When July 1983 ethnic program occurred, I was a junior high school student from Colombo. I didn’t have any meaningful understanding of what had happened in the third week of July. But witnessed the looting of properties belong to Tamils in Colombo and burned down bodies by Sinhala-Buddhistextremists (with the help from local cops). That one week horrific violence against the Tamils, negatively affected my own life though I am ethically Moor (Muslims). I used to be a five-times praying and Allah loving kid than, but that violence against the Tamils during the UNP government critically challenged me my world views and political understanding. I asked very simple question than: why did they (Sinhala-Buddhist extremists) attack Tamils?
Now I am not a junior school student, but the question I asked than inspired me to understand violence by Sinhala-Buddhist extremists. There are many factors that lead to violence and hatred. In my published articles on Sri Lanka,I have examined some crucial sources of violence by Sinhala-Buddhist extremists and Sri Lanka state.
One of major sources of hatred and violence against non-Sinhalese is rooted in Sinhala-Buddhists’ insecurity. This insecurity among Sinhala-Buddhists has been playing significant role in political psycho of Sinhala-Buddhist extremists in particular. In Sri Lanka, though Sinhala-Buddhists are the majority, they harbor a kind of inferior mentally. Though this development is not very obvious among each and every Sinhala-Buddhists, such a thing do exist in specially among low income Sinhala-Buddhists, who live in villages where Buddhist Temples and monks have vital community-making roles.
March Violence
Last week, Sri Lanka Muslims in the central province district of Kandy experienced violent outbreak. Evidences suggest that Sinhala-Buddhist extremists, including some politicized monks led the violence targeted at properties belong to Muslims. Since than, I spent my own resources to interview some Sinhala-Buddhists both in Kandy and Galle. I am not going to share all the answers from my respondents. My would few to support my understanding. They are,
“Muslims are good, but they’re trying to convert Buddhists to Islam. Iran and Saudi Arabia are helping Muslims to do this”
“Look, our markets, shopping centres and food stores. Muslims own these places and they are rich. They’re having more kids and have good houses.”
“I want to see Muslims go back to Saudi Arabia. I am not comfortable to see Muslims in Sri Lanka. ”
Above three respondents are from Kandy city and are young men between 27-35. They claimed they don’t have university degrees and don’t have regular full time job. It’s wrong to generalize individual opinions. But individual opinions do carry some critical general tendencies. Above views fundamentally help us to understand the psycho of Sinhala-Buddhist extremists who would harbor fears and hatreds.
The fears and anxiety of the were the key factors that played role in the non-compromising position of Sinhala-Buddhists and the state to broker an acceptable political settlement to the ethnic conflict. The Tamil demand for federal solution can be an alternative. But there’s a fear among Sinhala-Buddhists and politicians from Sinhala-Buddhist community that any solution along power-sharing democracy ( federalism) with the Tamils would jeopardize Sri Lanka’s territorial unity and thus it would go against the basic interests of Sinhala-Buddhists, who would think that they are the owners of the island and non-Sinhalese can live in Sri Lanka as guests.
Sinhala-Buddhist extremists’ violent campaign from 1957 to 1983 against the Tamils and Sri Lanka state’s failure to negotiate a political settlement along a federal solution, and wave of violence’s against Muslims from 2009 in general and from 2012 in particular highlights the very insecure political status of Sinhala-Buddhist extremists.
Sri Lanka’s Sinhala-Buddhists generally believe that non-Sinhalese are guests and thus they shouldn’t have any special privileges in the island, which is, according to them, belong to the Sinhala race. The Sinhala-Buddhists also tend to believe that non-Sinhalese are economically and socio-culturally powerful. These are basically roots of the existing insecurity among Sinhala-Buddhist extremists who are actually the majority (around 73 percent). These fundamental belief system not only help shape their fears and power over non-Sinhalese, but also contribute to radicalize some Sinhala-Buddhists.
Insecurity And Politicization
In electoral democracy, politicians would compete for votes. Sri Lanka’s 70 years of electoral democracy experiences suggest that Sinhala-Buddhist politicians use Sinhala Buddhist symbols and fears to outbid their opponents. Those politicians also strategically place Sinhala-Buddhists’ insecure mentally to shape up their political agendas and positions either to win or consolidate power. This maximization of vote strategy by Sinhala politicians attached to major political parties, specially by the UNP and SLFP (now SLPP) basically help destabilize ethnic relations at popular level.
That political outbidding produce success in elections. Tamils were once portrayed as brutal enemies of Sinhala race. It allowed Sinhala politicians and ruling class to wage war against the Tamil Tigers and to deny meaningful political solution for grievances fueled by ethno-centric policies. Since Tamil Tigers silenced their guns, Sinhala-Buddhist extremists actively searched new enemies to consolidate their power and position. Then they found Sri Lanka Muslims, who actually worked so closely with the successive Sinhala-Buddhists dominated regimes for concessions.
Sinhala-Buddhists extremists now say that Muslim symbols and identity markers such as Hijab and the rise of Islamic awareness threaten the stability of the island. But careful readers of Sri Lanka know many concessions what Sri Lanka Muslims enjoy in our time, for example, Muslim schools, Islamic dress in public schools were the concessions that Muslim elites received for their cohabitation politics with the successive Sinhala-Buddhists dominated regimes since 1949.
On March 6, President Maithripala Sirisena’s government introduced emergency rule, nearly seven years after it lapsed in 2011. The introduction of emergency was in response to the violence and unrest spreading through parts of the Kandy district where shops, buildings and places of worship belonging to the Muslim community were attacked by Sinhala mobs the previous day. Reports from victims and eyewitnesses in Digana indicate that buildings were targeted on the basis of ethnicity, with Muslim homes and shops targeted when surrounding buildings owned by Sinhalese were not touched.
