There were plenty of indications that some kind of incident was going to occur. Some Muslim Leaders/Politicians had warned the govt of possible terror attack, some even naming possible suspects*. The incidents or information were either ignored or worse perpetrators were released.
*This is quite different from main stream Tamil politicians who kept shielding at minimum or encouraging the LTTE who were referred to as our “boys”. eg SJV Chelvanayagam, Amirthalingam etc who finally were assassinated by the “boys”.
Possible reasons for Inaction by the Govt
a) In fighting within the govt and finger pointing at the previous Rajapakse regime.
b) Current govt and President were elected on a minority vote and reluctance to clamp down on a segment of their constituency.
A simple timeline
a) December 2018. Buddhist Statues vandalized in Mawanella
b) December 2018: Pattern of denial that radical Muslims exist. See comments in link below.
https://twitter.com/azzamameen/status/1078290050498977799?lang=en
c) January 2019: Two suspects in Mawanella traced to coconut estate in Wanathavilluwa**.
Large quantities of explosives found.
http://mirrorcitizen.dailymirror.lk/2019/01/23/damaging-buddha-statues-father-of-the-two-accused-arrested/
d) March 2019: Mohamed Razak Taslim, Minister Kabir Hasims’s Coordinating Secretary is shot by muslim extremists. Taslim had been assisting the CID in investigating December 2018 vandalizing of Buddhist statutes.
e) April 2019: Easter Sunday Massacre targeting Christians and Westerners: 300+ killed.
**Wanathavilluwa is kind of middle of nowhere, big (for SL) rolling coconut Farms/estates and scrub jungle, but still a center. 10 km from Wilpattu National Park (Jungle). 140 km from the Colombo center. From nearby Kalpitiya or Karaithivu by boat approx 100 km to Dhanuskodi or Toothukudi
Ancillary Information
a) National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) and leader Mohamed Zahran (Abu Ubaida) also called Moulvi Zahran Hashim were responsible for the massacre.
b) Note there is Sri Lanka Towheeth Jamaath (SLTJ)., Ceylon Towheeth Jamaath (CTJ) and a Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaath.
c) Apparently Moulvi Zahran Hashim and NTJ have/had YouTube videos in Tamil calling for killing of Kafirs (non Muslims) and jihad. The local villagers say those videos were common and had watched at least some of them.
What can be done
a) Stop teaching of Arabic after school.
All the Muslim children in this village do two hours of Arabic lessons after school. Prevention is better than cure
b) Moulavi/Lebbes/Imams visiting Pakistan or Saudi Arabia should be kept under investigation.
c) Madrassas should be investigated.
d) Either heavy military presence in mono ethnic enclaves, including Jaffna. Or change in population composition, if needs be by State intervention, so be it.
e) Foreign Aid, donations cannot be to a single ethnic group or religion.
Some excerpts from News
http://www.ft.lk/top-story/Blame-game-over-terror-attacks/26-676853
Meanwhile, Highways and Road Development Minister Kabir Hashim claimed that some of the members linked to the NTJ and suspected to be responsible for the terror attacks on Sunday had earlier been arrested over the Wanathawilluwa explosives raid on 18 January but were later released.
“I have been informed that one or two persons that were arrested during Wanathawilluwa explosive haul were released by the Police because of political influence. There is speculation that one person that got released was involved in a suicide attack on Sunday,” he added. However, Hashim said that he could only confirm this information within the next couple of days.
Police also identified the suicide bomber of the Shangri-La Hotel as Imzaan Seelavan. Presenting evidence before the Colombo Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, Police said that Seelavan’s wife, his brother and two children had died in the explosion in Dematagoda on Sunday.
Seelavan, who was an owner of a factory in the Wellmapitiya area, had about 100 people in his employment, Police told courts. Nine of his employees had been arrested during a joint operation by the Colombo Crimes Division and Terrorist Investigation Department (TID). The nine suspects were remanded till 6 May. Court ordered Police to conduct an in-depth investigation and present the findings to Court. The magistrate also gave permission for Police to obtain phone records of the nine suspects.
The three Policemen who died in the Dematagoda blasts were posthumously awarded promotions.
