaRa & Gota.
      We can argue till cow comes how how to handle racism, extremism.
      Nothing will happen until the 2 big bosses change their mind.

    • 3
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      1. http://youtu.be/Ry3NzkAOo3s

      ”peaceful majority were irrevelant” ….”peaceful majority were irrelevant” …. ”peaceful majority were irrelevant” ….

      – as far as Buddhists and Muslims are concerned in the run-up to Aluthgama.

      2. In #Aluthgama, the govt has to answer a lot of questions – it didn’t take any action for two years of anarchy in Dambulla, Anuradhapura, Dehiwela, ……………… allowing that rally was bringing on the pogrom.

  • 3
    1

    It’s been said that hate speech of the BBS cannot be prosecuted because it impinges on their freedom of expression. I find that justification ludicrous, since whole newspaper articles used to be censored during the war, not to mention kissing and love making scenes on TV!!

    Even in the US, where unlike in Europe, speech is constitutionally protected and affirmed over and over again by the supreme court, the police have powers to restrain protesters at a certain distance from the gathering they are protesting. Why can’t something similar have been employed to prevent the rival groups from clashing?

    As a sinhalese and buddhist, I do not believe we have any right to suppress others’ religious and cultural practices. Buddhism teaches us non-judgement, and the sinhala race has historically accepted strangers into its milieu with more ease than most other south asian ethnicities. just a look around at the surnames that are considered sinhaleses today, indicate the myriad origins of our gruop: Grero (north Indian), the various “kody”, “leuke”, “koon”, “peruma” “chetty” “hetty” indicate south indian origins. Of course we all know about the portugese names. Many Malays have also over the years gotten integrated in to our fold, and some of their names are now indistinguishable. Inter-marriage too was not uncommon among the sinhalese, where some families were “bi-religious” – different children from the same family being raised with different religious due to the difference in their parents/ religions.

    So why now? There are several postulates among writers on CT about how and why BBS has become the fascist menace it is today. Whatever may be the truth, I believe the majority sinhalese do not support BBS – many might be FEARFUL of them and their power. Thus it is not only the muslims (and the Tamils) that need to be sheltered from this menace, but also the ordinary sinhalese. Otherwise the BBS will become the buddhist Taliban. The ISI in Pakistan is said to have nurtured the Taliban for violence in Afghanistan, but as seen now, it is devouring the hand that once fed it. The same fate was suffered by the Gandhi family who supported the Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka, in the beginning.

    Haven’t the ordinary people in SL (Tamil, muslim, Sinhala et al) suffered enough from the mistakes of our politicians and military? Why do they keep repeating the same mistakes?

  • 1
    3

    muslim thugs started the violence and now they should pay for it.

  • 2
    4

    When LTTE was killing from every side, Jehan Perera’s cure is give them that what they are asking.

    He never talked about Zero tolerance. Now, he talks about Zero Tolerance.

    What scoundrels.

  • 2
    1

    On the 2nd June 1915 the anti Muslim riots began….ignited by the Buddhist clergy led by Anagarika Dharmapala….
    On the 18th June 2014 the anti Muslim riots begn …ignited by the Buddhist clergy led by Gnanasaara…

    The population in 1915 – Buddhist ….. 2,300,000………Muslims …….288,000
    The Population in 2014 – Buddhist …..13,780,000………Muslims ….2,100,000
    Growth over 99 years – Buddhist ……. 60% ……………Muslims ……..9%

    Therefore the sinister claim by Gnaanasaara that the Muslims would overtake Sinhala Population and that they are in control of the Economy is a blatant lie spread with a clear intention of igniting racial / Religious hatred…The same claims had been made by the Sinhala Buddhists in 1915 ….

    BUT WERE THEY TRUE …ARE WE LIVING UNDER THE MUSLIM CONTROL…?

    Those were lies of the ” Elite Educated Sinhalese” to get the political control of the Country….In 1948 the British handed over the political powers to those who led the 1915 Anti Muslim Riots…!!!!! Haak….haak….haak…the damn heroes…
    The bloody patriots had no sense of what they were doing…because the Sinhala Buddhist Population though had grown in numbers..they are of extremely POOR QUALITY. The growth infact is by poor peasants who were dependent of the Temples..they hijacked them..

    The successive Govts led by these extremely crooked politicians in connivance with the Buddhist monks since independence used this growth to exploit and perpetuate their gains which is at an alarming state today…because all of them want to live and rule like the British did.. This will be worse in the future…

    Now 100 years gone since the 1915 Riots….have we grown…matured in our thinking …? How many Buddhist Temples are n the Country today….are we tolerant…respectful of the neighbour…are they not Human Beings…?

    Jehan…..Do not ask for ZERO TOLERANCE from the Crooks…because the then Anti Muslim Riots were ignited by the putrid Politicians in connivance with the equally rotten putrid saffron colored robed murderers….and it is the same today…this will stop with a great bloodshed and destruction and the division of the Country…

    Do a research of this tragic phenomena….what makes people to carry baggages…?

    In my observation it is nothing but ECONOMY…UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH…because there is an assymetrical unsustainable growth of the Poor peasants that live on the govt subsidy…Sinhala Buddhists population is too large to manage..as a result whatever that is borrowed from the world is gobbled up by them..this is because of the crooked politicians who manipulate for their survival…besides there are no resources in the country to exploit….

    So for that can the Muslims or Tamils be blamed..? These allegations are instigated by the putrid politicians and spread through their equally putrid proxies…the Buddhist Clergy…. for their survival…..

    Just observe very careully…..who enjoys the best of this Country today…? IT IS THE POLITICIAN…AND NEXT THE PSYCOPATH BUDDHIST CLERGY… THEY ENJOY SAME BENEFITS AND WEILED THE SAME AUTHORITY OF A POLITICIAN…

    HAAK…HAAK….HAAK….

    • 1
      1

      R.Dias

      “Do a research of this tragic phenomena….what makes people to carry baggages…?”

      May I suggest few names that come to my mind. Here is a modest list of eminent historians,

      Nalin de Silva
      Bandu de Silva
      Champika Ranawake
      Dharshanie Irathinavalli
      ……..
      ,,,,,,,,
      Kautilya
      Banda
      OTC
      Mechanic
      sach

  • 1
    0

    Gehan

    You say “A policy of zero tolerance to those who promote communal hatred needs to be implemented.”

    How is this possible. It is universally accepted that Gotabhaya is the chief architect in creating communal hatred. Who will implement the zero tolerance policy against him. From all reports on the issue of family relations I beleive Mahinda Rajapaksa is quite wary of his more powerful younger brother. The armed forces are closer to Gotabhaya than Mahinda, I am told.

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