Editorial-August 12, 2013
Saturday’s mob attack on a new mosque at Grandpass and the attendant clashes have been condemned by all right thinking people. There have been several attacks on mosques and business places belonging to Muslims during the past several months.
A pluralistic society is not devoid of tensions among religious and ethnic groups, but they find expression in violence, threatening national unity only when fanatics are given the freedom to act according to their whims and fancies. The condemnable leniency with which mobs responsible for attacks on mosques and Muslim business places were dealt with on previous occasions have emboldened some organised bigots to continue their sordid operations.
However, the government has apparently moved fast to try to settle the dispute this time around either due to pressure from within its ministerial ranks or because it has learnt from its mistakes. This is a step in the right direction, we reckon.
Muslim parliamentarians including Cabinet ministers have banded together to demand that those responsible for Saturday’s attack be brought to book. Their call for action should be heeded.
The government continues to incur international opprobrium over incidents of religious violence because it has failed to dissociate itself from the groups responsible for such offences and, worse still, is seen to be shielding them.
Minister Rishard Bathiudeen and IGP N. K. Illangakoon have crossed swords over the Grandpass incident. The former has blamed the police for not taking action to nip the incident in the bud by dispersing mobs, but the latter has claimed that the police cautiously used minimum force to avoid a Weliweriya-like situation.
The minister’s allegation has yet to be substantiated but the police must be able to see the difference between the Weliweriya protest where villagers were demanding clean water and a violent mob attack on a place of religious worship. Both extremes—excesses and inaction—ought to be avoided by the police; what is needed is reasonable use of force to maintain the law and order in such a situation. The public outcry against Weliweriya crackdown cannot be used as an excuse for handling violent elements on the rampage elsewhere with kid gloves. The minister’s allegation against the police should be probed.
However, the multi-dimensional issue of religious violence is far too complex to be tackled by the law enforcement authorities alone. They, no doubt, have a pivotal role to play; they ought to curb violence, arrest perpetrators immediately and prevent trouble from spilling over into other areas. But, it is up to the government, religious leaders, opinion makers and other segments of society to address the root causes of religious violence and find solutions.
Unfortunately, whenever attacks are carried out on religious places the blame is placed squarely at the doorstep of the police, who are not entirely blameless, and the causes of such incidents go unaddressed and thus room is left for their recurrence.
Meanwhile, the practice of displaying religious symbols and images or putting up places of worship haphazardly, especially on the wayside and in places prone to violence, warrants serious attention of not only the government but also all religious institutions. At present, it is taken for granted obviously for political reasons. By no stretch of the imagination could it be claimed that an established religion cannot do without such mindless objectification in the form of countless images and symbols.
Now that a ministerial team’s effort to settle the Grandpass dispute has reportedly made a dent, the government should seriously consider having a permanent task force consisting of ministers representing different ethnic and/or religious communities to respond to similar situations fast while the police are ordered to swing into action at the earliest signs of trouble.
