“The Obama administration has taken the lead internationally to promote accountability in Sri Lanka. The principal focus is on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s decades long civil war. But those efforts are also important to addressing the situation of Tamil, Muslim, and Christian minorities in Sri Lanka today.”
via: http://justsecurity.org/12938/road-map-i-congress-and-administration-accountability-sri-lanka/
Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of Sri Lanka’s Centre for Policy Alternatives, believed the group, which he described as a purveyor of “classic hate speech,” had become emboldened by the lack of censure over the events at Aluthgama.
“Their more violent or aggressive demonstrations of power, involving even criminal acts, have gone unpunished,” he told CNN. “They seem to have a lot of support, if not protection, from within the regime itself.”
via: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/17/world/asia/sri-lanka-bodu-bala-sena-profile/
“The experience of minorities in the beautiful eastern district of Trincomalee perfectly encapsulates the dark and depressing reality facing minority communities across Sri Lanka. Trincomalee’s remaking is part of a larger national-level project. The new Trincomalee is a microcosm of the post-war Sri Lanka. At the expense of minorities, the Rajapaksa government is building a Sinhalese-Buddhist nation that is intolerant, illiberal, and regressive.
Five years on, any possibility of national reconciliation seems entirely distant and improbable. In retrospect, it is evident that the war never ended. Only armed fighting did. The government has only exacerbated the root causes that led to the original conflict. The future looks bleak indeed.”
source: http://groundviews.org
We like to share a link to access a stream from Aljazeera about Hardline Buddhists in Sri Lanka and how they are making new enemies of Muslim and Christian minorities.
via: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRB3aS75ZLY
source: Aljazeera
“Cellphone cameras captured the ugly scene: Muslims being chased through the streets by maddened Buddhists.
The vandals had just attacked a mosque in the Grandpass neighbourhood on the capital’s outskirts, falling upon Muslims at Friday prayers, smashing windows, then pursuing the worshippers with clubs, hurling stones. At least five people were hospitalized.”
source: www.thestar.com
