The recent outbreak of Sinhala mob violence against Muslims in southern Sri Lanka has “underscored the majoritarianism that has dominated the politics of the country” said The Hindu in its latest editorial on Friday. Noting that the group that is largely blamed for instigating the violence, Bodu Bala Sena (or Buddhist Power Force) has been ceremoniously visited by both Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the editorial said the moves were “signalling powerful patronage and giving it a stamp of legitimacy” . The Hindu went on to say that amidst the “unsettled question of Tamil political aspirations”, Sri Lankan leaders were “driving the Sinhala nationalist desire for new enemies” .
To ensure accountability and justice for the Buddhist mob violence against Muslims this week, Sri Lanka must investigate links between its security forces and extremist Buddhist groups, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement Thursday. “Sri Lankan authorities need to do more than arrest those carrying out the anti-Muslim violence. They need to investigate and identify any instigators,” said HRW’s Asia Director, Brad Adams. “That means taking a hard look at the role and relationship between extremist Buddhist groups like the BBS and the Sri Lankan security forces,” he said, referring to the ultranationalist Buddhist movement, Bodhu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Force.
The New Zealand Labour Party has welcomed the appointment of international judge and Former Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright to a United Nations Human Rights Council investigation panel examining war crimes in Sri Lanka. In a statement released on Friday, says Labour’s Spokesperson for Associate Foreign Affairs Maryan Street said, “Her reputation is second to none and we are delighted she will be contributing to this long awaited tribunal.” Dame Cartwright will be quitting from her current role on the Cambodia War Crimes Tribunal, where she has sat as a judge since 2006. The Sri Lankan parliament voted and rejected the UN investigation earlier this week.
Several Sri Lankan government websites been knocked offline after hackers attacked them in the wake of Sinhala mob attacks on Muslims in southern Sri Lanka. Hackers from “ Operation Sri Lanka ” announced on their Twitter account that several government websites, including that of the Sri Lankan Treasury , Sri Lankan President and the Sri Lankan High Commission in the UK had been taken down in a spate of cyber attacks over the last few days. At the time of writing, the websites remain offline. UK #Srilanka n High Commission Website Hacked: http://t.co/r6mlilJqyN Expect us! @UKinSriLanka @PresRajapaksa @RajapaksaNamal @EmbassyofSL — ❖OPERATION SRILANKA (@OpSriLanka) June 19, 2014 The website of the Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena was also amongst those shutdown by the hackers. The hackers also released over 340 Sri Lankan government login details , including email addresses passwords for several government agencies, with ministries and the Sri Lankan Prime Minister’s office targeted.
Sri Lanka’s Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters that the government has been bypassing US sanctions on Iranian oil purchases by buying through third parties, claiming that there was an “understanding” with Washington, but the US “categorically” denied such an agreement, reported Reuters on Friday. “We have been buying (Iran crude) from third parties. But we have had some understanding with the U.S. as well,” Keheliya Rambukwella, who is also spokesperson for the government, said. “This is not the [permitted] quota. This is in addition to the quota. For instance, Malaysia supplied [what] happened to be Iranian oil,” he said. “It is a very closed secret,” he added. "I know the gravity of it. I know it's a serious statement," he said when asked by reporters if he was aware of the possible implications of what he was saying. A spokesperson at the US embassy in Colombo denied Rambukwella’s claims. "We categorically deny there was any agreement," a spokesman at the embassy told Reuters.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Atul Keshap, on a trip to Sri Lanka to discuss long term political solutions and reconciliation, met Friday with the Tamil National Alliance spokesperson Suresh Premachandran. Premachandran told the US official that it would be very difficult for Tamil civilians to give evidence before a United Nations probe into war crimes due to government statements that told media that any one that testified before a UN panel would be ‘dealt with’, reports the New Indian Express . The TNA delegation also outlined that many war displaced civilian...
2nd lead - adds photographs Photographs TNPF A protest against the recent attacks on Muslims in Aluthgama, took place in Jaffna today, including a cross-party groups from the TNA and TNPF, as well as local Muslim organisations, reports Uthayan . Protestors called for the Sri Lankan government to bring those responsible for the attacks and killings to justice. The TNA MP S. Sritharan, the TNPF leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the NPC Minister of Agriculture, P Ayngaranesan, and the TNPF General Secretary S. Kajendran, as well as many others. Protesters shouted slogans and held placards reading: "Will ethnic cleansing bring reconciliation?", "We do not want another Black July" and "people of Aluthgama, Peruvalai need justice".
A Sri Lankan cabinet minister said Friday the US is “nurturing and fostering” Muslim militant groups and creating another Taliban in the island by heeding Muslim accounts of the Buddhist mob violence against them, the Daily Mirror reported. Champika Ranawaka, Minister for Technology, Research and Atomic Energy, told reporters that US Ambassador Michelle Sison is nurturing “Sri Lankan Jihadist groups” just as the US nurtured the Taliban in Afghanistan. “The US is repeating the mistakes it made in Afghanistan by distorting the Aluthgama incidents and very soon will suffer dire consequences,” said Ranawaka, whose Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party is a key ally of President Rajapaksa’s UPFA coalition.
The University of Jaffna's Muslim prayer room was vandalised after staff and students protested on Thursday against anti-Muslim violence in Aluthgama. The University Student Union released a statement on Friday, condemning the incident, in which the prayer room was defaced with oil waste. Pointing out the Sri Lankan chauvinism suffered by Tamils and now Muslims, the Union stated that the vandalism was "unacceptable" within a civilised institution and also declared that the Union would continue to stand against assaults on minorities.
A Buddhist monk who was previously abducted and beaten for supporting Muslims against rioters, was attacked again. He was found, badly beaten, with his arms and legs tied with a saffron robe. See here and here for photographs. He has been admitted to Panadura Hospital for treatment. The monk, Ven. Watareka Vijitha, campaigned against the anti-Muslim riots in the southwest of the island.