———————————————–
Pats the head of a little child before he walks into the church and detonates the bomb.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2019/04/22/sri-lanka-attack-new-surveillance-video-kiley-pkg-lead-vpx.cnnAnswer to Indthings, whatever/whoever that is.
Not quite. for the post cannot link to YouTube.
Listen to the words, Purusha, Sayura Mauri, Safari.
Mali so distant away seems so like Like a desert Sri Lanka.
Hi Sereno
You have practical suggestions. I agree with all of your ideas.
There is a simple indicator of Islamic radicalization i.e. arabization – i.e. more Arabic classes , more Madrassas with heavy dose of Quran classes possibly to the exclusion of other subjects, languages and cultures , women in black dress or heavily covered otherwise, men having Arabic dress , ‘radical’beards , and in south asian context more dyeing of beards in the belief that Prophet Mohammed had dyed his hair.
Major prevention of jihadisation is secular education in all schools with all classes.schools with half/half boys and girls, with a orientation towards scientific approach both natural world and social world.
BTW this will hold good not only against extremist Islam, but also against extremist Hinduism or extremist Christianity
VijayaVan,
To play Devils Advocate,
The English (and more so the Portuguese) Christianized Sri Lanka (to a greater extent compared to India). The Catholics (words. names and food) of Sri Lanka are testament to a very small European country, that had very little foothold in Sri Lanka that had lasting consequences for this Island.
The Portuguese and English as small island nations needed people from their colonies to fight their battles, either within the colony or in other parts of the world. How, could they engage or recruit the locals, that would be by language and religion.
The Portuguese are kind of long forgotten. They converted the South Indian Paravara to Catholicism to control the Pearly Fishery against Arabs an. Then Cankili I resisted all contacts with the Portuguese and even massacred 600 – 700 Parava Catholics in the island of Mannar who were brought from India to Mannar by the Portuguese to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Fishery_Coast
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cankili_I
The English played the same game with a slight variation. Teach the language, incentives as in jobs, local rulers to those who were Christian and English Educated.
2.5 million Indians fought in WW2. More such examples and still continuing to the present day.
In a sense me (I cant speak for the rest who read this blog) have bought into the ethos of the west thru 5 centuries of European and Christian colonization.
The Arabs are trying the same playbook Religion + Language so they have world wide adherents.
The Chinese are doing the plain Economic playbook, with slight incursions of ethnic Chinese. The Chinese have the numbers to slowly change the DNA, say like Thailand. (The debate between Indians vs Chinese for another day).
Who will win, economically, DNA wise, short term, long term.
I’ll be long dead when the results come in. All I can do is comment.
cheers sereno
SL Tamils are Tamil speakers – or a majority of them. Anyhow due to their religion, they identify themselves as a separate ethnic category. LTTE persecution of SL Muslims did not help in making common cause with Tamils.
OTOH, they have contact with Tamilnadu jihadi groups . It is known some Muslim guys from TN and KErala went to join ISIS in Iraq
“*This is quite different from main stream Tamil politicians who kept shielding at minimum or encouraging the LTTE who were referred to as our “boys”. eg SJV Chelvanayagam, Amirthalingam etc who finally were assassinated by the “boys”.
SJV Chelvanayagam was not killed by the LTTE. Get your facts straight.
“d) Either heavy military presence in mono ethnic enclaves, including Jaffna. Or change in population composition, if needs be by State intervention, so be it”
This kind of Sinhala supremacist mentality will lead to another war. Jaffna has been Tamil speaking for centuries. Even Sinhala kings who ruled it 1000 years ago left their inscriptions in Tamil, respecting the local culture:
http://dlib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/123456789/1546
It’s as if you are saying only a Sinhala cultural mileu can exist in SL, hence why you need to Sinhalise Tamil areas.
Get this straight, if there was no Sinhala only, educational discrimination, violent pogroms or land grabs in the Tamil speaking North and East, Tamils of Sri Lanka would not have desired separation, and would have all been proud Sri Lankans.
Siva,
SJV Chelvanayagam was not killed by the LTTE. Get your facts straight.
Yes I know that very well.
Couldnt be bothered to separate out SJV (who died before he could be killed by the LTTE).
I guess you cant even know or guess the handle, sbarrkum.
Let me spell it out, thats Sereno Anukkranayagam Barr-Kumarakulasinghe
Oh yes, we/I are the descendants of the Arya Chakravartis from Kalinga.
Thats why we, like the SataraKulasinghe, TissaWeerasinghe spell our names ending in singhe.
Siva you dont even know your own history.
The Jaffna Kings were called Arya, never the Sinhalese.
Read the Mahavamsa.
Suddenly Siva has no answers.
Maybe he will call me a “Drohi” not realizing thats the same word among the Sinhalese. for Traitor.
“Or change in population composition, if needs be by State intervention, so be it.”
That sounds a lot like ethnic cleansing or at least forced population transfers… ?
Mr Anonymous_Commenter,
I am sure you have heard of Somalians being placed in Minnesota.
Then many East Europeans and Mid Eastern’s being located in Europe.
So how is ” change in population composition, if needs be by State intervention, so be it.” = ethnic cleansing.
Next you will be saying it is genocide.
Just to let you know, Mr Anonymous_Commenter I am a Tamil (whatever that means).
This is a ridiculous comment.
Somalis aren’t in Minnesota because Somalia decided to move them out for greater stability. They are immigrants and refugees.
Forced displacement of ethnic/religious minorities is ethnic cleansing. The Sinhalese advocated this very thing when the Tamils were giving them headaches.
“I am a Tamil (whatever that means).”
Hmm.., doesn’t that mean you are a Tamil? 🙂
Just found it funny that people use the phrase “whatever that means” even to things whose meaning is pretty clear.
No offense please. Ignore me. I am just a commentator (whatever that means) 😉
Its incorrect to group anti-Sinhalese buddhist activity (motivated by earlier and worse aggression against Muslims), with the attack on Christians/foreigners.
Arabic and beards have little to do with radicalization. These are symptoms, not the disease. Alienation via sociopolitical insult is the primary reason people rurn to extremism, regardless of religion/ethnicity.
Not sure what Tamil/Muslim politicians did/did not do but the Indian intelligence agencies had given detailed specific intelligence about the events about to transpire. These were ignored. This, sadly, is reminiscent of similar lapses in India before 26/11 and in the US before 9/11.
Arabization may only be a symptom but is strongly enough correlated with Jihadi infection that it must be used as an indication for countermeasures.
I think we are making much of India’s supposed intelligence input. In India this intelligence groups themselves churn out a dozen intelligence inputs every week for a lot of things just to cover their asses, and it has reached a point that lot of army/para military organization take this intelligence with a pinch of salt. Even during Kargil (a massive intelligence failure of India’s IB and RAW ) they showed some generic stuff as “intelligence” (and cover their ass) and put the blame on the army for “not taking action”. They are not the Organizations (at the competence level) as shown in Indian movies.
P.S Even though i sympathize with sbarrkum suggestions but i am sure not much of them will be practically implementable, specially in a “democratic” coalition which rules SL now. An “autocratic” Rajapakshe with the backing of China could be different ball game altogether, he might just “xinjiang” the muslim issue
This sounds like the usual fact-free generalization.
Whether the Indian intelligence agencies wish to cover their asses or their dicks, they did provide very specific information in this particular case. Srilankan sources themselves have acknowledged this.
Do you have any actual information about false positives reported by Indian spy agencies to Srilanka ? Or are you just blowing smoke ?
“when his oldest sons — 33-year-old Inshaf Ahmed Ibrahim and 31-year-old Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim — left the family’s three-storey luxury home in Dematagoda and blew themselves up at the Cinnamon Grand and Shangri-La hotels’ breakfast buffets.”
I believe the sons of the spice king were identified first by Indian intelligence’ so”e are making much of India’s supposed intelligence input” may not be appropriate in this case. Or may be the Indian intelligence report was
“sources say originated with the interrogation of an Islamist held by the Tamil Nadu Police, named Zahran Hashmi as the leader of the cell. It also provided locations of Hashmi’s younger brother and key operative Rilwan Hashmi and former Sri Lanka army soldier Badrudeen Mohammed Mohiudeen.
Founded as a franchise of the Tamil Nadu Tauhid Jama’at — a legal social service organisation of the religious right — Hashmi’s Tawhid Jama’at also built itself around protesting against real and perceived Muslim grievances. For example, Tawhid Jama’at also organised marches against the oppression of Myanmar’s Rohingya as well as Sri Lanka’s Buddhist-nationalist religious right wing.
Even though Hashmi had sworn loyalty to Islamic State three years ago, local authorities saw him as a publicity-hungry small-time politician on the make, cashing in on Muslim resentment.”
So, it is a bit unclear what was identified earlier
“Somalis aren’t in Minnesota because Somalia decided to move them out for greater stability. They are immigrants and refugees.”
There is no design behind settling Muslim Somali refugees in majority white Christian Minnesota. Who could be behind such an evil plan?
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/asia/sri-lanka-investigation-ntj-intl/index.html
“Delhi’s information came from the interrogation of an ISIS suspect, the Indian source told CNN. “While we were investigating ISIS cases, during the interrogation of an accused, he disclosed the name of a man, Zahran Hashim, who is one of the suicide bombers and is associated with NTJ,” said the intelligence source in India. “The suspect said that he played a role in his (Hashim’s) radicalization.”
Sorry for coming to this late, Sbarrkum, but I’m glad to hear that you and yours are safe.
When you get a moment, I’d appreciate any elaboration on the separation of powers between the office of the president and the prime minister in SL. Wikipedia claims the president is both the head of state AND the head of government, whereas the latter would ordinarily be the prime minister in a parliamentary system. It seems that the National Security Council reports to both the president and the prime minister, but the president is the chair — is this a nominal position or is he the de facto person in charge of the security forces? Basically, what’s your take on how the blame game is going to play out in the coming days?
“This is quite different from main stream Tamil politicians who kept shielding at minimum or encouraging the LTTE who were referred to as our “boys”. eg SJV Chelvanayagam, Amirthalingam etc who finally were assassinated by the “boys”.”
You just had to slide that one in, didn’t you. Why don’t you mention the fact SJV Chelvanayagam was a pacifist who followed Gandhian satyagraha? It was the inability of Chelvanayagam to secure autonomy for Tamils via peaceful means that radicalized the “boys”. LTTE’s first attack on civilians happened towards the end of 1984, eight years after the death of Chelvanayagam and a year after the Black July genocide perpetrated against the Tamil civilians by the Government of Sri Lanka and racist Sinhala mobs. And LTTE’s first attack on Sinhalas targeted state-sponsored settlers who had ethnic cleansed Tamil villagers and occupied their lands. So, tell me, how the LTTE was in any way comparable to brainwashed Jihadists blowing up infidels for Allah? Retaliation to racist aggression is inevitable. Direct your condemnation at the aggressors, not their victims.
“This is quite different from main stream Tamil politicians who kept shielding at minimum or encouraging the LTTE who were referred to as our “boys”. eg SJV Chelvanayagam, Amirthalingam etc who finally were assassinated by the “boys”.”
You just had to slide that one in, didn’t you. Why don’t you mention the fact SJV Chelvanayagam was a pacifist who followed Gandhian satyagraha? It was the inability of Chelvanayagam to secure autonomy for Tamils via peaceful means that radicalized the “boys”. LTTE’s first attack on civilians happened towards the end of 1984, eight years after the death of Chelvanayagam and a year after the Black July genocide perpetrated against the Tamil civilians by the Government of Sri Lanka and racist Sinhala mobs. And LTTE’s first attack on Sinhalas targeted state-sponsored settlers who had ethnic cleansed Tamil villagers and occupied their lands. So, tell me, how the LTTE was in any way comparable to brainwashed Jihadists blowing up infidels for Allah? Retaliation to racist aggression is inevitable. Direct your condemnation at the aggressors, not their victims.
The throwaway remark on chelvanayagam threw me off also. Chelvanayagam died in 1977 after several years of struggle with Parkinson disease. LTTE was established in May 1976. I can at least understand Amritalingam’s dalliance with the boys, but I douubt if Chelvanayam even knew much about Uma Maheswaran and Pirabakaran.
All of this is water under the bridge now, and what exactly would Amirtalingam done against Pirabakaran? “Some Muslim Leaders/Politicians had warned the govt of possible terror attack”. what does it help in preventing the terror attack. What needs to be realized that the two are in two distinct tracks.
By 1973 SJV was calling for traditional homelands and saying the quest for Federalism had fail.
In 1975 SJV called for “”restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam”.
it is stated by A. J. Wilson that S. J. V. Chelvanayagam read it carefully and endorsed it. The speeches of Chelvanaygam in 1975, or even the 1949 proceedings of the ITAK show that the Vadukkkodei resolution bears full continuity with the earliest thinking of Chelvanayagam, and the ITAK.
Note: AJ Wilson was married to SJV’s daughter.
Logan says some outright lies
LTTE’s first attack on civilians happened towards the end of 1984, eight years after the death of Chelvanayagam and a year after the Black July genocide
Really, assassination Mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah in 1975. Before that tin 1972 the bombing of the Jaffna Stadium.
Throughout 1974, the Tamil New Tigers and other Tamil rebel groups launched several bomb attacks targeting the Mayor of Jaffna and Jaffna civilians.[1
These include:
hands bombs lobbied into a jeep at the Kankesanturai Police Station[citation needed]
dynamite ignited at the home of V. Ponnampalam, a member of the Communist Party[citation needed]
dynamite thrown into Chenkathanai Railway Station causing extensive damage[citation needed]
bombs exploded in the Grand Bazar, Jaffna
CTB buses set on fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_attributed_to_the_LTTE,_1970s
Those were not civilians. They were police officers and politicians responsible for the repression of Tamil political activism. The boys blamed Duraiappah for the 1974 Tamil conference incident in which Tamil civilians died due to police brutality. The criminal state has no one to blame but itself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S68oPyDQegI
Asian American Democrats taking a stand on Takfiri Islamist Jihadis.
Weirder and Weirder
Anandi Sasitharan| wants the Army to remain in the North
Anandi Sasitharan is a former LTTE combatant and wife of LTTE political leader Velayutham Sasitharan (alias Elilan).
She has been campaigning in UN etc, for removal of the military from the North and East.
As someone commented Anandi is probably scared Muslim terrorists will take revenge on former LTTE terrorists who expelled/ethnically cleansed Muslims from Jaffna, Batticoloa and Mannar.
Don’t withdraw army from North: Anandi Shashidharan
http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Don%E2%80%99t-withdraw-army-from-North:-Anandi-Shashidharan/108-166014?
May Alllah bless Anandi Shashidharan.
For me the big take away was how Western govts ignore International Law when it suits them. They revoked Neil Prakash (Aussie born of Fijian Indian and Cambodian parents) citizenship. Were they not crying foul when the Rohingya were disenfranchised en masse.
Australian authorities revoked the 27-year-old Isis fighter’s citizenship on the understanding he also held citizenship in Fiji, which denies he is a citizen
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jan/02/neil-prakash-not-a-fiji-citizen-dutton-move-to-strip-australian-citizenship-in-doubt
One of the Easter Sunday suicide bombers was radicalized by Neil Prakah
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/27/easter-sunday-bomber-radicalised-in-australia-sri-lanka-pm-suggests
Reminiscent of Bin Laden/Taliban being used/funded to by the US to defeat Russia in Afghanistan and then turning against the US.
In this case the Muslim Terrorists are terrorizing the Christians and Westerners wherever they are. The Sri Lankan state and citizens just happen to be “collateral damage” as the US and the West refer to civilians who died in bombings of Libya, Iraq etc.
——————-
Zahran Hashim, and radical elements like him, actually helped the Sri Lankan government during the country’s civil war. They set up roadblocks to check for suspicious vehicles and helped keep the peace in the face of attacks by Tamil separatists – even receiving money from the state at times for their work.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/3007913/strange-lives-sri-lankas-easter-sunday-suicide-bombers?
sbarrkum,
This was an attack on Christians. But it was as much if not more so an attack on the practitioners and adherents of Sanathana Dharma.
Islamist Jihadis linked to Al Qaeda and Daesh have killed over 20,000 Indian civilians (over 70,000 civilians if we add other Islamists who attack Indian civilians in Kashmir). Islamist Jihadis attack Sri Lanka for the same reason they attack India.
Many major schools of conservative Sunni jurisprudence believe in Ghazwa-e-hind, or adding SAARC–including Sri Lanka–and South East Asia to the global Islamic Caliphate:
https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Ghazwa-e-hind
In many churches in India most of the attendees are not Christian. The Islamist extremists knew that many if not most of the people in Church on Easter would likely not be Christians. These non Christians (mostly Buddhists and Hindus) were primary targets of the Islamists. Buddhists and Hindus and fake muslims (who attend church) are not “collateral damage” by any stretch of the imagination.
This is an attack on all 6 billion nonmuslims and 1.5 billion muslims. Islamists always kill muslims first. We need to collaborate together to deal with the global Islamist threat. This is the number one security threat every country in the world confronts.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Question:
Do you believe that nonmuslim Sri Lankans have long backed Islamists against muslims? [Generally the world’s nonmuslims have backed Islamists against muslims.]
AnAn, literally every thing you wrote in this comment is wrong. Everything. From top to bottom, line by line.
Trust Anan to make something which is clearly aimed at Christians (attacking churches on the holiest day of the Christian calendar) into something about “Sanathana Dharma”.
INDTHINGS and Kabir,
Thank for bothering to answer.
AnAn says
The Islamist extremists knew that many if not most of the people in Church on Easter would likely not be Christians. These non Christians (mostly Buddhists and Hindus) were primary targets of the Islamists.
I generally cant be bothered answering to this kind of rubbish.
So let me get this clear, Christian Catholics are the least likely to be converted to any other religion.
They are not “Sanathana Dharma” or “Sathan Dharma” whatever that is.
No way, Buddhists are “Sathan Dharma” either.
sbarrkum, many Hindus and Buddhists attend Christian Churches. Most Hindus and Buddhists regard Jesus as a great spiritual master.
Why would Hindus and Buddhists want to convert Christians? Convert them into what?
This is an important point.
Christians have historically been seen as proxies for the West, and if one wanted to attack the West but didn’t have many Westerners around, the next best thing was to attack a Christian. This was done by Muslims and Hindus during the Indian-revolt (massacring Indian-Christians), as well as the Chinese and Japanese during their spurts of anti-Western violence in the colonial period.
Indthings, there is no shortage of western expats in Sri Lanka to target. They are everywhere. Some of the attackers were from high profile backgrounds, they would have mingled with these westerners extensively. Had they intended to only target foreigners, they could have done that too. This was very specifically an attack on christians I feel.
girmit
I agree there are plenty of Westerners (expats) all over the country. However, in most places where moneyed Westerners (embassy or upper management investor types and or heck NGO’s) gather you cant walk in bent double with a backpack. If a newbie, you are introduced to the group by a “handler”*.
Notice the word “handler”. That because the “handler” thinks the person being introduced can be used for “economic terrorism”.
Next:
Some of the attackers were from high profile backgrounds
I read in places that these Terrorists were from exclusive neighborhoods in Colombo. Two places named, Wellampitiya and Dematagoda.
Wellampitiya and Dematagoda. are former slum and industrial areas. No question land is expensive because in the middle, but North of Colombo center. Its the home to few particular type of rich people.
Anyway you decide. Here is the mansion of the two brothers Ibrahim
https://imgur.com/a/riexKa6
This is more in the upper end in class and money houses.
http://marketplace.lk/en/3-storied-spacious-luxury-house-polhengoda-road-colombo-6-colombo_254-ad
Awww the terrorists weren’t just killing Christians. This was really a social protest against Westerners – a protest by proxy, I suppose.
This is a lot like our eminent leftwing historians telling us Aurangzeb wasn’t a religious bigot just motivated by something that just happened to be correlated to people of other faiths.
One must never underestimate progressive desire to run interference for Islamic bigotry.
There are some facts of history that are being ignored in the current discussions. The four-religion two-language nature of the state has resulted in persistent violence that has taken many forms including Trotskyist. For a small state, the insurrections and parastatal violence has been extreme, and difficult to separate out the cause and effect.
1953, within one year, LSSP-led hartal and violence which led to a sinhala-only SWRD 1956 rule.
1958 riots that wiped out any chance of Tamil-Sinhala coexistence
1971 JVP insurrection which would be the template of two future youth-led insurrections; by youth, I mean really young
1977 Anti-Tamil killing virtually led by JRD’s people
1987 JVP insurection
1980s and onward-Tamil insurrection
Finally, the people who had been quiet all this time,; the Tamil Muslims.
Rather than jumping on Islam, this will be the time to acknowledge the difficulty of maintaining a multi-religious/multi-ethnic polity, and the fact that the SriLankan government never really established a template of coexistence.
“difficulty of maintaining a multi-religious/multi-ethnic polity”
Vijay this is not difficult. This is how much of the world has operated for thousands of years.
The attack was not by “Islam.” The attack was by Islamist Jihadis. This is part of the 14 century Islamic civil war. In South Asia many muslims attend Christian (and Hindu/Buddhist/Jain/Sikh/Zorastrian) spiritual events. The terrorist attack was also against these “fake” or “lesser” muslims.
A lot of south Asian muslims are heavily plural and semi universalists. The legacy of Dara Shikoh and Jahanara lives.
I would agree that there has been a violence, most local started because of a minor disagreements.
1977 and 1983 were different in that they were state sponsored.
The JVP insurrection did not last even 3 years.
The LTTE lasted for 30 years because they got outside help, starting with India training them under Indira Gandhi. Then in 1987 Rajiv Gandhi prevented annihilation of the LTTE, the Vadamaratchi Operation and the Indian Air drop of supplies.
This Easter Massacre was not a retaliation for minor scuffles between Muslims and Sinhalese. This was a long term, well funded affair. The amount of arms and explosives being uncovered is staggering.
ISIS has come out with Video claiming responsibility
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fTrB3LKao
Siddarth
If the target of the attack was the ‘West’ then surely there are better targets than innocent brown people in churches – like embassies or individuals like envoys or diplomats?
The Embassies etc are heavily guarded. No way a guy with a backpack full of pipe bombs would have been let past security.
Sri Lanka, the State and people have become lax about security, resting on the laurels from defeat of the LTTE. The country had become a soft target.
The very countries with heavily guarded Embassies have been calling for dismantling of the state security apparatus. Army Intelligence operators have been jailed also due to pressure from Western Countries.
“if one wanted to attack the West but didn’t have many Westerners around, the next best thing was to attack a Christian. This was done by Muslims and Hindus during the Indian-revolt (massacring Indian-Christians),”
Are there any specific examples of this ?
If the target of the attack was the ‘West’ then surely there are better targets than innocent brown people in churches – like embassies or individuals like envoys or diplomats? This is a cowardly attack to create divisions in society like has been done in the past by Islamists in Egypt and Nigeria. The backlash can be utilised to further alienate Muslims, keeping the cycle going. Btw it seems like SL has acted admirably in preventing revenge attacks.
I found SL Muslims to be a prosperous bunch, hard to believe there was so much hatred brewing under the surface. The area of Colombo where my wife has relations (Dematagoda) is populated by a Muslim majority who live in peace with other communities. I actually found the SL Muslim Tamil dialect more understandable to my Indian ears than the northern dialect.
Most Colombo Muslims are descended from people who migrated from Tamil Nadu in the last 300 years or so. Jaffna Tamil dialect has diverged from Tamil Nadu dialects by close to a millenium (Chola empire era).
I heard the speech of of the firebrand jihadi who is supposed to be the masternind behind all the bombings. His Tamil diction is fairly good and pass on as ‘mEdai thamiz’ i.e. political oratory popular in Tamilnadu . He was scathing on nationalism. I just heard 1 minute as a sample of what he saying and how he was saying.
