{"id":1632,"date":"2018-04-05T13:34:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-05T13:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2018-04-05T13:34:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T13:34:35","slug":"the-way-forward-after-communal-violence-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/2018\/04\/05\/the-way-forward-after-communal-violence-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"The Way Forward After Communal Violence in Sri Lanka"},"content":{"rendered":"

ri Lanka needs a platform for genuine and objective discussion in the hope of moving forward and achieving reconciliation.<\/em><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Sri Lanka<\/a>, the start of\u00a0February was about celebration for\u00a0the past 70 years of\u00a0independence,\u00a0but its end was about reflective contemplation over an uncertain future. Following a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the central district of Kandy, a nationwide state of\u00a0emergency was\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0on March 6 \u2014 and\u00a0lifted<\/a>\u00a0on March 18 \u2014 the first time in seven\u00a0years in a country with a history of civil war.<\/p>\n

Amidst a\u00a0curfew<\/a>\u00a0enforced in the central province, mobs comprising disaffected youth from the majority Sinhala community \u2014 often led by\u00a0Buddhist<\/a>\u00a0monks and individuals linked to ultra-nationalist Sinhalese groups \u2014 attacked and destroyed premises belonging to the minority Muslim community.\u00a0Businesses, homes and mosques were torched and looted.<\/p>\n

The attacks were in apparent retaliation for the death of a Sinhalese driver after an altercation with drunken Muslim youth.\u00a0Yet this was not a simple rise in anger symbolizing grassroots tensions between two communities. It was organized mob violence with a plan and strategy to target Sri Lankan Muslims, united on social media and fed with local intelligence about where they lived.<\/p>\n

To some extent, the violence was not entirely unexpected.\u00a0For many of us who have been working on post-conflict reconciliation in Sri Lanka and kept an eye on community relations, for a number of years there has been a feeling that although relative \u201ccalm\u201d had descended on the island at the end of the decades-long civil war in 2009, this was just surface-led.\u00a0It was inevitable that some sort of communal violence would return. After all, the conflict indicators showed that Sri Lanka faced trouble every 10 years after independence.<\/p>\n

BEHIND THE VIOLENCE IN KANDY<\/strong><\/h4>\n

For those of us who were tracking the rise of\u00a0extreme nationalism and ethnic and religious hatred \u2014 being pushed by a small minority speaking on behalf of the majority Sinhala Buddhist community \u2014 the latest round of violence is a worrying sign of a link and trend of globalizing hatred and fragility.<\/p>\n

Over the last 100 years, there have been at least six incidents of large-scale violence between the Sinhalese and Muslims in Sri Lanka. Today, the time between recent incidents has dropped (the previous flare ups happened within the last four years), and the rhetoric around sectarian violence has mirrored what is coming out of\u00a0Myanmar<\/a>\u00a0with hardline Buddhists and the minority\u00a0Rohingya<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is in this light\u00a0that\u00a0Sri Lanka is seen through a singular lens of good vs evil, us vs them. This perpetuates deeply delusive and divisive assumptions of exclusive identities by these sectarian actors, who want people to ignore all affiliation and loyalties in support of one \u201creligious\u201d identity.<\/p>\n

The violence of February comes on the back of what has been a relentless and sustained campaign of\u00a0anti-Muslim rhetoric. This has involved public meetings, the distribution of pamphlets and the publishing of articles in mainstream Sinhala and English papers, which have borrowed rhetoric used globally to demonize and stereotype Muslims.\u00a0In the face of \u201cfake news,\u201d the propagation of\u00a0myths<\/a>\u00a0is wide and wild.\u00a0For instance, the week preceding the flare up of violence in Kandy, a tense situation erupted in the east where Sinhalese had accused Muslims of serving them food with infertile pills.\u00a0Such was the seriousness of the claim that the United Nations Population Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Government Medical Officers Association had to issue\u00a0statements<\/a>\u00a0to refute this.<\/p>\n

It would be naive to blame the violence just on faith.\u00a0There are other factors that combine to make this flare up and its causes deep and problematic.\u00a0The majority misperception is that Sri Lankan Muslims are successful businessmen and, therefore, economic interests mean there is an attempt to squeeze Muslims out of the market.\u00a0From the\u00a0halal boycott<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a move by a hardline Sinhalese Buddhist group \u2014 to\u00a0the extensive damage and looting that has been inflicted on businesses, it is clear that there was an economic dimension to the violence aimed at\u00a0hitting the Muslim community.<\/p>\n