They also confirmed that while a majority within the mob were from outside the area, the violence was directed towards particular buildings, as guided by locals who were privy to the ethnicity of residents and owners. Several who recount the chaos and mob violence, witnessing their homes and shops being destroyed, still live in fear of the possibility of violence erupting, fuelled by the fear of the law and order authorities failing to stop the violence.
Sheer desperation
I personally witnessed buildings ablaze and panicked residents attempting to seek shelter in Akurana last Wednesday (7). A local resident who watched his building engulfed in fire asked in sheer desperation as to why this was happening when the police was informed of the mob attacks, but only seemed to respond when the violence was hard to contain. In other areas in Katugastota, shops owned by Muslims were set ablaze during curfew hours. In all these areas residents note that the police response was delayed despite desperate calls by residents.
A majority of people in other parts of Kandy and the rest of Sri Lanka were blissfully ignorant of the utter destruction and chaos occurring in some areas within the Kandy District. The blockade of some social media platforms prevented news from travelling and what was sent out to actors in Colombo from areas under attack was contested even by some in government, with several officials denying even the existence of violence during curfew hours. One wonders whether this denial was either due to a lack of information, ignorance, apathy or something else. Whilst this needs to be looked into, the government’s inability to contain the violence during a time of curfew has raised serious concerns among residents in the area and beyond, of the government’s ability to maintain law and order, bring perpetrators to account and ensure non-recurrence.
Doorstep
The lackadaisical approach by this government towards this recent spate of violence comes somewhat as a surprise, but is it really a shock? It took more than 24 hours after the violence in Kandy for the President and Prime Minister to publicly say anything about the incident. This was despite two senior Muslim Ministers in government visiting the area and publicly commenting on the ground situation on the evening of March 5.
Victims in Digana said, even after two days, no other Minister or senior government official had visited the area or spoken with victims. This was despite the President and others having a high level meeting in Kandy. It is also notable that the prelates of the Asgiriya and Malwatta chapters were silent for more than 24 hours after the violence erupted, despite it occurring on their doorstep.
Sri Lanka has had numerous conflicts and decades of violence, but many either have a short-term memory or choose to conveniently ignore it. I was very young when the 1983 pogrom occurred and do not remember too many details but a memory I do have is of my parents opening our home to friends who were displaced and living in fear and to some they did not even know but had encountered on the road needing shelter.
Portfolios
My sister and I were surrounded by people, some known to us and some who were strangers to us – at the time we did not understand how that moment shaped Sri Lanka’s future and the lives of its citizens. The 1983 pogroms took place under a UNP government with some now in government also holding portfolios then. Have they forgotten those dark years? The present cycle of violence reeks of similar signs where mob violence targeting a particular minority group goes unchecked and in some cases, were abetted by the multiple failures of law enforcement.
Communal tensions, riots and conflicts have affected all communities across Sri Lanka over the years, some multiple times. The Muslim community facing the brunt of the present cycle of violence also experienced violence during the war and the immediate post-war period including the mass eviction from the Northern Province by the LTTE in 1990 and bursts of violence in the past few years in places such as Aluthgama and Gintota.
For many, justice is still elusive and the inaction by successive governments in this regard has contributed to the present culture of impunity. Besides the Muslim community, victims from other communities also continue to search for truth and justice. There was hope that the incumbent government would break from the past and address the structural violence and impunity, and fulfil the promises made in 2015. But the backtracking from key promises and the lack of political will and inability to address structural violence and discrimination has contributed to a culture where impunity continues to thrive rather than being condemned and addressed, a similar trend to post-1983 violence and other events since then.
Appeals
The inaction, incompetence and lethargy in the face of the recent spate of violence cannot be blamed on a few but chalked up to the collective failure of the whole coalition. The few Ministers who met with the victims realized the gravity of the situation but their appeals seemed to receive no real assurances from the leadership until the violence spread. A few resorted to brief social media statements but more should be expected of politicians and officials who are sworn to uphold the rule of law and ensure all citizens are treated as equal citizens in this multi ethnic and multi religious country.
It is imperative they do everything within their power to instil confidence and provide protection to all citizens, not a select few. This week they failed us and this failure calls to question the legitimacy of this administration. We as citizens must also examine our own roles and responses, or lack of it, towards these events and developments. Sri Lanka’s past legacy is sufficient proof that we cannot slide to a place where tolerance, pluralism, the rule of law and civil liberties are under severe threat and people are robbed of their dignity. All citizens must have their rights respected and protected. Justice must be for all. We must demand nothing less.
The writer is a senior researcher at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo and an Eisenhower Fellow.
The mob violence that erupted at Ampara town on Monday February 26, a day after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the stop-gap Minister of Law and Order and followed by violence in Digana, Teldeniya and several other parts of Kandy, independently of the Ampara events, will soon be forgotten, notwithstanding evidence that theextremist attacks in both places appear to be well organised following prior concert.
Most Sri Lankans here and those elsewhere across the globe must certainly be feeling shamed by these tribal assaults happeningin the 21st century, targeting a numerically insignificant minority in the country. It will be comfortable if we can forget it all, now that the affected regions have limped back to normalcy. But the truth is that the victims of violence will never forget, for the rest of their life time, the fear, the tension and the ordeal that suddenly engulfed them and which they endured during that revulsive never ending weak! They will forever remember not only those who rushed in large numbers from unknown elsewhere and attacked their places of worship, their homes and businesses but also those from the neighbourhood belonging to Sinhala and Tamil communities who came to their rescue and gave many of them unforgettable refuge in their homes.
