Legacies of impunity

January 16, 2014

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak outBecause I was not a Jew Martin Niemller ( !"#- "!$% Bi&le &urnin' and church ra(in' that is the horrific le'acy of ! months of carte &lanche for e)tremist forces mas*ueradin' as Buddhist reli'ious mo+ements, It is the &e*uest of unchecked hate speech from pu&lic platforms of the Bodu Bala -ena and the -ihala .a+aya which has coloured the teachin's and the discourse in e+ery Buddhist temple, from the smallest +illa'es to the lar'est towns across the island, .eli'ious tensions had &een simmerin' in the tourist town of /ikkaduwa o+er the 0hristmas season, with leadin' Buddhist monks in the area demandin' the closure of two 0hristian churches in the area on 'rounds that they were 1unauthorised2, The tension had led to three churches in -outhern -ri 3anka &ein' attacked on 0hristmas 4+e, 5ssem&lies of 6od /ikkaduwa had &een one of them, -o when 7olice turned up at the church last -aturday to inform the 7astor 0hinthaka 7rasanna that a protest a'ainst them had &een planned for the ne)t day, mem&ers of the con're'ation decided it would &e prudent to take certain precautions, 6atherin' inside the small hall at which -unday ser+ices are held, some mem&ers of the con're'ation locked themsel+es inside, The main 'ate had also &een locked and reinforced, 5t ! a,m,, -unday ser+ice commenced as usual, 8pon re*uest, the police had assured 7astor 0hinthaka that reli'ious ser+ices could continue as usual &ecause police officers would &e deployed for protection of the church premises, Mo& attack But durin' the ser+ice, when a mo& of a&out #9: persons descended upon Badde'ama .oad where the church is situated, only three

policemen were standin' 'uard outside the premises, Three wheelers carryin' loudspeakers were &larin' anti-0hristian slo'ans, Buddhist monks who had formed an or'anisation callin' itself the /ela Bodhu 7awura were leadin' the demonstrators, ;oun' children, clad in white <aham 7asal costume carried lar'e Buddhist fla's at the front of the procession, Men and women, also wearin' white as is customary for +isits to the temple were amon' the unruly -unday crowd, 3ed &y the saffron ro&ed, these de+otees of 6autama Buddha whose philosophy was one of peace, lo+e and non +iolence laid sie'e to the 0hristian church, =hen they found the main 'ate could not &e &reached, the mo& crashed in throu'h the side entrance, They &roke the church roof, demolished windows and e*uipment and forced worshippers to flee, 7astor 0hinthaka who had led some mem&ers of his con're'ation to his home ad>oinin' the church for refu'e, claims he was forced out &y Buddhist monks who threatened him with death unless steps were taken to close the church, Not e+en the few policemen stationed to protect the premises a'ainst the mo& attack had &een spared, .ou'h-housed and +er&ally insulted &y the monks, these officers offered weak and ineffectual resistance as youn' men in saffron ro&es +andalised the church, =hen the crowd mo+ed on to the 0al+ary ?ree 0hurch a short distance away where the -unday ser+ices were >ust concludin', police personnel mana'ed to stall an in+asion of the premises &y holdin' the demonstrators off until the remainin' con're'ation could &e safely mo+ed out of the church, Moments later, the mo& had mo+ed in for its second onslau'ht, Teena'e monks ripped reli'ious writin's off church walls and smashed chairs and pews inside the church, 6atherin' Bi&les, hymnals and other reli'ious material, the mo& laid them out in the church 'arden and set them on fire, The crowd cheered, 7redicta&ly, not a sin'le arrest was made, despite the num&er of crimes committed &y the mo& and e+en thou'h ample photo'raphic and +ideo e+idence is a+aila&le to identify perpetrators, But this should come as no surprise after the e+ents of the past year, 5fter <am&ulla, 7epiliyana, 6randpass and now /ikkaduwa, scenes of saffron splashed +iolence met with the impotence of men in khaki ha+e 'rown in eerie familiarity, 4+ery attack a'ainst reli'ious minorities that 'oes unpunished spurs on another, 4ach attack is 'reater in intensity and audacity than the last, Broadenin' the net /ardline ethno-reli'ious 'roups commenced the latest cycle of reli'ious intolerance with the stormin' of the <am&ulla mos*ue and rampant Islamopho&ia that manifested itself in pseudo contro+ersies like the /alal certification, 5 thri+in' culture of impunity for +iolence in word and deed a'ainst reli'ious minorities has encoura'ed these 'roups to widen their net, 4+an'elical 0hristians whose proselytisin' campai'ns ha+e irked sections of the Buddhist population for years are their latest tar'et, Just as it was with whippin' up sentiment a'ainst -ri 3anka2s Muslim community, e)tremist 'roups ha+e found it childishly simple to e)ploit certain inherent pre>udices within the Buddhist community to inflame passions a'ainst the 0hristians, Their campai'ns a'ainst 0hristian churches especially in the -outhern 7ro+ince ha+e found an outpourin' of support from local 'o+ernment officials and top re'ional law enforcement officials, In /ikkaduwa the /ela Bodu 7awra mana'ed to co-opt the support of officials at the <i+isional -ecretariat and hi'h rankin' police officials in the area, Basin' their claim on a circular issued &y the Ministry of Buddha -asana and .eli'ious 5ffairs in @cto&er #::!, that orders the

