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| Southeast Asia |
| Sri Lanka Curfew Extended as Religious Clashes Spread |
| 2014-06-16 |
| [AnNahar] Sri Lankan police extended a curfew across two popular coastal resorts Sunday as Moslems and hardline Buddhists clashed sparking street rioting that renewed religious tensions in the country. Police said they fired teargas and widened the curfew to Beruwala, a predominantly Moslem area, after initial violence broke out in the neighboring town of Alutgama, 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of the capital Colombo. Both areas are popular beach resorts frequented by international tourists, but there were no reports of any foreigners caught up in the violence. President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is currently visiting Bolivia, said in a statement that he will not allow "anyone to take the law into their own hand." "An investigation will be held for (the) law to take its course of action to bring to book those responsible for incidents in Alutgama," the President said on Twitter. "I urge all parties concerned to act with restraint." Residents said Moslems were leaving their homes and seeking shelter in community centers after several houses came under attack. "Several Moslem-owned shops have been burnt and (their) homes attacked," a resident in Beruwala told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone. The two groups attacked each other with stones -- the latest in a series of religious festivities to hit the island. A police front man said trouble began when a group led by Buddhist monks tried to march in an area where there is a concentration of Moslems, who are a minority in the mainly Buddhist country. "The curfew was declared to bring the situation under control," a police officer in the area told news hounds. "The curfew was extended to a neighboring area to prevent an escalation of festivities." There were no reports of arrests. Many activists from both sides as well as bystanders were maimed during the evening festivities, according to witnesses who also reported seeing several vehicles smashed. The latest unrest came weeks after Moslem politicians asked President Rajapakse to protect their minority community from "Buddhist bad boy elements" blamed for a recent spate of hate attacks. Moslems make up about 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population. Nationalist Buddhist groups have in turn accused religious minorities of wielding undue political and economic influence on the island. Videos posted on YouTube have shown mobs led by Buddhist monks throwing stones and smashing a Christian prayer center in southern Sri Lanka in January this year and attacking mosques while police looked on. Senior Buddhist monks have also been caught on video threatening violence against their moderate colleagues who advocate tolerance. Rajapakse, who is a Buddhist, warned monks in January last year not to incite religious violence. |
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