Meanwhile, in a move that sent a timely message of Buddhist empathy, the National Buddhist Front participated in a silent protest in Colombo on Friday 9th March attended by hundreds of Buddhist monks and activists in protest against the anti-Muslim riots. The Catholic, Christian and Hindu religious leaders also extended sympathy at the destruction caused to the Muslims.
Nonetheless, the fundamental problems facing the country and the communities remainbeneath the surface, unresolved. Governmental measures being taken so far, post-violence appear short-term oriented. These measures, though delayed, were aimed at bringing the situation under control. Police investigations are a legal requirement that will be closely watched. But more importantly the investigations should go deep into the actions of the pre-meditators, the inciters and the financiers of extremist violence in Sri Lanka and deal with all violators firmly according to law, if the country is to avoid a recurrence of such tragedies.
The proposed Commission of Inquiry would be meaningless unless it is preceded by unbiased police investigations and empowered to order and supervise further or fresh investigations. It should not end up like the Justice A C Alles Commission of Inquiry into the Galle anti-Muslim riots of July 1982. The Commission’s proceedings collapsed at its inception because the police investigations turned out to be attempts to cover up the Sinhala rioters and did not aim at acting as a deterrent to rioters, no matter their race or religion.
These moves apart, the need for long term solutions has not been focused upon, so far.Soon everything can become history to be forgotten. Theneed to prevent a recurrence of mob attacks on whollyuninvolved civilian communities, irrespective of ethnicity or religion, cannot be permitted to be pushed under the carpet, as it invariably happens at the cost of the long term interests of the country.
One clear out-come of what is evidentlya well-organized anti-Muslim hate campaign by the Mahason Balakaya (MB) on a dangerous turf laid since 2012 by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), followed by incitement toviolence and actual violence,is that the world-wide publicity given by the powerful main stream media to the attacks on nearly 25 Mosques and nearly 400 Muslim owned businesses and homes, has left Sri Lanka in tethers of disgrace. That too at a time when the international community is closely monitoringthe inclination to violent extremism, at the drop of a hat, from sections of the majority community and which can strengthen arguments in Geneva of civilian killings in the week that preceded the end of the war on 19th May 2009. It is probably in that context that the Brigadier’s throat-slitting spectacle in London is being put on notice by the British to demonstrate what could have happened in the height of a passionately fought war in the secretive jungles off Mullaitivu.
The media reports that went out from Sri Lanka during the last ten days, regrettably caricatured Sri Lankans as a tribal grouping of rioting marauders. Carnage receives media coverage but not the more valuable National Buddhist Front’s silent protest in support of the victims. Excepting from Myanmar and countries afflicted by wars in the Middle-East, no such reports of serious mob attacks by one community against the other, came out from any of the countries during the last decade or even more. Amongst countries with a Buddhist majority reputed for equanimity and tolerance Sri Lanka got a shameful place next only Myanmar. In the back drop of the major 1983 racial riots against Tamils in Sri Lanka, religious confrontations against Christians and Muslims from 2012onwards and presently against the Muslims under the yahapalana government which the Muslims too helped to set-up, the country stands disgraced world-wide as a nation of rioters. It is an unfortunate indictment on the majority of the peace loving people of every community that inhabits our island nation.
This situation is a serious challenge to a country struggling to settle the huge foreign debts. Our foreign earnings cannot sustain the annual debt settlements for several more decades unless we find oil off Mannar. Tea and tourism had got adversely affected following the troubles. Tea prices dropped at the auctions by Rs. 50 per kilo. Sri Lanka lost valuable foreign exchange. Tourism, another foreign exchange earner has lost heavily, though mercifully the country is at the end of the current tourist season. Foreign investors would be uncomfortable to invest in a country perennially plagued by man- made conflicts. We had lost to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand decades ago. Now we can stand behind war afflicted countries like Vietnam, Laos and Bangladesh thanks to our ethnic and religious in-fights and thanks to extremists in our midst. We need to find long term solutions to our national weaknesses.
Senior Opposition MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara told Parliament last week that Norway was funding certain Buddhist extremist organisations in Sri Lanka. That assertion and possibly other similar funding programs need investigation, proof and reflection whether and why Norway is intermeddling in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka. Norway widely believed to often act on behalf of powerful Western countries did invest heavily in Sri Lanka until 2004. By 22/02/ 2002 Norway succeeded in advancing the terrorist LTTE to a status on par with a helpless Sri Lankan Government!However it may not be the governments of these powerful countries who fund extremist activities in third world countries. It could well be the leaders of the more powerful arms industries who invest through lobby groups and foundations and discreetly finance powerful Western politicians as well as third world extremist groups. An ex-public servant working full time for one of these groups had in fact admitted the Norwegian involvement in his group.
Vasudeva Nanayakkara’s assertion in Parliament needs to be investigated. He must make an official complaint to the IG Police calling for a comprehensive investigation. It is highly probable that powerful countries which failed to divide Sri Lanka into two have given way to these lobby groups to divide the Sri Lankan people on confrontational ethnic lines. Conflict creation is a terrible art that inures for the benefit of the exceptionally powerful forces in the western arms industry. We need to know who is attempting to destroy our unity and why!
(The writer is a former Member of Parliament and can be reached on mm_zuhair@yahoo.com )
I don’t know when power will come back on, and the people of politico-suburbia be reunited on social media. But at the time of writing, savvier denizens of proscribed internet spaces are beginning to suspect that ‘sinister’ is perhaps a better word to describe this long blockade than ‘silly’.
