{"id":20223,"date":"2013-04-18T18:18:42","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T22:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20223"},"modified":"2013-04-19T00:48:17","modified_gmt":"2013-04-19T04:48:17","slug":"muslim-owned-lucky-emporiumtextile-store-in-gampola-attacked-in-broad-daylight-by-hoodlums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20223","title":{"rendered":"Muslim Owned &#8220;Lucky Emporium&#8221; Textile Store in Gampola Attacked in Broad Daylight by Hoodlums-UPDATED VERSION"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By<\/p>\n<p>D.B.S.Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?hl=en&amp;q=gampola+sri+lanka&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Gampola,+Kandy,+Central+Province,+Sri+Lanka&amp;ll=7.164722,80.576667&amp;spn=1.658156,1.766052&amp;t=m&amp;z=9&amp;output=embed\"><\/iframe><br \/><small><a href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?hl=en&amp;q=gampola+sri+lanka&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;hq=&amp;hnear=Gampola,+Kandy,+Central+Province,+Sri+Lanka&amp;ll=7.164722,80.576667&amp;spn=1.658156,1.766052&amp;t=m&amp;z=9&amp;source=embed\" style=\"color:#0000FF;text-align:left\">View Larger Map<\/a><\/small><\/p>\n<p>Reports from Sri Lanka state that a Muslim Owned Textile store in the Central Province town of Gampola has been  attacked in broad daylight   on Tuesday April 16th 2013.<\/p>\n<p>A gang of hoodlums numbering about a dozen launched an attack against the \u201cLucky Emporium\u201dtextile store situated on Ambagamuwa road in Gampola in the Kandy district in the afternoon of April 16th. <\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Details of the attack remain scanty at this point of time but apparently the glass panes of the shop as well as showcases had been shattered leaving a debris of broken glass fragments inside and outside the premises.<\/p>\n<p>The extent of damage done or injuries inflicted on persons remains unavailable at this point of time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLucky Emporium\u201dis a popular business establishment in Gampola owned and managed by Sri Lankan Muslim entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p>The attack comes in the wake of an on going campaign against Muslim owned business establishments by ethno religious fascist organizations claiming to represent the Sinhala Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n<p>However a prominent Muslim Government  politician from the area has stated that the attack was  not political in nature and that it was due to personal and not political reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Kandy district Parliamentarian and  Deputy minister of Environment and Renewable Energy ARM Abdul Cader has reportedly told a Muslim website that the  cause of the attack  was personal rivalry and not part of any political campaign<\/p>\n<p>Abdul Cader popularly known as \u201cCader Hadjiar\u201d told the \u201cJaffna Muslim\u201dwebsite that another Muslim person  from the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA) was  responsible for  the attack and that it was 100%  due to personal reasons.<\/p>\n<p>He stated that if  the person concerned had not been from the UPFA he (Abdul Cader)himself would have taken to the streets on this issue.<\/p>\n<p>Cader Hadjiar has  also requested the website not to make a big thing out of a small matter. <\/p>\n<p>Although the exact details concerning the incident are not known it is somewhat disturbing to hear a prominent Muslim  Political leader saying  that nothing should be done because it was a personal issue. Despite being an elected MP and Deputy minister Cader Hadjiar seems  oblivious to the fact that violence unleashed  for  whatever reason is an offence under the law.A responsible leader would have urged Police action on the matter instead of asking the media  to downplay the incident.<\/p>\n<p>It is also troubling to note that deputy minister Abdul Cader seems to imply in his comment to the website that simply because the alleged culprit was a Muslim belonging to the UPFA nothing should be done. It is as if a member of the UPFA has impunity to break the law whereas if a non \u2013 UPFA member had  broken the law people should take to the street.<\/p>\n<p>76 Year old Abdul Cader was elected on the United National Party(UNP) ticket to Parliament in 2010 and later crossed over to the Govt.<\/p>\n<p>He has  in recent times been downplaying the attacks on Mosques, Muslim owned establishments and Muslims  in what was perceived as a blatant attempt to curry favour with the ruling regime<\/p>\n<p>Cader Hadjiar  aroused much anger when he stooped to the extent of declaring publicly  that no Mosque had been attacked in Sri Lanka  which was a statement totally contrary to the prevailing situation.<\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop it remains to be seen as to whether the statements made by Abdul Cader on the Lucky Emporium attack  are correct or not.<\/p>\n<p>It is also unclear as to what action has been taken or not taken  by the Police so far regarding the incident. Since the kingpin behind the attack  belongs to the Govt it appears  that there is little hope of Police enforcing the law in Gampola.<\/p>\n<p>Sri Lankan mainstream media are yet to report about the incident.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE:<\/p>\n<p>Information According to residents of Gampola states the incident  was of a personal and not political nature although the Muslim person who instigated the attack on the Muslim owned &#8220;Lucky Stores&#8221; had links to the ruling United Peoples Freedom Alliance(UPFA) Aparently the person concerned had bought some Items from the Stores the previous day. He had then returned on the following day saying he wanted to return what he bought and take back the money he paid.<\/p>\n<p>The owner of the shop was away on a trip at that time. The shop assistants on duty had refused to take back the goods saying they had no authority to do so. An argument had followed. The person had left uttering threats. He had returned after a short time with a gang of thugs and attacked the shop shattering glass panes and showcases.The Shp that was shut down for two days is now open for business again&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;DBSJ<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"tweetbutton20223\" class=\"tw_button\" style=\"float:right;margin-left:10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdbsjeyaraj.com%2Fdbsj%2F%3Fp%3D20223&amp;text=Muslim%20Owned%20%26%238220%3BLucky%20Emporium%26%238221%3B%20Textile%20Store%20in%20Gampola%20Attacked%20in%20Broad%20Daylight%20by...%20&amp;related=&amp;lang=en&amp;count=horizontal\" class=\"twitter-share-button\"  style=\"width:55px;height:22px;background:transparent url('https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-tweet-button\/tweetn.png') no-repeat  0 0;text-align:left;text-indent:-9999px;display:block;\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By D.B.S.Jeyaraj View Larger Map Reports from Sri Lanka state that a Muslim Owned Textile store in the Central Province town of Gampola has been attacked in broad daylight on Tuesday April 16th 2013. A gang of hoodlums numbering about a dozen launched an attack against the \u201cLucky Emporium\u201dtextile store situated on Ambagamuwa road in &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=20223\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading &lsquo;Muslim Owned &#8220;Lucky Emporium&#8221; Textile Store in Gampola Attacked in Broad Daylight by Hoodlums-UPDATED VERSION&rsquo; &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20223"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20342,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20223\/revisions\/20342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}