There is also an attempt to\u00a0decrease the visibility of Muslims. For hardline Sinhalese, Muslims are seen as a threat to Sinhala identity and ultimately Sri Lanka, which manifests itself in the rhetoric around dress codes \u2014 in particular what is deemed as Arab clothes such as the\u00a0thawb<\/em>\u00a0for men or the\u00a0abaya<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0niqab<\/em>\u00a0for women \u2014 and the attacks on mosques.<\/p>\n

Government Response<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is ultimately surprising is not that these actions took place, but the silent complicity of the Sinhala majority.\u00a0For a lot of us in Sri Lanka who grew up with people from other communities, what has been disconcerting (although there are exceptions to this) has been the silence of condemnation for violent actions by mainstream\u00a0Sinhalese. This is by no means a generalization as there have been strong statements, including by Buddhist monks, condemning the violence.<\/p>\n

However, the disappointment was the reaction of the government, who seemed to have been caught by surprise by the violence and struggled to contain it. Despite a curfew and social media censorship, in the initial phases of the violence the government appeared unable to mobilize\u00a0law<\/a>\u00a0enforcement to act.\u00a0Though a number of arrests were made and there have been strong statements issued, the Sri Lankan government struggled to ensure that the rule of law and justice had been followed. This perhaps remains the biggest disappointment\u00a0for many who thought the government change in 2015 would bring about a shift in the narrative of racist, ethno-nationalist politics.<\/p>\n

So, what needs to be done?<\/p>\n

Clearly there is a lot to be done politically. The present government entered office on the agenda of good governance and equality, and it was largely supported by minority voters, including the Muslim community. There needs to be trust built once again with the government and between the government and Sri Lankan Muslims. In addition, however, there needs to be work done at the grassroots level. There is currently a lot to be done around improving social capital. Hence, a change of narrative and thinking has to be the order of the day on top of any structural alignments toward ensuring that\u00a0such bouts of violence do not happen again.\u00a0There also has to be a change of narrative about who Muslims are and where they belong in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

DIVERSITY IN SRI LANKA<\/strong><\/h4>\n

By hardline Sinhala Buddhists declaring Sri Lanka as a \u201cSinhala-only country,\u201d those perpetrating this mindless rhetoric of Sinhala supremacism presuppose the acceptance of Sri Lanka as a land sacred to Buddhism and with Buddhists as its chosen people. According to this vision, minorities, including Sinhala Christians, are not co-owners or even guests (because guests have to be given certain privileges and rights). Rather, they are second-class serfs (untouchables) who should thank the benevolent majority for being given the chance to live there.<\/p>\n

In so doing, this completely rewrites the rich history of a country whose mosaic is made up of different ethnicities, faiths and cultures. They have chosen to rewrite a history of the accumulation of unfinished business, the piling up of debts and the stacking up of fortunes and misfortunes. Whilst it is true that Sri Lanka is the only place in which there are Sinhalese and where the Sinhalese language is spoken, this does not equate to ownership of the island solely by one race or another, nor does it speak of the rich inter mingling of all races and faiths that influence much of Sri Lankan culture, food, art and music today. It also does a huge disservice to the Buddhist way of life, which is about peace, tranquility and tolerance of others. Declaring Sri Lanka as Buddhist does not preclude it from having minorities of other faiths and ethnicities coexisting with equal rights.<\/p>\n

This change in narrative also has to start from the Muslim community itself.\u00a0For years, we have claimed that Muslims arrived in Sri Lanka around 1,000 years ago.\u00a0This simplifies a complex history of Islam coming through trade \u2014 mostly by Arabs \u2014 and of a rich history of engagement with local people. Islam came to Sri Lanka via traders who interacted with local communities.\u00a0Thus, there is a m\u00e9lange of identities, ethnicities and cultures that make up the Muslim community, not the homogeneous identities that both the Muslim community and those outside of it choose to define.<\/p>\n