Since the State has opted to remain stumm on its reasons for the prolonged ban, surely it’s time for more civic-minded, liberty-loving independent citizens to speak up – or forever hold their peace on future encroachment of their rights.
However one may position Government’s social media blackout policy on a spectrum from ‘silly’ through ‘strategic’ to ‘sinister’, it is increasingly evident that segments of the powers that be responsible for the blockade lack a sense of irony or humour.
In a week that saw the passage of the Enforced Disappearances Act in Parliament and formal showcasing of the state’s Right to Information Law, social media has been forcibly abducted and secreted away in some Area 51 of culpable bureaucracy, thereby denying end users their right to info…
Therefore it’s safe to assume that Mother Superior doesn’t have her act together as tightly as she would expect her wards and charges to keep their knees locked. She, or MS for short, waxes between a not-surprising patriarchy on matters moral and a paternalism that is shocking for a self-confessed liberal-democrat on issues social, while her media star wanes in the west.
In the meantime, what’s going on before and behind the scenes in our brave new world that has such people in it is cause for concern among more than the six million or so legitimate Social Media users. These range from hard subversion of civil liberties by a data-gathering military intelligence complex for possible use against future political opponents to softer hints that MS’s first lieutenant, the redoubtable Premier, is subverting his superior’s internet protocols as much as his presidential integrity.
There are strategically-placed media cameos in which the PM features as an unabashed champion of civil liberties such as free access to Facebook, etc. – a claim made more authentic perhaps by his then ostensibly futile promise of free Wi-Fi. (Maybe the PM knew in advance that an internet-based crackdown on civil dissent was en route, and was therefore being more facile than his detractors generally give him credit for?)
On a parallel track, the senior party in the coalition Government seems keen to undermine the credentials of its numerically-challenged junior chief executive with proxy servers delivering faits accomplis such as presidential commissions to enquire into the cause of ethnic tension à la Teldeniya. It can only end with the Head of State’s escutcheon more sullied by his modus operandi in not visiting Digana’s suffering citizenry, but dallying with prelates and pleading with their long sufferance of rogue elements in saffron-garb.
One thing
Even if political parties or their showpiece personages manage to escape the social embarrassments that their stalemated marriage partners foist on them, the SM imbroglio has left a permanently disfiguring mark on the Government’s imprimatur. Thanks in part to its folly in cracking the deadly stingray’s tail over one-third of the country’s populace who are legal consumers of news and commentary on SM-platforms, while actual arsonists on the street evade arrest if they’re ordained into a higher order of impunity, Government has shot itself in the foot… a treatment that – if meted out to fire-starting troublemakers at the first sign of anarchy – could have spared our embattled nation-state a lot of grief and shame.
And that’s being charitable: assuming that those who aspire to policymaking in matters clearly beyond their comprehension were only playing silly buggers because they didn’t know any better. The darker underbelly of conjecture in media squares where Government watchers generally interrogate State imperatives with the hermeneutic of suspicion has yielded hypotheses that are harder to stomach at the hands of a regime we assumed was clearer and cleaner in its crusade against the former darkness we endured for a decade.
But while time will tell what grim restrictions faceless mandarins are manufacturing for consumption, it’s still not too late in the day of the hour when darkness was at noon for business, more professionals, and relevant academics, to speak up and out.
After all, what happens in the happier boroughs on internet-suburbia (while less respectable denizen-detractors are busy burrowing and tunnelling through VPNs to where the action is) can readily be translated to the real world. A crackdown on a wide spectrum of civil liberties including the freedom of expression is not too far in the offing if Government is allowed to get away with getting its rocks off at the frightening power citizen silence gives it.
One more thing
Each man kills the thing he loves – maybe. But every government stifles and stymies the things they fear. In the aftermath of Aluthgama, it was the previous regime that sought to dismantle the apparatus of citizen dissent and critical engagement with the powers that be on saffron impunity. After Ampara and Akurana and Katugastota, it must not come as too much of a shock to the system that self-declared democrats are feeling the deadly sting (or sting-ray’s deadly lash, hmm?) at their handling of Digana’s inferno.
In a week in which we the people – well, the rest of us or the best of the worst of us – could or should have been celebrating advances made by Government in prosecuting its reform agenda, we’re sitting silently sullenly in some dark unlit corner of our cubicles à la 1984 complaining that not only is Big Brother watching us, it’s making a list of who’s been naughty and nice for ready reference when the political climate necessitates it.
It would be a nice twist of irony if the present powers are compiling a dossier on the demagogues of the past who set far more than Teldeniya ablaze with much crueller instruments than their tongues or tweets, but let’s not be gulled into that trap of going down a darkened street where the dead have no name.
One last thing
For the moment, the mainstream media has a duty to remind the Government that it has a privilege as well as a responsibility in not taking too much pleasure in the measure of control a crackdown on social media gives even liberal-democrats currently feeling the heat.
We are also burdened by the absence of chamber voices adding to the orchestra of protest to which some apex bodies – such as, significantly, those in the sphere of IT, ICT, BPOs, etc. – have lent a symphonic ear. Are we to assume that Big Business embraces the embargo? Or that captains of commerce and industry are as craven as civil society once used to be? Facts are sacred and comment is still free… at least on social media platforms such as Twitter, for the nonce – so here’s hoping the trinity of biz, pros and dons deliver the goods.
Government has grown fat on its sense of power, self-importance, and lack of control anon. Time to force-feed it the bitter pill of irony and commonsense, to make it realise that power is nothing without self-control before seeking to control others it finds a nuisance.
