Time for Sangha to act decisively

Editorial-June 22, 2014

The government has reportedly decided to appoint a high level commission to investigate violence against Muslims. A thorough probe is, no doubt, called for, especially into the recent incidents, but people have lost faith in such investigations over the years. For, nothing usually comes of them and successive governments have made use of them to pull the wool over the eyes of the public. What needs to be done is to have the masterminds of ethnic violence arrested and prosecuted forthwith. Nothing else will do.

A mystery fire destroyed a branch of a popular clothing store, NoLimit, owned by a Muslim businessman on Saturday in Panadura. Although investigations are still on, serious doubts have been cast about the cause of the fire because the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) has a history of protesting opposite NoLimit branches. It is hoped that the police will get to the bottom of it without delay.

Three student activists have been arrested for allegedly threatening and obstructing the security personnel at the Peradeniya University last week. Such is the efficiency of the police when anti-government activists happen to be on the wrong side of the law! Why can’t the instigators of Aluthgama/Beruwala violence be dealt with in a similar manner?

Hardliners within the government ranks are making an abominable attempt to muddy the water over the Alutgama/Beruwala incidents in a not-so-veiled bid to justify savage ethnic violence. Instead of sympathising with the victims who have lost their near and dear ones, houses and shops, and reassuring them, these shameless elements are raising various bogeys. In so doing, they condone racial violence while donning the mask of religiosity. Equally gut-wrenching is the hypocrisy of those who condemn ethnic violence selectively for political purposes.

Some politicians who had no qualms about backing, and even recognising as their sole representative, the murderous LTTE which massacred thousands of Muslims (besides the Sinhalese and dissenting Tamils) and ethnically cleansed the North and some parts of the East, are now shedding crocodile tears for the victims of BBS-instigated violence. Some prominent Opposition politicians who did not lift a finger to help the victims of anti-Tamil pogrom in 1983 and were even blamed by the University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) for instigating prison riots where dozens of Tamil inmates were brutally killed in that year are denouncing communal violence at present. The so-called patriots in the ruling coalition who secured the support of the Muslims to defeat the LTTE, promising to create a Sri Lanka where all communities could live in harmony, have allowed a bunch of bloodthirsty lunatics to unleash anti-Muslim violence with impunity.

Communal violence is a curse; it must be condemned in all its forms and manifestations and action taken to eliminate it root and branch if this country is to be made safe for one and all.

Minister Rishad Bathiudeen is reported to have called upon President Mahinda Rajapaksa to ban all extremist groups to preserve ethno-religious harmony. His consternation is understandable. But, bans alone won’t help tackle the vexed problem of racial hatred and violence. What needs to be done urgently is for the government to ensure that all criminals responsible for destroying lives and property and those engaged in inciting ethnic violence are brought to justice. The BBS must be made to realise that it is not above the law. It is heartening that several senior ministers have called for stern action against the leaders of that outfit. The government ought to heed their call.

Some Buddhist prelates have condemned attacks on Muslims. The time has come for all members of the Maha Sangha to speak with one voice and condemn the savage extremist elements amongst them responsible for ethnic violence and prevent the desecration of the much-venerated saffron robe. The Maha Nayake Theras must seriously consider adopting stern disciplinary action against the political monks who go berserk and ruin racial amity.