Justice Collapsed: Anti-Muslim Racists Take Law Into Their Own Hands
Latheef Farook
What had happened in Digana on Sunday 4 March 2018 was a crime committed on an innocent Sinhalese lorry driver by three drunken Muslim three wheeler thugs. It is a matter for law enforcement authority to deal with culprits in keeping with the law of the land.
Instead Muslim owned business in and around the area were burnt and caused havoc in the area. The government should have known that emotions were running high during funeral and it was duty bound to prevent the racist from implementing their evil agenda on Muslims in the area.
The government’s failure to take timely precautionary measures to prevent any untoward incident against Muslim business establishments sent a clear message to racists. The presence of Buddhist monk Galagoda Atte Gnanasara of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) gave yet another shot in the arm for these racists. The question is what was he doing there?
“There is no way for Muslims to defend themselves. First the STF comes and take from Muslims whatever they have, including knives, to defend themselves. Then they attack Muslims. In one incident they entered a mosque and attacked those inside. Then they allow racists waiting to attack Muslims. This included women with helmets’ “said a Muslim from Pallekelle.
Some suspects that the government allowed these attacks to take place to divert the country’s attention from the political crisis it is passing through.
It has become clear that disastrous Maithri-Ranil yahapalanaya racism is no different from Rajapaksa racism. Mahinda Rajapaksa has to his credit Aluthgama, Beruwala and Dharga Town carnage while Maithri- Ranil have to their credit Gintota and Ampara and Digana attacks.
No lesson learnt from the past and the country, it appears, is heading towards a disastrous future.
Earlier the senseless attack on innocent imam of Amara mosque, mosque and Muslim owned business establishments besides burning their properties. This has now become an ongoing affair.
There has been a pernicious campaign to whip up anti-Muslim sentiment among Sinhalese over the past few years. This includes the spreading of a canard that Muslim businesses surreptitiously try to sterilize Sinhalese customers using various means. Among them is the notion that substances are embedded in brassieres and the deliberate contamination of food with ‘sterilizing substances’.
It is part of a campaign to poison innocent Sinhalese minds to discourage them from patronizing Muslim owned businesses to cripple Muslim community’s economy.
These mobs have nothing to do with Buddhism or Sinhalese culture. They are mercenaries of local and foreign anti-Muslim forces. So far they have never attacked a gambling den, liquor shop or even sex industry parlors. Their Buddhism is to attain Nibbana by attacking imams, burning mosques, Muslim owned shops, restaurants, vehicles and everything they could think of. They do not understand the harm they cause to the country to which they claim sole ownership.