It’s just the thing the spin-doctors of the extreme right seeking or staging a disastrous comeback ordered: if the saffron anarchists are permitted to dance the merry devil in the field as well as the blogosphere while citizen-journalists cool their heels in an unplugged slammer.
(Journalist | Editor-at-large of LMD | Writer #SpeakingTruthToPower)
As the debris settles in Kandy and Ampara, Sinhala Buddhists are faced with yet another moment of reckoning: how do we change the ways in which we think about citizenship and belonging in order to free ourselves from the shackles of communal violence? Any successful response to the many myths that nearly five centuries of colonialism and seven decades of postcolonial majoritarian politics have embedded in our national imagination requires the participation of all citizens and the critical appraisal of all dimensions of ethno-nationalist discourse, or the understanding of the state as an ethnically and religiously bounded category (i.e. Sri Lanka is a nation of Sinhala Buddhists, and other ethnic and religious groups live here at our sufferance). Much has been written on the specific ways in which ethnicity and religion were central to the violence in Ampara and Kandy (as well as Gintota and Aluthgama, among others). Yet, if we are to avoid making the mistakes of our past, our analysis of majoritarian ethnic and religious politics must be supple and holistic enough to reckon with a constellation of attendant social issues – gender, sexuality, ability, and class, to name but a few – that both feed from and bolster ethno-nationalism.
The conversation about the rights of gender and sexual minorities in Sri Lanka is often viewed as an isolated discussion, separate from the relatively more mainstream (though nowhere near universal) debates about ethnic politics and women’s rights. Such siloing of social issues helps to render the interconnections between these topics invisible, effectively preserving the architecture of ethno-nationalism.
Take for instance the gendered and sexual dimensions of the physical violence in Ampara, and the various debates it engendered. The furor over the alleged sterilisation pills a Sinhala Buddhist unwittingly consumed at a Muslim-owned restaurant (a story that has since been debunked) speaks to a central anxiety in Sinhala Buddhist fascism, of the decline of the Sinhala Buddhist population and the simultaneous population boom in ethnic minority communities, particularly Muslims. From the stages of Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) rallies to “news articles” that proclaim with authority and despair the (categorically untrue) statistic that Sinhala Buddhists have plummeted from being 72% of the population to 67%, the concern about the hyper-sexuality of Muslim communities and the sterility of the Sinahala Buddhist polity fuels a culture of Sinhala Buddhist paranoia. It nurtures a psychosis our community has long grappled with, that we are a beleaguered ethnic and religious group who are to be dispossessed of ournation, if swift action is not taken to strengthen our claim to our land. In 2012, the BBS published content through Divaina indicting two NGOs for an alleged attempt to decimate the Sinhala Buddhist population through forced sterilization. However, the data reported by the Family Health Bureau indicate that the rates of sterilisation among ethnic groups mirror the overall ethnic demographics of the population, thereby negating the myth that Sinhala Buddhists are disproportionately targeted by family planning programs. What is of interest is that the very fecundity that is seen as desirable among Sinhala Buddhists is viewed as grotesque and perilous when demonstrated by Muslim communities, indicating yet again how sexual norms are interwoven with notions of ethnic and religious purity, and applied unevenly across the Sri Lankan population.
One inevitable outcome of such demagogic fearmongering is the entrenching of traditional (and often patriarchal) gender norms. Kumari Jayawardena and Malathi de Alwis discuss this very phenomenon in their analysis of fundamentalism in South Asia, observing that “fundamentalism uses women’s bodies as a battlefield in its struggle to appropriate institutional power” and that “women [are] constructed as ‘Mothers of the Nation’ and their biological role as reproducers of the nation [is] highlighted” in such political projects.[i]
The idiom of Sinhala Buddhist fundamentalism we are witnessing in this moment will undoubtedly exercise a similar effect on society, demanding that the measure of a “good” Sinahala Buddhist citizen be one’s conformity to traditional gender roles, the protection of the institution of heterosexual marriage from the sullying forces of miscegenation, and the birthing of many children to perpetuate the Sinhala race. This cultural logic leaves little room for the emancipation of women, as the value of a woman lies in her economic potential and her role as a mother, and little else. Women are deprived of autonomy in family planning and denied the right to make decisions over their own bodies and desires.
This is not pure conjecture, as is attested to by the BBS raiding family planning services shortly after accusing NGOs of seeking to end the Sinhala Buddhist line.[ii] Such demands on unfettered procreation pose a clear threat to women, with one example being that the maternal mortality rate in Sinhala-majority districts such as Kegalle and Matara is nearly twice the national average (although we must bear in mind that the highest mortality rates affect citizens from ethnic minority groups in Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, and Mannar, as well as estate workers in the hill country). This thinking also traps men in a stranglehold of toxic masculinity, setting as an exemplar the likes of Amith Weerasinghe.
Gender and sexual minorities (those who are transgender and non-heterosexual) are yet another casualty of this brand of fundamentalism, as there is no room in the Sinhala Buddhist state for those who do not maintain the continuity of the Sinhala Buddhist nation nor conform to notions of moral purity (which unsurprisingly propose heterosexuality as the only form of ethical existence).
Countless South Asian scholars, such as Gayatri Gopinath,[iii] speak to how assumption of heterosexuality and gender normativity form the brick and mortar of the nation, and that those who violate these terms are disenfranchised and displaced from the state as readily as ethnic and religious minorities.
