Sri Lankans to do the same,”Sumanthiran saidin a tweet
on June3. He senta clearmessage by saying“yesterday
us”,a reference to the Tamils.
Soonafterthe resignations, the headsof missionsof
the Organisationof IslamicCooperation(OIC)issueda
statement warning of potentially “unforeseen and
dangerous consequences”. The strongly worded
statementbluntlybeganby saying that “communal
violencetargeting Muslimsin Sri Lankahas regionaland
globalsecurityimplications”.
TheOIChadissuedstatementsafterthe anti-Muslim
violencein Aluthgamain 2014andDiganain 2018,but
thiswasits strongest statementon thisissueever.The
statementis problematicbecauseof howit mightbe
perceived by thepublic. Oneviewis thatthestatement
conveysthe impression thatMuslimsfromotherpartsof
the worldare gettingtogetherto forceSri Lanka to go soft
on the perpetrators of suchviolence. In the extreme, this
mayalsobe seenas a moveto force BuddhistSri Lankato
conform to the wishesof Muslims.
It didnothelptheMuslimcausewhenM.L.A.M.
Hizbullah saidthat although Muslims werenot a
dominant community in Sri Lanka, they were a
dominantcommunityin the world.
In videos postedon his Facebook page,he appeared
defiant andspokeabout howMuslims couldnotbe
subjugatedby anyone.
Despitetheseevents, it mustnot be forgottenthatall
Muslims are politicallynotunderthe sameumbrella in
Sri Lanka;theregiontheyhailfromoftendetermines
theirpoliticalaffiliations.
By all accounts, it appears thatthe communal divide
betweenMuslimsandSinhalaBuddhistsis widening.
Theattemptto divide beginsat theverytop:President
Sirisena, according to media reports,spoke of the
possible emergence of a “Muslim Prabakaran” (a
referenceto a returnto the insurgencythatSri Lankahad
witnessedearlier), fanningtheflames of hatred.Most
Sinhala politicians,eventheoneswhoparticipatedin
interfaith prayer meetings and communal feasts,
changedtheirlanguagein pro-Sinhala platforms across
the island to hold the entire Muslim community
responsible for the violenceandtension.
“This[thebombing] wasa workof someMuslim
extremists. They [the suicide bombers] ended up
attackingnotthe Tamilsor the Sinhalesebuttheirown
people.Theirpeoplearesuffering as a result,”former
President MahindaRajapaksa toldFrontline(interview
on page17).
Traditionally,Sri Lanka’sMuslims havebeentraders
andbusinessmen.ThereareSinhalavoiceson social
media thathavesurreptitiouslycalledfor a boycottof
Muslim-owned businessesandshops.A community
meeting in a suburbantownevenmadean opencallto
thiseffect to its members.Evenpeopleholdingwhite-
collar jobsandthoseconsideredto be theconscience
keepersof societyare notabovethiskindof messaging.
“Yousawwhathappened.Whentherewasa problem
for a fewMuslims,all theMuslimseverywhereganged
up,”saida seniorTamiljournalist.Hiscolleagues werein
complete agreement. “When we [the Tamils] had
problems,theydid not standwithus. Nowtheyare facing
themusic,”he added. According to thejournalists, the
problemsnowbeingfacedby the Muslims cannotin any
waybe compared withwhatthe Tamilsfaced.
“TheTamilsweresubjugatedwhilethe Muslims have
beenpartof the powerstructuresincethe beginning,”a
journalist said. “Also, the [Tamil] Tigers had an
objective,an independent stateof theirown.In the case
of thesebombers,whatdidtheyaskfor?Nothing. They
justkilled. So, do notcomparetheTigersto these
bombers,”he added.
Acrossthe island,thosewhohavevisitedthe Muslim
townof Kattankudypointoutthatthetownstandsout
fromthe restof Sri Lanka:the archesacrossthe townare
shaped in theArabarchitecturalstyle;somebuildings,
includingmosquesanda culturalcentre, haveminarets;
andsomeof thetrafficislands alsoshowcasesuch
architecture. To top it all, thereare signagesin Arabic in a
townwhosepeopleneitherreadnorunderstand Arabic;
thereis evena lineof datepalmson the roaddividers. In
short, Kattankudyis an Arab-lookingtownin Sri Lanka,
andits distinctlookagitatesSinhalasandTamilsalike.
“Manyof theseare[EasternProvince Governor]
Hizbullah’scontribution,” saidA.L.M.Sabeel,whois also
a member of theKattankudyMosquesFederationand
thelocalurbancouncil.“Hewentoverboardtryingto
please his Arab donors.Thereis nothing moreto be read
intothis,”he insisted.
Regardlessof the semantics, onethingis amplyclear:ASIGNBOARDin Kattankudywelcomingvisitorsin
Arabictoo.Thelanguageis not spokenorunderstoodby
the majorityof peoplein theMuslim-dominatedtown.
R.K.RADHAKRISHNAN