re'istration of all new reli'ious centres &ein' constructed with the Ministry with effect from the date of the circular, the <i+isional -ecretariat issued letters to &oth churches attacked last -unday insistin' they could not continue to hold ser+ices in the premises &ecause they were in +iolation of the circular, /owe+er the pastors and lawyers for the two churches ha+e ar'ued that the churches pre-date the circular &y se+eral years, ?ollowin' discussions with senior police officials in 6alle on #A <ecem&er #: B, the 0hristian pastors and their lawyers met with the -ecretary to the Ministry of Buddha -asana and .eli'ious 5ffairs in 0olom&o four days later to ar'ue their case, Ministry officials admitted they had &een misinformed a&out the e)istence of the two churches and said the churches would &e permitted to continue their worship ser+ices while the matter was &ein' cleared up, -till, : days later unruly mo&s of Buddhist protestors are permitted to take the law into their own hands, The 7olice -pokesman claimed ei'ht suspects in+ol+ed in the /ikkaduwa reli'ious +iolence ha+e &een identified, &ut no arrest has &een made so far, -ilence More tellin'ly, four days after the /ikkaduwa horror, no word of condemnation has emer'ed from any political *uarter, The 6o+ernment of 7resident Mahinda .a>apaksa, which is constitutionally mandated to ensure the freedom of conscience and reli'ion for e+ery -ri 3ankan citi(en has remained deafenin'ly silent a&out the complete &reakdown of law and order in the southern tourist town, This sanction &y omission not only 'al+anises forces like the /ela Bodhu 7awra that will mo&ilise at the ne)t possi&le opportunity &ut reinforces the international perception of the -ri 3ankan 6o+ernment as a persecutor of minorities and a -inhala Buddhist he'emonic re'ime, But the political paralysis runs much deeper, =ith the opposition intent on distancin' itself from moderate ideolo'ies in a &id to court -inhala Buddhist +oters who prefer the nationalistic tenor of the .a>apaksa administration, raisin' a +oice a'ainst +iolent hardline mo+ements has pro+en far too risky, CaruD 5 lone +oice It came as a surprise therefore that at a time when the 8nited National 7arty2s 0atholic and 0hristian mem&ers ha+e chosen stony silenceE the party2s 3eadership 0ouncil 0hairman Caru Jayasuriya has raised a lone +oice a'ainst the /ikkaduwa +iolence, The protestations could come perhaps from no &etter man, Jayasuriya2s Buddhist credentials are stron'E he is &elo+ed of the -an'ha and a practicin' Buddhist, In a statement filled with an'st that was released to the media two days after the &rutal attacks on churches in /ikkaduwa, Jayasuriya accused the hardline mo+ements of tryin' to destroy Buddhism &y perpetratin' +iolence and persecution in its name, This orchestration of +iolence a'ainst ethnic and reli'ious minorities isFalso an attempt to destroy the concept of Buddhism as tau'ht &y 3ord Buddha, who 'a+e the world a philosophy of peace, lo+in' kindness and non +iolence towards all &ein's, The actions of certain e)tremists claim to represent all Buddhists &ut &y their e+ery action they