To those who question the veracity of my analysis I would recommend reading through the comments of Sinhala Buddhist fascist propaganda that circulates through Facebook. I spent much of the past week reading and observing what many in my social network expressed on social media in response to the riots in Ampara and Kandy. Videos of politicians condemning the violence were frequently greeted with comments about how the “පොන්න (ponna)” and “නපුංසක (napunsaka)” (which in the most literal sense refer to alternative gender and sexual existences) politicians in this country were ruining it. This stands in stark contrast to the termsin which Brigadier Priyankara Fernando is idolized as a “නියම සිංහල කොල්ලා (great Sinhala man)” and a “lion” and a “hero.” Being පොන්න or නපුංසක is equated to impotence, which is automatically interpreted as negative. Thus, the perceived incompetence of the government to protect the Sinhala Buddhist race is seen as a form of infertility, which is conflated with gender and sexual non-conformity. Yet another layer to this interconnection between ethno-nationalism and gender and sexual orthodoxy is that senior members of the UNP are often painted as gender and sexual deviants, often for their perceived status as deracinated and Westernised urban elites as much as for their actual gender/sexual presentations or identities.
What is unfortunate is that this homophobic and transphobic logic is not restricted to the confines of Sinhala Buddhist extremism. There were several in my social media circles for whom terms like පොන්න were a common and easily available lexicon as they condemned communal violence. The logic of gender and sexual normativity easily communicated the sentiments of those across the political spectrum in this situation, that පොන්නකම or නපුංසකකම is lamentable, undesirable, and to be eradicated. What is unfortunate about this surprising solidarity across the political spectrum is that the unquestioned supremacy of such a rigid gender and sexual order will inexorably bolster ethno-nationalism. Our obsession with doing gender correctly, of sex being contained to the union of a man and a woman for reproductive purposes, and our preoccupation with progeny will always serve to deny ourselves and society the freedom from such an oppressive system as well as to both create and sustain anxieties about the longevity of ethno-religious communities. Gender and sexual non-normativity demonstrates how individuals hold intrinsic value as human beings and contribute to their communities despite (or perhaps due to) their choice not to procreate or conform to hegemonic ideals. They illustrate how the worth of a human being cannot be measured by their marital status, their relationship configuration, or the number of children they bear. These individuals create space for alternative ways of being Sinahala, Muslim, Tamil, Burgher, and Sri Lankan.
The irony is that though terms like පොන්න and නපුංසක were bandied in online forum to denote political near-sightedness, those who resist gender and sexual conventions are some of the most astute thinkers and observers in our society. I had the privilege of meeting many individuals who identify as LGBT or non-normative through my research in Sri Lanka, and a number of them articulated complex understandings of ethnicity and religion, sidestepping the logical fallacies of fundamentalism.
Irrespective of differences in background, such as income status or urban/rural life, my research participants shared thoughts ranging from the notion that it is possible to believe in a Sinhala Buddhist identity while rejecting Sinhala Buddhist supremacist ideology to the idea that one’s sense of ethnic and religious identity is predicated upon one’s actions and ethics, as opposed to the circumstances of one’s birth. These individuals are as diverse in their life experiences and beliefs as the rest of our society, and thus not everyone rejected ethno-nationalism as soundly. Nonetheless, that an overwhelming number of my interviewees hold such complex beliefs gestures to a unique phenomenon. Perhaps experiencing marginalisation along one axis may make one sensitive to the exclusions that are created along others.
Being jettisoned from the discourse of Sri Lankan citizenship due to their gender or sexuality may create an awareness to the artificial and arbitrary nature of other narratives of the state, such as that of ethnic and religious supremacy. Of particular interest to me is those interviewees who declared a commitment to their identity as Sinhala Buddhists, yet engaged in the daily rituals and practices of these positionalities with a sensitivity to the reality that other ethnic and religious groups, women, and gender and sexual minorities are systemically excluded from this social order. Perhaps these individuals bear fragments of the answers all Sinhala Buddhists must seek as we look to construct less violent and exclusionary narratives of Sinhala Buddhism.
My aim in writing this article is not to unequivocally denounce heterosexuality and the nuclear family as evil. Rather, my larger ideological project is to think about how we can create space in Sri Lanka for diverse forms of gender and sexual expression, without the fear of oppression or the pressure to conform to norms of “normalcy.” Nor is the purpose of my article to detract from the focus on Muslim victims, or the stalled communal violence that is simply biding its time. Rather, my attempt here is to further complicate how we think about ethnicity, religion, and belonging. Only by wrestling with the many heads of this hydra can we seek to develop nuanced and reflexive response to this issue. Only by uncovering the many interconnections between various social issues can we understand how our struggles are all linked. Myopia has marked our history thus far, and to rewrite a different narrative for our country requires removing the blinders that prevent us from examining violence in all of its complexity. [i] Jayawardena, Kumari, and Malathi de Alwis. 1996. “Introduction.” In Embodied Violence: Communalising Women’s Sexuality in South Asia, edited by Kumari Jayawardena and Malathi de Alwis, x. London: Zed Books.
[ii] Silva, Kalinga Tudor. 2016. “Gossip, Rumor, and Propaganda in Anti-Muslim Campaigns of the Bodu Bala Sena.” In Buddhist Extremists and Muslim Minorities: Religious Conflict in Contemporary Sri Lanka, edited by John Clifford Holt, 119-139. New York: Oxford University Press.
