ICC Note:

Attacks on religious minorities in Sri Lanka, including Christians and Muslims, continued despite a change in regimes over the past 4 years. Much of the violence began under the previous regime leading many to believe radical Buddhist nationalists received the backing of the government. Christians faced physical attacks as well as legal restrictions on building places of worship during that time. When the new regime came to power, many hoped that the days of persecution had passed. While attacks on Christians physically have decreased, legal restrictions have continued to be an issue. Will persecution for Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka always be a fact of life? 

07/11/2017 Sri Lanka (Ummid) – Since 2013, Sri Lanka has been witnessing a spike in targeted attacks on the Muslim and Christian minorities by hardline Sinhala-Buddhist groups. It began with a fringe organization’s campaign against halal certification, forcing shops to stop selling meat labeled for Islamic guidelines.

A series of attacks on mosques and shops owned by Muslims followed. Within a year, violent communal clashes erupted in the southern coastal town of Aluthgama, killing four people and injuring nearly 100, The Hindu News reported.

At that time the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa regime remained silent, leading many to believe that it was passively backing the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS or Buddhist Power Force), a hardline Sinhala nationalist organization linked to the attacks. After Rajapaksa had been ousted in the January 2015 elections, many Sri Lankans hoped that the newly-elected government would end such impunity.

Apparently, it has not. Since April 2017, over 25 attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned establishments have been recorded. Unlike Rajapaksa, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have publicly stated that there is no place for religious intolerance in Sri Lanka.

Sirisena ordered a police crackdown on violence against minorities while Wickremesinghe vowed tougher laws against religious hate crimes.

However, the BBS’s firebrand monk-leader, Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thero, notorious for his inciting speeches, including the one believed to have instigated the Aluthgama riots, remains virtually untouched.

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