Two Muslim governors resigned in Sri Lanka on Monday following protests by Buddhist monks and backed by local Catholic clergy, calling for the removal of three Muslim politicians after the Easter attacks. Shops and offices remained closed in the pilgrimage town of Kandy, about 100 kilometres east of the capital Colombo, where hundreds of monks also gathered in front of the famous Temple of the Tooth.
In the temple, where a relic billed as a Buddha’s tooth is kept, Buddhist monk Athuraliye Ratana began a “death fast” on Saturday to secure the dismissal of Muslim governors from two provinces on the island of 21 million people, as well as a Muslim government minister. He accuses them of supporting the jihadists who caused carnage on Sunday, April 21 by blowing themselves up in churches in the middle of Easter Mass and luxury hotels, killing 258 people. Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were carried out by a local group.
The monk’s demands are supported by the extremist monk Gnanasara, who was present at his side, who had just been released from prison on a presidential pardon and has long been accused of inciting hatred against Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority. The head of the Catholic Church on the island, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, also visited Kandy on Monday to express his solidarity with the movement. “We support the monk’s campaign because so far justice has not been done,” he told reporters.
In the wake of the attacks, anti-Muslim riots rocked towns north of the capital, killing a Muslim and devastating hundreds of homes, businesses and mosques. “There is tension in the area because of the protests, the police remain on high alert,” a police official in Colombo told AFP. Muslims make up 10% of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist-majority population. Last year, anti-Muslim riots in the suburbs of Kandy left three people dead and more than 20 injured.