[iii] Gopinath, Gayatri. 2005. Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
The aim of this article is to explore the communal violence in Sri Lanka and find out the root causes and mechanisms to solve such conflicts in the future. Communal violence is not a new phenomenon in the country. Throughout history there have been many incidents of communal violence among the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim ethnic groups. However in the post conflict era, religious violence has become very common between the Sinhala and Muslim ethnic groups. It is reported that in the past 6 years over 300 religious related incidents of violence took place elsewhere in the country such as Dambulla, Anuradhapura, Maligawatta, Aluthgama, Kooragala, Gintota, Ampara, Digana, Kandy, Puttalam etc. The above events have killed a number of people and have caused massive losses to the Sri Lankan economy. The Sri Lankan government which is responsible to protect the people regardless of ethnicity, religion, and race seems to not respond in a proper manner to curtail such violence and not implement any measures to prevent such violence. It is noted that most of the communal violence took place at the presence of Sri Lankan police and forces. It has brought some suspense to the Muslims about the law and order and has reduced their esteem in the present government. If such situations continue, the country may easily relapse into a conflict very soon.
Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country where Buddhists (71%), Hindus (13%), Muslims (9%) and Christians (7%) have lived in peace and harmony for over thousand years. However, in the post conflict era (after 2009) religious related violence between Sinhalese and Muslims has become very common. There have been a number of incidents reported in the past. The violence that took place in Kandy (Digana) is one of the recent communal clashes between the Sinhala and Muslim ethnic groups. Rioting in Kandy began in Udispattuwa and Teldeniya, later spreading to Digana, Tennekumbura and other areas. The flames of this violence was ignited when a middle-aged truck driver of Sinhala ethnicity was assaulted by four Muslim youths following a traffic accident. The truck driver died of his injuries four days later. On the 5th of March Sinhalese mobs began attacking Muslim properties in the region, resulting in widespread damage to property. The riots, the first large scale Buddhist-Muslim sectarian violence since similar riots in 2014, prompted the Government of Sri Lanka to declare a State of Emergency for a period of ten days, in addition to the police curfew already imposed on the district. Social media networks including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and Instagram were blocked in the country in an effort to prevent mobs from organizing their attacks and spreading propaganda. Currently, the communal violence in Kandy is fully under control, however there are some minor incidents that have been reported in Puttalam and Aluthgama.It is reported that 25 mosques, 65 shops and over 100 houses were looted and burnt down (partly/fully) by some Sinhala radical youths.
There are many root causes for this communal violence in Sri Lanka: Political, economic, social, cultural and religious issues. Regarding the political issue, the cabinet Spokes-person Hon. Minister Rajitha Senarathna says that there are two Parliamentarians directly involved in this communal violence, however he did not disclose their names. Some critiques say that due to the continuous communal violence in Sri Lanka many Muslims have lost their trust and hope both on SLFP and UNP and remain in a big dilemma about their political stance in the future. Regarding the economic aspects, the violence in Kandy has cost over a billion rupees to the economy. Further, travel & tourism, stock exchange market and import & export also has been badly affected in the past two weeks. Regarding the religious issues, there is a lack of understanding among the Sinhalese about Islam, such as the Halal issue, number of mosques, dress code, etc. Although some information has been provided in the past that has not reached the Sinhala community yet. There is a fear among the Sinhalese about Islam and some extremist groups, similar to how Muslims also fear the Sinhala extreme groups now a days. Such misunderstandings and mistrust should be eliminated in both communities, otherwise it may lead to further communal violence in the future.
Scores of Muslims chased out of their homes by Sinhalese mob violence in central Sri Lanka have been forced to seek shelter in a makeshift refugee camp despite government claims of bringing the situation under control.
JDS has been able to speak to some among 178 Muslims camping in the Endarutenna school in Kandy district, who lament the inaction by security forces, which led to desecrating places of worship and the destruction of their homes.
Ten of the displaced are pregnant mothers. Many children are among them.
A VANDALISED MUSLIM PRAYER CENTRE IN PAHALA ENDARUTENNA, KATUGASTOTA - MARCH 07, 2018
They had fled the Pahala Endarutenna Muslim village following a series of attacks culminating in the burning and sacking of 56 households, despite repeated appeals to the police and military.
President Maithripala Sirisena had declared a state of emergency throughout the island on 6 March, while the Kandy district remained under curfew.
A HOUSE DESTROYED IN AN ARSON ATTACK IN ENDARUTENNA, KATUGASTOTA - MARCH 07, 2018
Top government and security officials announced that thousands of additional troops have been deployed to the area.
The attacks on Pahala Endarutenna, 10 kilometres from the tourist city of Kandy, started on 5 March with a petrol bomb thrown at the Majeed Ahmed mosque in the afternoon.
Residents have immediately informed the police.
“Not to worry”
On the next evening a group who came in motor bicycles have thrown bottles of beer at devotees who gathered for prayers. Two police officers on mobile patrol arrived at the scene only to tell the villagers “not to worry”.
Residents who rushed to the mosque on 7 Wednesday after hearing a blast in the early hours of the morning have found their place of worship engulfed in flames. Five police officers who visited the mosque premises after being alerted, had left nearly two hours later claiming that they have no permission to stay longer.
Pahala Endarutenna came under heavy attack after police vacated the village around 3.30 am, said an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) who witnessed the horror.
“Around 11 in the morning one of our villagers came running to warn us of a mob coming to attack,” Badurdeen Mohamed Arshard told JDS over the phone.
“Many came riding motor bikes, covering their faces with bandanas and T shirts. They threw petrol bombs all over the place. We told the women, children and the elderly to run and hide in the woods.”
The mob had left only to return with a larger group to renew the violence on the Muslims and raid their valuables.
“Please don’t kill”
“Pregnant mothers were unable to run. Elderly and children were also among us. Some pleaded crying ‘please don’t kill us’. We made desperate phone calls to the military and the police.”
WOMEN & CHILDREN, TERRORISED BY MOB VIOLENCE, HIDING IN WOODS IN ENDARUTENNA, KATUGASTOTA - MARCH 07, 2018
Troops had taken over four hours to arrive at the scene.
