fastas a drama,butby June2 thefastingmonkhad
received a lot of supportandhugecrowdsbeganto gather
at thesiteof thefast.Thenextday,Cardinal Malcolm
Ranjith,Archbishopof Colombo,visitedhim,shocking
manyin Sri Lankabecauseit appeared that he wastrying
to placate an unreasonable extremeright-wingelement.
Somemonks wereof theopinionthattheyneededto
undertake a 100-kilometre march from Kandy to
Colomboto forcethe Muslimpoliticians to resign.
Notto be outdone,GnanasaraThero, a monkwhois
thefounderof BoduBalaSena,a SinhaleseBuddhist
nationalistorganisation,warnedthathe wouldbegina
national protestif the twoGovernors were not dismissed.
Isolated instances of attackson Muslims, withthe police
beingmutespectators,anda varietyof politicians trying
to capitaliseon thenewhatematrix haveaddedto the
already inflamed situationacrossthe country.
Sitting on the sidelines and watching the
developmentsseemsto be a favouritepastime for Sri
Lanka’s ruling party politicians. Except Mangala
Samaraweera, no Ministerhascomeout in the openand
calledoutthedemands of theBuddhistmonkfor what
theywere:“Hatredis neverappeasedby hatred. By non-
hatredaloneis hatred appeased.Thisis a laweternal.
Today,it wasleft to ourMuslimMinistersto exhibitthis
sacredteachingof LordBuddhawhileimpostersin robes
incitedhatredin hisname.A shamefuldayforour
beloved#lka,”he said in a tweetafter theMuslim
Ministersresigned.
Hewasalsounsparing in his criticism of Cardinal
Malcolm Ranjithfor travellingto Kandyandmeetingthe
fastingmonk.“#Cardinal MalcolmRanjith fanning the
flamesof hatredandcommunalismby visitingfasting
robedMPRathana.#VaticanTAKENOTE,” he wrotein
a tweet,taggingPope Francis andVaticanNews,the
Pope’sofficialcommunicationchannel.TheCardinal
tookexception to thistweetandexplained thathe was
only working for communal harmony, but his
explanationdidnotcutmuchice in Sri Lankawhere
religiousleadersworkin tandem withpoliticians.MUSLIMMINISTERSRESIGN
By 11 a.m.on June 3, thetwoMuslimGovernorshad
resigned.Untilthen,theyhadrefusedto yieldto the
demandof thefringegroups.Butwiththemajority
speakinglikethefringeandprominentmembersof
society visitingthe fastingmonk, theywereleftwithno
option.Soonafterthis,in a rareshowof solidarityin the
community,all the MuslimMinisters—four Cabinet
Ministers, fourStateMinistersanda Deputy Minister—
decided to resignen bloc,regardlessof partyaffiliations,
putting pressure back on a beleaguered and
dysfunctionalgovernment.
By the evening of June3, all nineMuslimMinisters
hadquitthe governmentbut saidthat they would extend
support to it. They demanded an expeditious
investigationintothechargesfloatedby theright-wing
fringeandthe release of personsdetainedarbitrarily, and
gavethegovernmenta monthto meet their demands.
“Wecannotbe pushedbeyonda point,”RauffHakeem
toldFrontline(seeinterviewon page23).
By resigning,the Ministerstookthe windoutof the
sailsof thefringeelements.Politicalobservers believe
thatthisaction defused a potentially dangeroussituation
thatwould havetornthe socialfabricof the country.
“Most unfortunate that Muslim Ministers
succumbedto pressurefromracists.Yesterday us, today
you,tomorrowa new‘other’.Wecontinue to standin
solidaritywithMuslimpeople& callon all right thinkingATA DEMONSTRATIONoutsidea Buddhistshrinein
KandyonJune3, wherethe monk and MP,Athuraliye
Rathana Thera,was ona fast demandingthesackingof
threetop Muslimpoliticians.AFP