{"id":31540,"date":"2014-07-06T03:21:08","date_gmt":"2014-07-06T07:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=31540"},"modified":"2014-07-06T03:32:45","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T07:32:45","slug":"post-mortem-on-recent-violence-at-dharga-townaluthgama-and-beruwela-from-a-different-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=31540","title":{"rendered":"Post-Mortem on Recent Violence at Dharga Town, Aluthgama and Beruwela From a Different Perspective."},"content":{"rendered":"

by<\/p>\n

Udaya Gammanpila<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Udaya<\/a>

Udaya Gammanpila<\/p><\/div>\n

I warned in this column dated 20 January 2013 that we were heading towards Sinhala-Muslim riots similar to that of 1915. In response, Muslim leaders sarcastically told me to inform police instead of inviting them for a dialogue. I pointed out in this column of 10 February 2013 that the new rigid halal policy of the Muslim community would destroy our intercommunity food exchange culture causing an irreparable damage to national unity. Muslim leaders rudely responded to me stating “we don’t want Gammanpila’s kiribath”. This column of 1 September 2013 wrote an open letter to Muslims titled ‘To Muslim brothers with Love’. I explained in detail how Buddhists have tolerated provocations by Muslim extremists and urged the Muslim community to work towards eradicating extremism within them.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, my predictions have come true. The Muslim leaders, who sarcastically responded to me, are now maintaining dead silence. Muslim politicians who rejected our invitation for a dialogue are now blaming Buddhists, bashing the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS). Hence, let us revisit Dharga Town to find out the hidden and suppressed truth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The date was 16 June 2014. We were at the Kalutara District Secretariat. Buddhist monks including the leaders of the BBS were sitting in one side. Religious and lay Muslim leaders were on the other side. The Prime Minister of the nation, surrounded by Senior Ministers was in the chair. Political representatives of both camps were present. Senior government officers including the police chief were also in attendance. On the invitation of the Prime Minister, Senior DIG, Anura Senanayake, began to narrate the incidents took place in Aluthgama and Dharga Town areas.<\/p>\n

Monk assaulted<\/strong><\/p>\n

A monk was travelling in a van from one temple to another on Poson Poya Day for a Dhamma session. When the van proceeded, the road was blocked by three Muslim youths. The driver went up to them and informed there was a monk in the van. They refused to move paving the way for the van to proceed, which triggered a heated argument between the driver and the Muslim youths. When the monk intervened to solve the issue, the Muslim youths physically assaulted both the driver and the monk. On the monk’s complaint, police arrested the three youths. The Buddhist community had no confidence in the suspects being under arrest. They surrounded the police station demanding the police to show the suspects to them. The police refused to do so. Even politicians failed to control the situation. Finally, the Buddhist monks brought the situation under control.<\/p>\n

The assaulted monk was due to go back to the temple on 15 June after being discharged from the hospital. The monks of the area wanted to hold a public meeting in Aluthgama to explain the situation to the Buddhist community and make them calm down. As people were emotional, the police decided to permit the monks to hold a meeting in Aluthgama. We informed the Muslim leaders about this meeting and they agreed to co-operate with the police to facilitate the meeting. They volunteered to close Muslim shops by 12:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

We received information that around 200 Muslims had gathered at the main mosque in Dharga Town. When we inquired about it, the mosque administrators informed they had come for prayers. We were not suspicious because usually, around 200 persons attend prayers at this particular mosque. Hence, we advised them to leave the mosque soon after prayers. However, the people at the mosque had increased to 2,000 by 3 p.m. We urged the Muslim leaders to advise the crowd to leave the mosque at their earliest. After an hour, the Muslim leaders requested us to disburse the crowd as their attempts to disburse the crowd had proven futile. By this time, there were a similar number of persons in Aluthgama town with the anticipation of participating in the Buddhist meeting. In this backdrop, we did not want to take the Muslims out of the mosque enabling them to clash with the Buddhists. Further, we did not want to carry out an attack inside the mosque. Hence, we thought the best available option was to confine Muslims to the mosque and strengthen security around the mosque.<\/p>\n