A VEHICLE BURNT DOWN BY THE MOB AT ENDARUTENNA, KATUGASTOTA - MARCH 07, 2018
“That was too late. Our homes were destroyed and burnt down. Wardrobes and cupboards were smashed to steal jewelry, cash and other valuables,” said Mohamed Arshad.
Military ‘assurances’
Sri Lanka army chief who visited the camp in Enderutenna school had requested villagers to return. He had assured to provide security while saying that he is unable to guarantee the arrest of criminals.
Expressing their disappointment to Army Commander Mahesh Senanayaka, the displaced Muslims pointed out that the military in the possession of all available CCTV recordings from the scene should be able to identify perpetrators.
A displaced Muslim was skeptical of the assurance given by the top man in the military.
“What is the point of giving security now? When thugs came to destroy our homes, we begged for the army and police to help us. No one came at that time. Where do we have homes to go now?”
Most of the recorded violence against Muslims in Kandy had been unleashed when emergency regulations were in place. Almost all the attacks in the night had been launched when the curfew was in operation and armed troops deployed.
Government officials were seen going around Kandy district in the weekend to assess the damage. Army commander Mahesh Senanayaka had promised to utilize troops to rebuild damaged properties by May, with funds from the government.
2018-03-14
Citizens in Kandy should show their displeasure over what politicians and others have done to create violence in places like Digana, Teldeniya and other areas.
Citizens in Kandy had enough after the ‘one hundred days of terror’ during the 1915 riots
The incidents were created by a handful of disgruntled persons outside Kandy
This false picture given would sent the word around that Kandy is not safe for tourists
Friends around the globe, whom I know, were telephoning me. “L.B. are you safe in Kandy” they asked me. I said “Yes”. But, it did not strike me during those moments. There was a reason behind these inquiries. Later it dawned on me that these attacks in Digana and Teldeniya are termed as ‘Kandy violence’ by the Kandy folk.
But, none of these incidents occurred in Kandy. The incidents were created by a handful of disgruntled persons outside Kandy. After the first day of incidents the newspapers reported that there was mayhem in Digana and Teldeniya. But, all these incidents were associated with one word: Kandy. Soon people were assuming that people from Kandy were involved in these incidents.
This false picture given would sent the word around that Kandy is not safe for tourists. Kandy is the centre of Buddhist activities, given that Gautama Buddha’s tooth relic is housed at the Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth). Kandy is the place which attracts tourists, not Digana and Teldeniya. However these two towns come under the purview of Kandy District. My concerns are why the name Kandy was mentioned when no clash too place here.
Then why blame Kandy citizens who had no hand in these incidents in Teldeniya, Digana and in surrounding areas? This situation has to be corrected, at least now
Citizens in Kandy had enough after the “one hundred days of terror” during the 1915 riots. Given this history no one would dare to get involved in any such incident which would create a communal rift. Another incident that the Kandy people would not forget is the ‘Walhagoda Devale’ incident. During this incident both the Sinhala and Muslim communities had to settle their grievances in a massive Court case.
In this background the people of Kandy would never allow history to repeat. The citizens of Kandy had remained silent during this commotion and allowed everyone to blame them for the violence in which they played no role. Geographically Kandy is surrounded by The Mahaweli and there have been no ethnic hatred. It’s a big question as to why others think that Kandy citizens are to blame for all this violence?
Time and again when these incidents are highlighted and also when the Police Media Spokesman talks about the violence he mentions Kandy as the source where the mayhem begins from. The affected are clearly demarcated by rivers and bridges and it is superfluous that Kandy has come to the picture without even a stone thrown at a Muslim in this part of the Central Province. The Kandy people have lived in peace after 1915 and there is no doubt they would continue to do so for centuries.
When the death occurred of driver M.G Kumarasinghe, in Teldeniya, the point of the so-called mayhem, initially no one knew to what communities the assailants and victim belonged to. It was days later that they found that the culprits were members of the Muslim community. The Muslims denounced them as members of their community when it was alleged the assailants were under the influence of liquor.
Then why blame Kandy citizens who had no hand in these incidents in Teldeniya, Digana and in surrounding areas? This situation has to be corrected, at least now. Politicians can do better than repeatedly ‘chanting’ the name Kandy!
Folks of Kandy should be respected for finding a way to live in harmony with people belonging to different races and religions.
A group of representatives of the Sri Lankan Muslim community living in Japan called on President Maithripala Sirisena at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo yesterday. Picture by Sudath Silva
Representatives of the Sri Lankan Muslim community living in Japan said they highly appreciate the untiring efforts of President Maithripala Sirisena and the government to strengthen ethnic harmony.
They said so, when some representatives of the Sri Lankan Muslims living in Japan, called on the President, who is on a state visit in Japan, at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo yesterday.
The representatives noted that eventhough certain persons level baseless allegations against the President over the recent incidents that took place in the Kandy area. Muslim people in Japan never consider it as a communal clash.
The representatives added that the Sri Lankan Muslim community living in Japan is with the President in his effort to strengthen ethnic harmony. Besides, they highly appreciated President Sirisena’s and the Government’s efforts to ceate a cordial rapport among various communities and strengthen peace.
The President while talking on the recent incidents in Kandy said that it was the work of a group of people with vested intersts, who want to create chaos.
The President while highly condemning the Kandy unrest said that it was regrettable when the government is taking all measures to strengthen peace and ethnic harmony.
The Muslim representatives said that they wished to build a peaceful and brotherly environment in the country in which everyone can live in peace and harmony.
They added that the acts of certain bankrupt politicians was the cause for such incidents.
