Series of Anti Muslim attacks in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka politics gone at a high level of security again. Last month I was analysing that attack in Easter, the oursourced group by ISIS promoted a riot at society that became a muslim persecution in country.

The Christian groups went mad at the attack and declared that they Muslims must be punished because of the attack, and it became a kind of "New Crusade" at the country. But some remnants of the Tamil Tigers and supporters of the opposition in order to create a new country politics used this as an excuse to promote a serie of attacks against Muslims, remembering the era of ethnic cleansing in country promoted by Buddhists and Hindus to Muslims.

Also, the security level raised the level because the fear of a possible upheaval and social unrest that the Terrorist attack caused.

Some similarities of the terrorist attacks is that the attacks are happening now in Ramadan, the sacred holiday to the Muslims and the deads are in general innocent people. Between the attacks also, the riot against stores and shoppings, and verbal agression.

According to the news, the attacks happened in Colombo and the government is requestint to cease the attacks and the people can coexist together: Hindu, Buddhist, Tamil, Christian and Muslims.

One of the measures taken by the government to prevent it and to limitate the communication betweent the extremists is to block the access on social medias.

Sri Lanka blocks social media again after attacks on Muslims

Regulators instructed to temporarily block Facebook, other platforms after Christians attack mosques and Muslims' shops.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/sri-lanka-blocks-social-media-anti-muslim-attacks-190513053644479.html

Sri Lanka has temporarily blocked some social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, after a posting sparked anti-Muslim riots across several towns in the latest fallout from the Easter Sunday suicide attacks last month.

Christian groups threw stones at mosques and Muslim-owned shops in the northwestern Christian-majority town of Chilaw on Sunday in anger at a Facebook post by a shopkeeper, police said.

Security forces fired shots in the air to disperse mobs, but the violence spread to nearby towns where businesses owned by Muslims were also attacked.

"Social media blocked again as a temporary measure to maintain peace in the country," Nalaka Kaluwewa, director general of the government information department, told Reuters news agency on Monday. 

Police said a night curfew, imposed on Sunday afternoon, in Chilaw and nearby areas was relaxed on Monday, but the social media ban was brought in to prevent incitement to violence.

"Don't laugh more, 1 day u will cry," was posted as a comment on Facebook by a Muslim shopkeeper, and local Christians took it to be a warning of an impending attack.

Mobs smashed the man's shop and vandalised a nearby mosque prompting security forces to fire in the air to disperse the crowd.

Authorities said they arrested the author of the Facebook post, identified as 38-year-old Abdul Hameed Mohamed Hasmar, as well as a group of men in the nearby Kurunegala district for allegedly attacking Muslim-owned businesses.

'Worrying trend'

Sri Lanka's information department director told Al Jazeera that one of the main reasons behind the ban was to "clamp down on tensions and incidents that have been erupting over the last 48 hours".

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from the northern town of Kilinochchi, said that "the government is using this not as a long-term measure, but as a tactic to dampen any tensions that might erupt". 

Sri Lanka has been on edge since the April 21 attacks by Muslim suicide bombers on three hotels and three churches that killed at least 257 people.

Muslims make up around 10 percent of Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka's 21 million population and Christians about 7.6 percent.

Rights group Amnesty International said there was "a worrying trend of attacks against the Muslim community coming out of Sri Lanka" following the Easter Sunday bombings. 

The main body of Islamic scholars, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), said there was increased suspicion of Muslims. 

"We call upon the members of the Muslim communities to be more patient and guard your actions and avoid unnecessary postings or hosting on social media," the ACJU said.

Sri Lanka has used temporary bans on social media in a bid to deter misinformation and rumours.

On Twitter, Sri Lanka's leading mobile phone operator Dialog said it had also received instructions to block Viber, IMO, Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube until further notice.

The latest unrest came as Catholic churches resumed their public Sunday masses for the first time since the bombings.

Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency since the attacks. Security forces and police have been given sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods.

Novo ataque anti-islâmico no Sri Lanka

Um grupo de anti-islamistas atearam fogo a uma fábrica operada por muçulmanos.

15.05.2019 ~ 16.05.2019

https://www.trt.net.tr/portuguese/mundo/2019/05/15/novo-ataque-anti-islamico-no-sri-lanka-1201857

Um grupo de anti-islâmicos incendiou uma fábrica operada por muçulmanos no norte de Colombo, capital do Sri Lanka.

De acordo com o noticiário da BBC, foram emitidas imagens da fábrica devastada e de aparelhos e móveis danificados.

Por outro lado, o arcebispo de Sri Lanka, cardeal Malcolm Ranjith , condenou os ataques anti-islâmicos que aumentaram em todo o país após os ataques terroristas de 21 de abril. Ele chamou a unidade para todos os grupos étnicos e religiosos no país.

O cardeal Ranjith enfatizou que os ataques contra os muçulmanos devem parar o mais rápido possível e dizer: "Não tenha medo de más intenções e seja paciente".

Ele acrescentou que o Sri Lanka é o total de tâmeis, muçulmanos, cristãos, budistas e hindus.

