COLOMBO: A Sri Lankan court on Sunday banned two ultra-nationalist Buddhist organisations from demonstrating against a Muslim holy day, the first on the island since the deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings.

Police spokesman Ruwan Gunase­kera said Colombo Magistrate’s court issued restraining orders against the two groups led by Buddhist monks who planned to disrupt a gathering in Colombo of Dawoodi Bohra.

An estimated 25,000 adherents from around the world have been meeting in Colombo since Saturday for a 10-day religious event culminating with Ashura.

Gunasekera said police had information that two nationalist groups were planning to disrupt the event in the capital, where police and troops have stepped up security.

It was not immediately clear what the groups were planning, but nationalist groups have usually taken a hardline stand against religious minorities in the Buddhist majority nation of 21 million people.

Sections of a key road near the main Shia Huseini mosque have been shut to accommodate the large number of pilgrims.

The spiritual leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, arrived in Colombo on Wednesday to lead sermons and also meet Sri Lankan leaders. The gathering takes place just over four months after coordinated bomb attacks against three Christian churches and three hotels left at least 258 people dead and nearly 500 wounded.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2019