Is Sri Lanka At The Cusp Of A Second Ethnic Conflict?
By Sharmil Ghouse –MARCH 10, 2018
Sharmil Ghouse
Root causes and what can be done to change trajectory
The on-going sectarian violence is a result of frustrations that have been building over time boiling over. A few trigger points were required to bring the economically disenfranchised youth onto the roads. The extremely unfortunate death of a Sinhala youth, the Wandha Pethi saga and the recent election result which has been interpreted as a sign for the extremist Buddhists to take back control have all contributed to the tipping point. The rural Sinhalese youth are frustrated because they have very minimal economic opportunities. And they have been continually let down by successive corrupt and incompetent governments. The highly coordinated and organised way the riots are taking place suggests that these misguided youths are being strategically exploited by segments such as the BBS and the Mahason Balakaya to further their own divisive and bigoted goals.
For some time now, extremists on the Sinhala side have exploited social media to portray Sri Lankan Muslims as a conniving and deceitful group whose main aim is to turn Sri Lanka into an Arabesque state. What has compounded matters is the relatively recent transformation of Muslim attire across the group in general. From a Muslim perspective this transformation, where large swathes of Women are seeing donning a hijab or a niqab and Men sporting a long beard are viewed as a renaissance in faith and an upliftment in levels of spirituality towards their creator. In a liberal and progressive world such signs of outwardly devotion should be admired as a pursuit of religious liberty.
However, the dichotomy of Sri Lanka is such that there is a highly disproportionate number of people across all societal levels who take significant offense to this outwardly display of religious piety. Some see it as a regressive, impractical and non-contemporaneous mode of attire. The danger is when such views are extended to fuel racist and bigoted views which then turn militant where the economically disenfranchised youths take to violence. Therefore, Sri Lankan Muslims should be more cognisant of the social context and the potential pitfalls even though their intentions are purely religious in nature and with no ulterior motives.
Racism, prejudice and intolerance are certainly not unique social dimensions to Sri Lanka. However, what stands out is the sheer proportion of people with racists views who are likely to take to physical violence. Just look at the comments on the numerous Facebook threads and WhatsApp chat groups that call for violent action against Muslims. Most of the perpetrators are likely to be keyboard warriors, however, the profanities and language used provides a glimpse into their thinking and mindsets. The takeaway here is that Sri Lanka is a very polarised society with a very disproportionate number of racists who are willing to take to violence and where the fundamentals have not changed since ’83.
