{"id":64113,"date":"2019-05-14T05:23:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T09:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=64113"},"modified":"2019-05-14T05:23:41","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T09:23:41","slug":"amith-weerasinghe-of-mahason-balakaya-who-was-suspected-of-having-incited-violence-against-muslims-in-digana-last-year-arrested-again-by-police-for-questioning-about-alleged-complicity-on-goi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=64113","title":{"rendered":"Amith Weerasinghe of “Mahason Balakaya” Who was Suspected Of Having Incited Violence against Muslims in Digana Last Year Arrested Again by Police for Questioning About Alleged Complicity On -Going Anti-Muslim Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nMeera Srinivasan <\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon, mobs unleashed sustained violence on a group of villages in Kurunegala district in the island\u2019s North-Western Province, damaging several mosques in the area.<\/p>\n

A 45-year-old man, who ran a timber store, died of stab injuries, even as two busloads of people, aided by local goons, carried out raging attacks on mosques, Muslim-owned shops and homes on May 13 at Kurunegala in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

This is the worst outbreak of violence since the Easter bombings in the island nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the mobs arrived in buses showed that these attacks were planned,\u201d said Hilmy Ahmed, vice-president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, an umbrella body of Muslim civil society organisations. \u201cIt was very much like the previous instances of anti-Muslim attacks,\u201d he told The Hindu on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On May 14, a special police team arrested Amith Weerasinghe of Mahason Balakaya, a reactionary Sinhala-Buddhist group; and Namal Kumara, a self-declared anti-corruption activist. Thirteen others were also arrested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been arrested for questioning in connection with Monday’s violence,\u201d police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara told The Hindu.<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Weerasinghe has been accused of inciting the deadly Digana violence in March 2018, where angry Sinhalese mobs attacked several homes and stores owned by Muslims in the Central Province. He was arrested and granted bail in October last.<\/p>\n

Kumara made news when he claimed he was aware of a plot to kill President Maithripala Sirisena. Earlier this year, the Criminal Investigation Department said they were probing his activities. It told a Colombo court that he was identified as an Army deserter in 2010.<\/p>\n

Sustained violence<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon, mobs unleashed sustained violence on a group of villages in Kurunegala district in the island\u2019s North-Western Province, damaging several mosques in the area. Dozens of homes and shops were torched. The allegedly planned attacks prompted a police curfew and several residents spent the night in nearby jungles, locals earlier told The Hindu. Social media platforms remain blocked after a government decision, and several Sri Lankans also complained of mobile data being interrupted.<\/p>\n

A prominent legislator aligned to Mr. Sirisena, and suspects linked to earlier anti-Muslim attacks in the southern and central parts of Sri Lanka, have come under the spotlight in the wake of Monday\u2019s raging attacks.<\/p>\n

Dayasiri Jayasekara, general secretary of President Sirisena\u2019s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and a former Minister, visited a police station in one of the affected villages to reportedly transfer six suspects, who were in custody for allegedly violating the curfew, to another police station and to have them released on bail. Daily Mirror on Monday reported that \u201cresidents in the area laid siege to the police station\u201d and demanded their release.<\/p>\n

Multiple attempts to reach Mr. Jayasekara proved unsuccessful, and messages seeking his response to the allegation have so far not been answered.<\/p>\n

Key suspects<\/strong><\/p>\n

Video recordings of the clashes shared by locals revealed at least two key suspects were present in the vicinity, with the mobs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne individual whose hate speech triggered the Aluthgama violence in 2014, and another linked to the Digana anti-Muslim attacks in 2018 were in the area,\u201d Mr. Ahmed said. Weerasinghe was seen in the area, said sources.<\/p>\n

If the authorities do not take swift action, the situation could \u201csnowball into a complex conundrum\u201d, cautioned Cabinet Minister and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Leader Rauff Hakeem. Allowing such violence and \u201cpre-planned attacks\u201d, he said, was a reward to the \u201cdemented individuals\u201d who carried out the Easter bombings. \u201cThis is exactly what they wanted,\u201d he told The Hindu.<\/p>\n

Security forces had \u201cno excuse\u201d to let violence persist despite a police curfew, Mr. Hakeem said. \u201cWe raised the matter at a meeting with the top brass yesterday and things were later brought under control. But the situation in the country is very worrying.\u201d<\/p>\n

M.A. Sumanthiran, spokesman of the Tamil National Alliance and Jaffna district parliamentarian, said they strongly condemned such violence, and called on the authorities to take swift and severe action against the perpetrators.<\/p>\n

People would be forced to defend themselves if they think that the government and the security forces are not able or willing to protect them, he said. \u201cWe appeal to the government: Do not let that happen. Do not let yet another community in Sri Lanka feel that in order to survive in this country, it must fight for itself. There can be no room for terrorism in this country \u2014 not for the terrorism that bombs churches, and not for the terrorism that attacks mosques,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Meera Srinivasan On Monday afternoon, mobs unleashed sustained violence on a group of villages in Kurunegala district in the island\u2019s North-Western Province, damaging several mosques in the area. A 45-year-old man, who ran a timber store, died of stab injuries, even as two busloads of people, aided by local goons, carried out raging attacks …<\/p>\n

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