When peace goes downhill Kandy riots and the rise of extremism
By Arjuna Ranawana-2018-03-11
Matters may appear to have settled for the moment, but there is tension simmering beneath.
Dr. Suren Rāghavan who teaches at the University of Colombo and is a scholar of Buddhist studies says, "Underneath Sri Lanka's naïve smile there is hatred, and we only need a situation to express that hatred. We need to ask ourselves whether this hatred comes from a sickness of our socio-economic mind or the fear of the other community, and if that is so, how do we get out of it?"
comprehensive
accounts
Elsewhere in this newspaper there are comprehensive accounts of what took place, written by our teams of reporters who visited all the locations around Kandy where there was violence. But in short, what happened was that organized groups of extremists attacked Muslim homes and businesses after a Sinhalese man driving a truck was killed by a group of Muslim youth.
This forced the imposition of a State of Emergency after seven years, enforcement of a curfew and the deployment of hundreds of STF and troops in Kandy.
Sri Lanka's sorry record at maintaining ethnic harmony has meant that we have had some sort of ethnic clash every few years. But over the past five years or so, after the lengthy war that pitted the State against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the conflict has been between Sinhalese and Muslims.
Right wing
All of these incidents have involved organized Sinhala-Buddhist Right Wing organizations such as the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), Ravana Balaya, Mahasohon Balakaya or Sinha Le.
Resident of Kandy and anthropologist, Professor Desmond Mallikarachchi says that the communal violence in this area was not a spontaneous reaction by local Sinhalese residents but an organized attack and therefore 'has to be analyzed politically and not psychologically.'
He pointed out that the Sinhalese man who died was not the victim of a planned attack, but was fatally injured in a random assault. "How is it that the violence came many days after the attack? So it was clearly planned and that is what makes it a tragedy."
He added, "This attack would not have come if our leaders had not sown the seeds of communalism deep in the hearts of our people. This comes from our folklore as well as the distorted history that is taught in our schools. I sometimes wish I could bring the Buddha here now to preach to these racists who are dressed in ties and trousers."
Both academics joined local residents in faulting the Police for inaction during the rioting and the days leading up to it. Rāghavan pointed to a video spread on social media where a Buddhist monk urges Sinhalese to take their swords and join battle against the Muslims. "That man should have been arrested," he said.
Police blamed the attack on the Mahasohon Balakaya, an extremist group based in the Kandy area and arrested its leader Amith Weerasinghe and nine others for organizing the mobs that wreaked havoc.
Reports from Teldeniya where the murdered driver lived, confirmed that BBS leader Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera was at his funeral. Mallikarachchi asks "why did Gnanasara Thera come to the house of this man who lived in a remote part of Teldeniya? Does he go to all the Buddhist funerals? He came with an ulterior motive. Wherever he goes, whether it was Aluthgama or other places, there is anti-Muslim violence."
Sri Lanka has a long history of extremist ethno-cultural groups. But it is in the past few years that they have shown that they are well-organized and have deep pockets. Raghavan says they are "sub-political groups, which are supported and protected by political parties. If you trace their roots you will be led to one or two powerful politicians."
Mallikarachchi points out that groups such as these were active in the formation of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the 1950s by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, although they did not exhibit this level of militancy. With regard to the current situation, he says "the authorities should have banned these extremist organizations as they came up. Now it is a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted."
He is also quick to blame incidents such as these on Sri Lanka's failed political culture. "Our politics is just a fight between parties, this is not human politics. It's all about party loyalties, favouritism and not about political argument."
Because of that, he says, there is a void in our political discourse which should be filled by a sound political theory that will help build a nation.
"We have not brought forward this political theory to resolve the issues facing this country, so all we have left is racism and fear of the other."
Mallikarachchi also subscribed to the oft-repeated fact that even 70 years after independence, we have failed to build a Sri Lankan nation. He says that the country needs to realize that even the war was not fought to win it for the Sinhala Buddhists. It was the State that was threatened by separatists and the war was won for all Sri Lankans.
The anthropologist also decried the motivation of the protesters. "These people who went in processions and attacked Muslims have no real love for anybody, even the Sinhalese. Just take the case of the little boy who was raped and killed in Iranawila. Did anyone go in a procession to condemn that? Was it because the alleged rape-murderer is a Sinhalese? But if the perpetrator was a Muslim then they would have gone there and caused destruction."
Rāghavan is convinced that the Kandy incidents had a hidden hand with a political agenda. He says these situations help certain political actors. He said that the failure of the current Good Governance coalition to fulfil its mandate and maintain unity has opened up spaces for political manoeuvring.
"People are wondering who will cross over to which party and there appears to be instability. We Sri Lankans believe that only total control will work in Sri Lanka and coalition Governments will not work. The same weakness was apparent in partnership governments of the past because we are unable to reconcile our differences."
So what does it
mean for the future?
Sri Lankans go to the polls to elect a new President at the end of next year and a new Parliament a few months later, making 2020 a crucial year.
A situation like the Kandy riots will hugely influence the voters' decision says Rāghavan. "From the citizens perspective there is no Governance in the country. Ordinary people are worried about many things. Food on the table, their children's future and making ends meet. They don't want trouble outside, which will affect their families."
So he said quality politics will decline and people will yearn for stability. This he says, may lead voters to prefer an elected autocratic leader to the messy politics of today.
A gloomy prospect indeed.
