Sri Lanka shaken by religious violence A police spokesman said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area with a sizeable population of Muslims, who are a minority in the mainly Buddhist country. The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control, he said. The curfew was extended to a neighbouring area to prevent an escalation of clashes. Several Muslim-owned shops have been burned and homes attacked, a resident in Beruwala told AFP. Some Buddhists are deliberately targeting Muslims. But unfortunately police have not been able to protect the minorities, Hilmy Ahmed, spokesperson of Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, told Al Jazeera. A petty feud between two individuals has been allowed to take a religious tone. The extremist Buddhists led by Bodu Bala Sena attacked Muslims and are still in the area despite curfew. There were no reports of arrests but dozens of people were said to have been injured. President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is in Bolivia attending the G77 summit, has called for restrain with the promise that the government will not allow anyone to take the law into their own hands. An investigation will be held for law to take its course of action to bring to book those responsible for incidents in Aluthgama, he said via his twitter account. aljazeera/news/asia/2014/06/sri-lanka-shaken-religious-violence-201461518571482939.html
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 05:26:25 +0000
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