We requested the monks to abstain from parading in the streets and they agreed to it. We jointly decided to take the assaulted monk to the temple from the meeting place in four vehicles with police protection. As agreed, attendees of the meeting disbursed peacefully. When a section of the crowd was walking along the street in front of the main mosque, they were attacked with poles and stones thrown from the mosque. We rushed to take the monk who fainted as a result of the attack, to the hospital. (News about this incident spread throughout the country that a monk passed away as a result of the attack that took place inside the mosque). The monk is under treatment at the Nagoda Hospital. The victims of the attack ran back to Aluthgama and informed the disbursing crowd that Muslims were attacking Buddhists including monks. The crowd began to attack the Muslim shops and in turn Muslims began to attack shops and houses owned by Sinhalese. We brought the situation under control applying the required force.<\/p>\n

Important incidents<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the tale of Senior DIG Senanayake, the Prime Minister asked whether anybody wanted to add anything to the story. In response, Ven. Hedigalle Wimalasara Thera said, several important incidents were not there in the story told by the Senior DIG. The Thera related the following incidents:<\/p>\n

When the assaulted monk visited the Aluthgama Police Station to lodge a complaint, the police was reluctant to accept it. They advised the monk to forgive and forget about it. The Aluthgama Police Station was notorious for favouring Muslims because of their monetary strength. Recently, when a Sinhala boy was sexually abused by a Muslim trader, the police did not enforce the law until a protest was held by the general public. People demanded to show the arrested persons who attacked the monk because they did not have confidence in police officers as they refused to accept the complaint. Their anger was fuelled by police refusal to show the suspects. We, the Buddhist monks intervened to disburse the angry crowd despite heavy rains. If we wanted people to attack Muslim shops, we would have easily achieved it on that day.<\/p>\n

There is a rumour that the Buddhist rally in question was organized by the BBS. That is not so. It was organized by us, local Buddhist monks. Buddhists were angry over the incident. We wanted them to calm down. They should be made to calm down by a person in whom they have confidence. That is why we invited Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera to speak there. Our message is simple. “Please place confidence in us. If such an incident takes place hereafter, we will severely deal with it”.<\/p>\n

The local Muslim leaders who gathered there did not blame Buddhists as the national and international media did. They know how Buddhists in the area have treated them. Although everybody finds fault with the holding of the Buddhist rally in Aluthgama, that is baseless. Nobody attacked a single Muslim after the rally. There were around 100 Buddhist rallies with the participation of Ven. Gnanasara Thera. Nobody attacked any Muslim person or property as a result of any of these meetings. Muslim extremists who gathered at the main mosque attacked the disbursing crowd as evinced by video clips.<\/p>\n

Recent past<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the recent past, there were deliberate attempts by Muslim extremists to provoke Buddhists expecting Sinhala-Muslim clashes. Their ulterior motive would be to isolate Sri Lanka as much as possible in the international community. They destroyed the display board of the mosque at Paragahadeniya, Mawathagama on 14 August 2013 with the intention of making the BBS responsible for the act. Converting a storehouse to a mosque in Grandpass, despite their promise not to do so, sexually abusing a novice monk in Balangoda by a Muslim are similar incidents in the recent past.<\/p>\n

There is a warm public response to the BBS rallies because people witness activities of Muslim extremism in their neighbourhood. When the BBS and the JHU complain about the existence of Muslim extremist organizations in Sri Lanka, the government flatly rejected the claim. However, India and USA have warned Sri Lanka, in addition to Interpol that Sri Lanka was turning into a hub of activities of Muslim extremists. Hence, the government should take firm action against these elements, instead of blaming Buddhists in order to prevent a repetition of the ugly incidents took place in Aluthgama and Dharga Town.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Ceylon Today<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Udaya Gammanpila I warned in this column dated 20 January 2013 that we were heading towards Sinhala-Muslim riots similar to that of 1915. In response, Muslim leaders sarcastically told me to inform police instead of inviting them for a dialogue. I pointed out in this column of 10 February 2013 that the new rigid …<\/p>\n

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