by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Colombo : Over 230 people have been arrested over the communal clashes in Sri Lanka’s Kandy district, including those who were caught for spreading hate speech on social media platforms, police said on Monday.
A police official told Xinhua news agency that while the situation in Kandy had returned to normal, tight security would remain for a few more days across the district to maintain law and order.
He said further arrests were expected over the next few days and a special desk had been set up at the police headquarters for the public to lodge complaints about violent incidents.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited Kandy over the weekend to meet the victims affected by the violence and assessed the extent of damages.
He promised the government would pay full compensation for those whose businesses, homes, mosques and temples had been destroyed in the clash.
The Prime Minister also said the clashes had created new challenges for the government at the local and international levels and it was a blow to the country’s tourism and economy.
“We have been expecting a boom in the tourism industry but in the wake of disturbances in Kandy we don’t know whether we can achieve it as expected.”
Wickremesinghe was informed that nearly 465 houses, business establishments and vehicles were destroyed and damaged in the violence. Many mosques and temples were also destroyed.
Wickremesinghe said “an organised group was behind the communal clashes in Kandy” and the police had already received vital information about it.
Over the weekend, President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a three-member committee to investigate the violence.
Meanwhile, all government-run schools which had remained closed in the Kandy district since the clashes erupted on March 4 re-opened.
Three people were killed and several others injured in the communal clashes.
President Sirisena declared a week-long state of Emergency last week to prevent violations from spreading to other areas, the first of its kind after the country ended a 30-year civil war in 2009.
The latest clash was triggered after a 41-year-old Buddhist succumbed to his injuries after being attacked by a group of Muslim men on February 22.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Arul Louis,
United Nations : UN Under-Secretary-General Jeffrey Feltman is to visit the Sri Lankan city of Kandy, at the centre of incidents of communal violence. He will meet religious leaders there this week, a UN spokesperson said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is concerned by reports of communal violence in Sri Lanka and is urging dialogue to solve the differences, his Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday while announcing the visit.
The visit by Feltman, who is in-charge of Political Affairs at the UN, starts on Friday and it is “part of ongoing UN engagement with Sri Lanka”, Dujarric said.
During the three-day visit, Feltman is also expected to meet Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and representatives of political parties and civil society groups, he said.
“We’re obviously concerned over the reports of the ongoing communal violence, and we welcome the government’s commitment to addressing the tensions and achieve reconciliation,” Dujarric said. “We urge all Sri Lankans to resolve their differences through dialogue.”
On Tuesday, Maithripala Sirisena declared a 10-day state of Emergency after communal clashes involving Buddhists and Muslims erupted in Kandy district.
The violence flared up on Sunday after the funeral of a Sinhala Buddhist truck driver who died after a confrontation involving Muslims, according to officials.
One Muslim man was reportedly killed when Sinhala mobs attacked Muslim houses and businesses, setting some on fire.
The government has deployed police and military forces to patrol potential trouble spots to prevent violence.
In February in another incident, five persons were injured and several shops and a mosque damaged in a clash involving the same communities in Ampara in eastern Sri Lanka.
(Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Colombo : A 10-day state of emergency was declared in Sri Lanka on Tuesday after sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the Kandy region left two people dead, government officials said.
Clashes between the majority Buddhists and the minority Muslims erupted on Sunday in the central part of the country leading to the deaths, torching of around 20 shops and a dozen arrests.
President Maithripala Sirisena and the Cabinet decided to declare a state of emergency for 10 days. Security services were empowered to deal with “criminal elements” and to restore normality on the island, the media division of the President’s office tweeted.
The statement from Sirisena’s office came after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in Parliament that the government was considering imposing a state of emergency.
The Indian cricket team is currently in Sri Lanka for a tri-nation series along with Bangladesh — and the country’s Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said there was no question of cancelling any matches at the moment.
The government also convened a special meeting over the communal violence involving the Muslims and the Sinhalese, who are mostly Buddhists, Efe news reported.
Early in the day, the body of a 28-year-old Muslim man was recovered from Teldeniya in Kandy province leading to fresh unrest. His house was allegedly set on fire by Buddhist radicals. The man got trapped inside the house after he let his parents escape the fire.
The house, which also served as a business establishment, was among the around 20 shops that were set on fire, along with a mosque, by the radicals.
The authorities on Monday imposed a curfew and arrested more than 20 people in Kandy for the violence that ensued after the death of a Buddhist in Teldeniya, who was killed when he clashed with four Muslims.
In 2014, violence between Muslims and Buddhists had erupted in two cities in the southern part of the country and left four people dead and 16 injured.
The ultra-nationalist group Bodu Bala Sena, led by monk Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, was found to be responsible for the violence against the Muslims.
Buddhists make up nearly 70 per cent of the total population of Sri Lanka while only 11 per cent are Muslims.
—IANS