only &efoul and deni'rate the teachin's of the Buddha, The impunity these 'roups ha+e come to en>oy has &rou'ht -ri 3anka to +ery &rink of communal strife yet a'ain,G he warned in a &la(in' statement a'ainst reli'ious +iolence and state inaction on Tuesday, The 8N7 3eadership 0ouncil 0hief makes a +aliant attempt to portray the main opposition as a party of pluralist +alues that will stand a'ainst reli'ious fanaticism and intolerance of e+ery kind, H5s a party that &elie+es in studyin' and learnin' from the mistakes of the past, the 8N7 holds firm to the +alues of pluralism and freedom of conscience, 5s standard &earers of the country2s oldest party, we will stand for the reli'ious freedoms of all -ri 3ankans, If we hold true to the concept of one -ri 3anka, then our reaction to an assault a'ainst a mos*ue, church or /indu ko+il cannot differ in stren'th to the reaction a'ainst an attack on a Buddhist temple,G Jayasuriya2s statement said, /e &elie+ed, the statement said, that the ma>ority of -ri 3anka2s Buddhists were still moderate, peace-lo+in' citi(ens who were repulsed &y this spate of +iolence a'ainst reli'ious minorities, 5t a time when e+ery politician appears to ha+e deserted the moderates as &ein' irrele+ant players in electoral fortunes, Jayasuriya2s words pro+ed a true a&erration, The need of the hour In an a'e when politicians hailin' from minority faiths are too afraid to speak out, the fi'ht a'ainst reli'ious &i'otry will ha+e to &e championed &y moderate Buddhist leaders with sufficient foresi'ht to understand the dan'ers of today2s trend, 3eaders who will refuse to &e swayed &y the e)pediency an enra'ed and insecure ma>ority community offers, If Jayasuriya stands up to the fray, he will &e positionin' himself e)ceedin'ly well, as a statesman willin' to swim a'ainst the popular tide, offerin' -ri 3ankan Buddhists a different narrati+e one that is founded in Buddhist doctrine, If politicians like Jayasuriya can find the stren'th to 'al+anise the forces of moderate Buddhism from amon' the -an'ha and the laity, it will pro+e the 'reatest challen'e yet to the hate and intolerance propa'ated

&y e)tremist 'roups, It may pro+e the 'reatest challen'e also, to the he'emonic a'endas of the rulin' re'ime, The a&sence of alternati+e political discourse that challen'es the kind of insular thinkin' that spawns e)tremist ethno-reli'ious mo+ements is helpin' to entrench the current political rulers, If the ideolo'y and rhetoric of the present re'ime feeds pre>udice and mistrust, the desperate need is for an alternati+e political mo+ement that &reaks them down and fosters understandin' and pluralistic thinkin', 3i&eral alternati+eI ?ormer 7resident 0handrika Cumaratun'a, always *uick to feel a political pulse pro+ed she had reco'nised this political +acuum last week, The -outh 5sian 7olicy and .esearch Institute, chaired &y Cumaratun'a or'anised a collo*uium on reli'ious freedom and pluralism, &rin'in' to'ether se+eral scholars and e)perts on the issue, The 8N7 that is intent on tryin' to &est the .a>apaksa administration at its own 'ame &y panderin' to the &aser instincts of the ma>ority community should attempt to understand why the 6o+ernment is infinitely more >ittery a&out 7resident Cumaratun'a2s re-entry into politics than facin' off a'ainst the 6reens at any num&er of future elections, In retirement, Cumaratun'a is &ecomin' the champion of li&eral causes and despite a somewhat che*uered year rei'n, is lookin' the part of the political alternati+e, e+en if as she claims, she has no further interest in acti+e politics, ?or reasons &est known to himself, 7resident Mahinda .a>apaksa, who has all the political capital and moral authority to tell the hardline monks to cease and desist and ensure they fall in line has chosen to look the other way, 3ike his predecessors &efore him, 7resident .a>apaksa is choosin' to pander to ancient pre>udices, By sheer inaction, his 6o+ernment is fannin' the flames of communal strife, 7erhaps the .a>apaksa administration &elie+es that arran'in' a 7apal +isit this year will &e sufficient to placate the country2s .oman 0atholics, 7erhaps it &elie+es the +isit will pre+ent the 0atholics from reactin' to the persecution of 0hristians and ensure some support for the 6o+ernment at a ma>or election, Thus far, those calculations ha+e pro+en accurate, 7luralistic response =hen hardline 'roups took arms a'ainst -ufi shrines in 5nuradhapura and Cura'ala, the reaction from other Islamic sects was lukewarm at &est, But these initial attacks, met with silence for the most part, pa+ed the way for the attacks on mos*ues in <am&ulla, 6randpass and countless smaller incidents of +iolence a'ainst Muslim places of worship, -imilarly, it is not enou'h for 0hristians alone to &e enra'ed &y the attacks on 0hristian churches, 8ntil e+ery community can empathise and stand up for the other, the hardline 'roups will win e+ery &attle, =ith e+ery attack that is met with silence from 'reater society, the ri'hts of all ethnic and reli'ious minorities are more 'ra+ely endan'ered, @nce the 0hristians are effecti+ely silenced, like the Muslims, will these 'roups come after the 0atholicsI 5nd when the 0atholics are suppressed, will they turn their eyes on the /indusI 5nd once e+ery reli'ious minority is put in its place, will the &attle then ra'e o+er who is the &etter BuddhistI ?or there is little dou&t that if current trends continue unchecked, moderate Buddhists will soon &ecome the last reli'ious minority, the final hurdle to &e o+ercome and e)terminated &efore reli'ious fascism can rule,