Tight security for Friday prayers in Sri Lanka

Buddhist, civil society groups denounce riots, call for tough action against perpetrators

A Sri Lankan soldier guarding a mosque in Colombo yesterday. Police said tight security remained in place for the fifth consecutive day in Kandy and would remain across the district for the coming few days.
A Sri Lankan soldier guarding a mosque in Colombo yesterday. Police said tight security remained in place for the fifth consecutive day in Kandy and would remain across the district for the coming few days. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

COLOMBO • Soldiers and police guarded mosques across Sri Lanka during Friday prayers yesterday amid fears of new anti-Muslim attacks after four days of riots that have left at least three dead.

Most Muslim-owned businesses in the island nation remained shut in protest against attacks by mainly Buddhist Sinhalese groups concentrated around the central city of Kandy.

Armed troops and constables patrolled outside mosques, while in Kandy, prayers were said in open grounds in many places because mosques had been burnt or vandalised.

"There were no incidents during the Friday prayers," a police official in Colombo said, adding that investigators had stepped up the search for those who took part in the violence.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks and activists staged a demonstration in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo yesterday to condemn the riots.

The National Bhikku Front said they organised the silent protest against what they called "communal clashes destroying national unity".

Moderate Buddhist leaders in Kandy have also denounced the riots. Several Sri Lankan users also posted photos on Twitter of Buddhist monks visiting mosques during Friday prayers to express solidarity.

Sinhalese and Muslim civil society groups had staged a joint protest in Colombo on Thursday calling for tough action against the perpetrators of the riots.

At least 140 people, including the main instigator, have been arrested over the unrest, police said.

They named the main suspect as Amith Weerasinghe, a Sinhalese known for anti-Muslim activism and outspoken social media posts.

He was held on Thursday.

The riots, which began on Monday after a man from the Sinhalese majority died from injuries sustained in an attack by Muslims last month, have left nearly 200 Muslim businesses and homes destroyed. Eleven mosques were attacked.

Nine of the damaged mosques were in the picturesque tea-growing Kandy district, a draw for international tourists now suffering widespread cancellations.

Kandy residents said shops and offices were open yesterday and life was slowly returning to normal.

Muslims were seen inspecting the damage to their burnt out businesses. Troops guarded every junction while security personnel carried out patrols on motorcycles and in armoured personnel carriers.

Internet services, which were blocked across Kandy, were restored yesterday, but access to social media sites such as Facebook remained blocked across Sri Lanka.

Police said Sinhalese extremists were using social media sites and messaging applications to spread hate speech and instigate attacks on the Muslim minority.

The government declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as the unrest escalated when a Muslim man was found dead in a burnt out building.

Army chief Mahesh Senanayake visited Kandy on Thursday and promised an increased military presence near mosques.

Despite a security alert across the country, three boats belonging to a Muslim businessman just outside the Kandy district were torched early yesterday, police said. There were no casualties.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday night that the riots had been a huge blow to Sri Lanka's efforts to bolster tourism after ending a 37-year-old ethnic civil war.

The official Tourist Board said it was safe for foreign tourists to visit Kandy, but hotel operators say they have suffered large-scale cancellations.

"We had 80 per cent occupancy, but it has now dropped to about 30 per cent," a deluxe hotel operator in the town of Kandy said yesterday, asking not to be named.

The police also held search operations in several areas in Kandy on Thursday night and said they had recovered more than 20 petrol bombs.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, XINHUA


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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 10, 2018, with the headline Tight security for Friday prayers in Sri Lanka. Subscribe