"Temos que construir todos juntos um Sri Lanka onde todas as racas e religiões vivem juntas. Os ataques de 21 de abril passaram para nossa história como uma página negra, mas conseguimos controlar nossas emoções e nos reavivar em união. Por favor, não deixe a situação sair do controle ".

Em relação aos ataques contra mesquitas e lojas de muçulmanos, o cardeal afirmou o seguinte:

"Vimos que alguns grupos atacam lojas e locais de culto e pedimos que renunciem a essas ações. Sabemos que esses grupos têm laços políticos. Pedimos a todos os líderes políticos que controlem seus seguidores e não permitam que eles ajam contra a lei".

No dia anterior, um toque de recolher foi decretado em todo o estado do noroeste do país depois que um muçulmano de 45 anos foi esfaqueado até a morte na cidade de Puttalam.

74 pessoas foram detidas, incluindo 3 líderes de organizações não-governamentais, nas cidades de Minuwangoda, Matara e Puttalam, por terem estado envolvidos nesses ataques e por tê-los provocado.

Depois dos ataques terroristas contra igrejas e hotéis na Páscoa, grupos anti-islamistas causaram danos a lojas muçulmanas na cidade de Chilaw.

Sri Lanka orders nationwide curfew amid anti-Muslim riots

Indefinite curfew imposed in North Western Province where Muslim man was killed on Monday.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/sri-lanka-nationwide-curfew-crowds-attack-mosques-190513144625670.html

The Sri Lankan government has ordered nationwide curfew for a second night after anti-Muslim riots in the wake of the Easter bombings.

The curfew was earlier relaxed on Tuesday in all areas except the North Western Province (NWP) where a Muslim man was killed by a mob on Monday, police said, in a violent backlash against last month's bombings.

The 45-year-old died of injuries sustained when a crowd stormed his carpentry workshop in the Puttalam district in the NWP and slashed him, official sources said.

Police chief Chandana Wickramaratne warned of stern action against rioters, and said that constables have been issued orders to use "maximum force".

Elsewhere in the province, mobs torched dozens of Muslim-owned shops, vandalised homes and mosques in a day of rioting.

"The curfew in the NWP will be continued until further notice," police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said.

Al Jazeera's Minelle Fernandez, reporting from Colombo, said "an uneasy calm prevailed in the northwestern province".

"There are complaints that some of the police and military stood helpless daunted by the sheer scale of the mobs that were going around burning properties. That is something of concern here," she said.

Fernandez said that there are reports of 11 individuals arrested for their alleged involvement in the violence.

On Monday, police imposed the island-wide curfew from 9pm local time (15:30 GMT) to 4am, according to a police statement.

Curfews were previously limited to specific areas where attacks had taken place, including Puttalam, Kurunegala and Gamphala districts near Colombo.

In an address to the nation on Monday night, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said a countrywide curfew was declared to prevent unidentified groups orchestrating communal violence.

Wickremesinghe said the unrest would hinder investigations into the April 21 attacks that targeted three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 257 people and wounding nearly 500.

Sri Lanka also temporarily banned some social media networks and messaging apps, including Facebook and WhatsApp, after a posting sparked anti-Muslim riots across several towns.

The attacks came during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Residents in NWP said crowds attacked mosques and damaged Muslim-owned businesses for a second day on Monday.

"There are hundreds of rioters, police and army are just watching. They have burnt our mosques and smashed many shops owned by Muslims," a resident, who asked not to be identified, told the Reuters news agency. "When we try to come out of our house, police tell us to stay inside."

Glass was strewn across the Abrar mosque in the town of Kiniyama that was attacked overnight. All the windows and doors of the soft-pink building were smashed and copies of the Quran were thrown onto the floor.

'Several shops attacked'

"Over the last 24 hours there were localised police curfews to contain tensions between Christians and Muslims in these particular areas," Al Jazeera's Fernandez said. "The authorities are trying very hard to clamp down on this."

The latest wave of unrest started when a mob targeted Muslim-owned shops in the town of Chilaw, 70 kilometres north of Colombo, on Sunday in anger at a Facebook post by a shopkeeper.

"Don't laugh more, 1 day u will cry," was posted as a comment on Facebook by a Muslim shopkeeper, and local Christians took it to be a warning of an impending attack.

Mobs smashed the man's shop and vandalised a nearby mosque prompting security forces to fire in the air to disperse the crowd.

Authorities said they arrested the author of the post.

Muslims make up around 10 percent of Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka's 21 million population and Christians about 7.6 percent.

'Worrying trend'

Rights group Amnesty International said there was "a worrying trend of attacks against the Muslim community coming out of Sri Lanka" following the Easter Sunday bombings. 

The country's main body of Islamic scholars, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), said there was increased suspicion of Muslims. 

"We call upon the members of the Muslim communities to be more patient and guard your actions and avoid unnecessary postings or hosting on social media," the ACJU said.

On Twitter, Sri Lanka's leading mobile phone operator Dialog said it had also received instructions to block Viber, IMO, Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube until further notice.

The latest unrest came as Catholic churches resumed their public Sunday masses for the first time since the bombings.

Sri Lanka has been under a state of emergency since the attacks. Security forces and police have been given sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods.