COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government on Friday ordered mosques to clamp down on extremists and to submit copies of sermons in new fallout from the Easter suicide bombings that left 258 dead.

The country has been on edge since the April 21 attacks by jihadist bombers who attacked three churches and three Colombo hotels which also left 500 people injured.

The Ministry of Muslim Religious and Cultural Affairs said mosques must not be used for radicalising congregations.

“In view of the prevailing situation in the country, the ministry directs all trustees of mosques not to engage in or permit any gathering to promote or propagate hatred or extremism in any form,” the ministry said.

It said all mosques must submit copies of sermons given within their premises.

Sri Lankan radicals who had pledged allegiance to the militant Islamic State group have been been blamed for the April 21 bombings against three Christian churches and three luxury hotels.

Since the attacks, the government has carried out raids across the country and killed several suspected radicals. At least 56 suspects are in custody, according to police, while authorities have also expelled 200 foreign clerics who had overstayed their visas.

The government has imposed a state of emergency and ordered police and security forces to crack down on Islamic extremists. Sri Lanka’s police say they have killed or arrested all the jihadists responsible for the bombings but attacks are still possible.

Muslims afraid, resentful as ethnic divide deepens

Muslim groups say they have received dozens of complaints from across Sri Lanka about people from the community being harassed at workplaces, including government offices, hospitals and in public transport since the Easter Sunday attacks.In the city of Negombo, where over 100 people were killed at the St. Sebastian’s Church during Easter prayers, many Pakistani refugees said they fled after threats of revenge from locals.

Now, anger against Muslims seems to be spreading. On Sunday, a violent clash erupted between local Muslims and Christians after a traffic dispute.

“The suspicion towards them (Muslims) can grow and there can be localised attacks,” said Jehan Perera of non-partisan advocacy group, the National Peace Council. “That would be the danger.” A ban on facial veils and house-to-house searches by security forces in Muslim-majority neighbourhoods across the country have added to the distrust.

The government says it is aware of tensions between communities and is closely monitoring the situation.

“The government is consciously in dialogue with all the religious leaders and the community leaders,” Nalaka Kaluwewa, Sri Lanka’s director general of information, said, adding that security has been increased across the country to avoid any communal tensions.In recent years, Buddhist hardliners, led by the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or “Buddhist Power Force”, have stoked hostility against Muslims, saying influences from the Middle East had made Sri Lanka’s Muslims more conservative and isolated.

Last year, scores of Muslim mosques, homes and businesses were destroyed as Buddhist mobs ran amok for three days in Kandy, the central highlands district previously known for its diversity and tolerance.

The violence in Kandy was triggered by an attack on a Buddhist truck driver by four Muslim men after a traffic dispute. The driver later died from the injuries.

BBS’ chief executive Dilantha Vithanage said as successive Sri Lankan governments had failed to address what he called a rise in Islamic extremism, Sri Lankans might be forced to do it on their own. “This is a bigger danger than Tamil separatism,” Vithanage said.

Sri Lanka’s junior defence minister, Ruwan Wijewardene, said the government was taking measures to curb radicalisation but conceded that communal tensions were a big concern.

In Batticaloa, an eastern city home mainly to Christians and Hindus and where a bomber from a neighbouring town attacked an evangelical church on Easter, a Tamil group has called for a boycott of Muslim-run businesses.

The alleged ringleader of the Easter attacks, preacher Zahran Hashim, and the bomber who targeted Zion Church in Batticaloa were natives of neighbouring Kattankudy, a Muslim-dominated town.

“If you have any dignity, stop buying from Muslim shops,” read a red-inked leaflet distributed in Batticaloa and produced by a group called ‘Tamil Youth, Eastern Province’.

Two members of the group, who both said had lost relatives in the blast, said that resentment had been building for years against the people of Kattankudy.

“They have always been hostile towards us. They do not eat from our places. If they are going to grow by insulating themselves, we might as well too,” one of them said.

Business has plummeted at the around 250 Muslim-owned stores in Batticaloa and some will be forced to shut unless sales pick up, said Mohamed Kaleel, the vice-president of the Batti­ca­loa Traders Association.

Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2019