RECONCILIATION<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The recent events are also a wake-up call to those who have been engaging\u00a0in reconciliation work in Sri Lanka. For too long, there was a binary notion from the international community about the decades-long civil war being between two parties: the Sinhalese and the Tamil.\u00a0Yet the history of the conflict is much more than that.\u00a0Though not direct parties to the war, Sri Lankan Muslims suffered during the conflict, and it is important to note that for full reconciliation to take place, it needs to be holistic and comprehensive. This means everyone should be considered from all parts of Sri Lanka.\u00a0Reconciliation is not about north and south.<\/p>\n

The violence in Kandy shows that\u00a0a lot more needs to be done at the grassroots level. It is fine to talk about political solutions, but if people at the grassroots still do not trust or know each other, then political solutions will just be a band-aid to a deep burn.\u00a0The vitriolic rhetoric that has been spread is testimony to the fact that we need to start once again from scratch in developing a discussion that is not only top-down, but bottom-up too. There needs to be parallel efforts to build trust between people and communities through multi-faith interactions and crossing ethnic divides.<\/p>\n

This is the role that civil society and, in particular, religious leaders should be playing\u00a0in order to bring out about reconciliation. The aim should be to rebuild trust through reducing suspicion and\u00a0infusing human values, with an understanding of the need to move away from apportioning blame for deceit and destruction. Trust can only be rebuilt when a space is created for effective dialogue and understanding.\u00a0This space is one that starts at local levels with community organizations, leaders and intellectuals.\u00a0It is not the sole responsibility of the political establishment, but of everyone interested in this endeavor.<\/p>\n

Rebuilding trust is about honoring unity and celebrating diversity, working toward equity and justice, and ensuring the eradication of social prejudices in building a collective identity. We cannot abrogate our individual responsibilities in this task. The simple question to ask ourselves is: How much do we know of and understand our friends\/colleagues who come from a different faith and ethnicity? By knowing, understanding and respecting each other\u2019s faith and community, we move from just tolerance to acceptance. These are the first signs of a mature, diverse society and democracy.\u00a0It is the first part in accepting the social contract of citizenship of a nation.<\/p>\n

Solutions are needed for the restitution of a fractured polity, which involves a healthy acceptance of minorities. Hence, there must be legal and constitutional structures that not only guarantee equal rights for citizens and freedom of religion, but also legislates against incitement for racial and religious hatred and discrimination. No one argues about removing the privileged place of Buddhism in Sri Lanka or doing away with rights of the majority. But it is expected that the spirit of Buddhism has to ensure tolerance and respect for others, and with legal safeguards in place to enforce this.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka is at a crossroads of uncertainty, with bitter interethnic rivalries fanned by divisive politics.\u00a0Constitutional amendments and projected development, however, are not enough to make hearts forgive and forget. Sri Lanka needs a platform for genuine and objective discussion in the hope of moving forward and achieving reconciliation. This has to start at the grassroots and involve all aspects of society.\u00a0Reconciliation has to ultimately work through the hearts of individuals who harbor pain from the long years of their inability to meet basic human aspirations or from the loss of loved ones and properties as they became innocent victims of calculated and indiscriminate violence between fighting forces.<\/p>\n

We are nearly 35 years on from the horrible riots of July 1983 that sent the country down a treacherous path, because it is exactly the same scenario where anti-Tamil propaganda was pumped over in the years.\u00a0We are also 103 years on from the first Sinhala-Muslim riots and violence that took place in exactly the same place: Kandy. Despite the multiple incidents of anti-Muslim violence that have occurred since 1915 without any such armed reaction from the community, lessons should be taken from history in terms of the ramifications of not addressing the causes of conflict.<\/p>\n

If we want to aspire to tackle the root causes of the ethnic and racist rhetoric and violence, then\u00a0the challenge is to actually learn from what has happened in order to have a county that respects its diversity and is united in its principles and values that are influenced by Buddhism. Otherwise, we condemn future generations to the vicious cycle of hatred, intolerance and violence that will destroy Sri Lanka, not unite it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ri Lanka needs a platform for genuine and objective discussion in the hope of moving forward and achieving reconciliation. In\u00a0Sri Lanka, the start of\u00a0February was about celebration for\u00a0the past 70 years of\u00a0independence,\u00a0but its end was about reflective contemplation over an uncertain future. Following a wave of anti-Muslim violence in the central district of Kandy, a nationwide state of\u00a0emergency was\u00a0declared\u00a0on March… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1633,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1632\/revisions\/1633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/southandcentralasiablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}