Going by his Tamil diction and pronunciation he could not have been more than 4 generations of Muslims. Muslims who converted centuries ago have a different Tamil accent due to influence of Urdu, Arabic, Quran, etc
To Karan and vijayvan
Most of the Muslims live between Arugam bay and trinco in the east coast and mannar and above columbi on west coast.
I did a SL trip Columbia/ arugam bay/kandy and Kalmunai in 2017. East coast Muslim Tamil diction is clear and to a tamilnadu Tamil., Better intelligible. Bizarrely, the kandy Tamil of plantation workers was less intelligible. Tamil Muslim use of Tamil was precise, and had zero Sinhala or English words, and less accented. Colombo Tamil was a hot and miss.
Kandy Tamil probably corrupted by Sinhala. The cricketer Murali is more comfortable speaking Sinhala than Tamil.
My father and his relatives (Jaffna Tamils) used to refer to Muslim Tamil as Indian Tamil. It also makes sense as most Muslims are descended from South Indian Muslim Traders (some marrying Sri Lankan women). The Sri Lankan women then become Muslim.
VijayVan
Going by his Tamil diction and pronunciation he could not have been more than 4 generations of Muslims. Muslims who converted centuries ago have a different Tamil accent due to influence of Urdu, Arabic, Quran, etc
There was no influence of Urdu. Arabic maybe among a few scholars. Now Arabic is taught to all Muslims, courtesy Saudi etc.
Vijay
Tamil Muslim use of Tamil was precise, and had zero Sinhala or English words, and less accented
When the Muslims in this area (Puttalam) speak I can hear Sinhala/Sanskrit words. These are people who barely know Sinhalese.
http://sbarrkum.blogspot.com/2019/04/governments-role-in-easter-sunday.html
Government’s Role in Easter Sunday Massacre
Feb. 2018, Nizam Kariappar complains to Election Commission that Minister Rishard Bathiuddin’s allies had taken over Sainthamarruthu (East coast where 15 people blew themselves up).
A video showed motorcyclists riding through town beating up people. The elders responsible were asked by the Election Commission to let others contest freely. They agreed before us and shook hands. As a result, the SLMC fared slightly better than the extremists
24 April, 2019, Charles Nirmalanathan in Parliament states
Details all the ignored tipoffs on ISIS training camps he had given the police.
9 persons arrested in Kilinochchi with arms this time were released from the police station itself with no charges filed in court.
Prime Minister (PM) knows the MPs supporting Terrorists but will take no action against MP’s because without their support he fears the government will fall.
specifically named Rishard Bathiuddin and Eastern Province Governor M.L.A.M. Hisbullah as having aided the bombers.
accused Western Province Governor Azath Salley of using his influence with the President to release a person apprehended with 100 kg of the powerful explosive C4 in Wilpattu about January this year.
Bathiuddin has been clearing the Wilpattu Reservations to settle his people for electoral gain, and that they contain ISIS training camps in the southern end of Musali DS Division (Mannar). It is 4-5 km long says Lohathayalan
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/the-presidents-men-how-three-sirisenas-governors-were-linked-to-national-thowheed-jamath/
Mr. Rishard Bathiuddin, a rehabilitated LTTE cadre testified to me (Ratnajeevan H. Hoole or Nirmalanathan) that in the last days of the war they transferred money from LTTE storehouse loot in Mullaitivu to Bathiuddin in exchange for food. It was a very lucrative business for Bathiuddin according to my informant.
Complaints from Nirmalanathan and other TNA officials that Bathiuddin has been clearing the Wilpattu Reservations to settle his people for electoral gain, and that they contain ISIS training camps in the southern end of Musali DS Division (Mannar). It is 4-5 km long says Lohathayalan
Bathiuddin has a building by the sea in the Mannar DS division says Lohathayalan. Ships take off directly from the building — containing what, no one knows. Bathiuddin’s brother has been taken in by the police for questioning say news reports and – surprise, surprise – released quickly.
Kilinochchi Catholics Escape
Young lady dressed like a Tamil (long ankle-length skirt and blouse with head uncovered) arrives at 5:40 and waits. Left as there was a long wait for the EucharistFr. Jesudas recognizes Pulasthini Rajendran (a.k.a. Sarah) as the fifth wanted person photos.