Viewpoint by Dr Farah Mihlar*
LONDON (IDN) – After fiercely quelling a three-decade armed conflict fought mainly on ethnic grounds, majoritarian politics in Sri Lanka has found a new enemy – the country’s nine percent Muslim community.
In the worst outbreak of violence against Muslims in recent years, Sinhalese-Buddhist mobs were on the rampage earller in March attacking people and property in the central hill capital Kandy. One Muslim was killed in the violence and dozens of Muslim owned shops and properties set ablaze. The government imposed a curfew and sent in troops, but the situation remains volatile and tensed as police are at best ineffective and at worst complicit.