State Of Emergency Declared In Sri Lanka After Buddhist-Muslim Violence

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and the country's Cabinet has decided to declare a state of emergency for 10 days following violent communal clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in some parts of the country, especially centred around the Kandy administrative district.

Speaking to media, Minister of Social Empowerment S B Dissanayake said a Gazette Notice in this regard will be issued immediately.

“There are allegations that the law was not implemented to minimise the impact of these tense situations. Now, the Police and Army personnel have been deployed to respective areas to beef up security,” he said at the President’s Secretariat, where the Cabinet meeting was held.

The minister also added that the President could decide at the end of the 10 days, whether to extend the emergency.

The Sri Lankan government yesterday deployed 200 Special Task Force (STF) personnel after mobs attacked shops and places of religious worship in the Muslim-majority town of  Digana in the Kandy district. Police imposed curfew in the district following the communal conflagrations.

All government schools in the district were also closed in the wake of the riots.

At least 27 Muslim-owned commercial establishments and houses were torched and at least one mosque was damaged during the overnight violence.

What triggered the latest communal flare-up was the the death of a 42-year old Sinhalese man. He was brutally assaulted 10 days ago for attempting to overtake a three-wheeler and after nearly 10 days in the intensive care unit of the Kandy General Hospital, he succumbed to his injuries on 3 March (Saturday). Clashes broke out soon after his funeral.

Sri Lanka has been a hotbed of religious and ethnic violence. Muslims account for 10 per cent of the country's population while the majority Buddhists Sinhalese make up nearly 75 per cent. Another 13 per cent of the population are Tamil Hindus.

The country has recently seen the rise of Buddhist extremist organisations like Bodu Bala Sena (BBS).