First anniversary of senseless carnage on

Aluthgama, Beruwala and Dharga Town

Muslims
Election of President Maithripala Sirisena averted an Aluthgama type attack on Muslims to mark the anniversary of
1915-Sinhala Muslim riots?

By Latheef Farook-June 15, 2015

Today, Monday June 15, marks the first anniversary of the

unwanted and senseless racist pogrom on innocent and helpless Muslims at
Aluthgama, Dharga Town and Beruwala which ended up in the political funeral of the
Rajapaksa brothers who were accused of being behind these calculated atrocities.
Killing of Muslims, looting of their belongings and the destruction of their properties
were meticulously planned and executed to military precision in all these three places.
However, the islands mainstream media, increasingly under Sinhala racist influence
and the anti Muslim Israeli lobby, observed a news blackout and tried to cover up the
shameful carnage. The local media only woke up to the reality after seeing the wide
coverage to the mayhem in the international media.
Realizing the adverse publicity and the growing wide spread criticism by mainstream
fair minded Sinhalese intellectuals, professionals and Buddhist monks, the Rajapaksa
government began a program to rebuild the burnt, destroyed and damaged property.
This includes places of worship.
However the wound remains deep as the perpetrators escaped scot free and the
looted belongings to the value, some estimate at billions of rupees, have disappeared
forever. Those racist elements which instigated these atrocities have once again
begun to carry out their hate Muslim campaign.
Now a year after the carnage the unanswered question is why did the Rajapaksa
government unleash a wave of violence against Muslims targeting their religious,
cultural and economic life, aimed at eliminating them as a community, culminating in
the Aluthgama, Beruwala and Dharga Town carnage?

Did the Islands Muslims who are as blue blooded citizens of this country as the others
are, do any crime? Did the Muslims attack any Temple, Sinhalese businesses or
oppose the Rajapaksa government in any way?
Instead as the most peaceful of all the three major communities in the country the
Muslims, as stated by former Chief Justice Sarath N Silva, only wanted to live in peace
and harmony with all communities Those Muslims in the north and east were keen to
return to their homes and rebuild their lives shattered during decades of ethnic war
caused by the racist politics of the two major political parties-United National Party and
the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

Of course corrupt Muslim politicians shamelessly remained with the Rajapaksa

government while jet setting wheeler dealer moulavis and discredited civil society
leaders were more keen to please Rajapaksa brothers, perhaps for personal benefits
at the expense of the community, than attending to the sufferings and grievances of
Muslims.,
In unleashing this carnage the defeated President Rajapaksa government and the
racist elements that carried out the hate campaign against Muslims have conveniently
forgotten the role played by the Muslim community in opposing the LTTE call for a
separate Elam
to protect the territorial integrity of the country and the price they
paid for such a stand.
What they also failed to understand is that if not for firm Muslim opposition to Elam
call, the country would have been divided long ago as it was not militarily equipped, at
the early stage, to meet the challenges posed by separatists backed by India.
Now the question is whose agenda was this hate Muslim campaign poisoning the
Sinhalese minds against Muslims to the detriment of all communities and the country?
Perhaps the agenda of defeated Rajapaksa governments new found friend Israel- the

international pariah which destabilized the entire Middle East, time and again kicked
out by Sri Lankan governments in the past only to return like midnight thieves.

However Muslims were aware that destructive racist elements always saying that we
will take care of the Tamils first and deal with Muslims later. Perhaps they got that
opportunity in the aftermath of the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 with the patronage
of Rajapaksa government and, as I always suspect, the support of the Israelis who
have stealthily entered the country with the support of Rajapaksa government and
managed to penetrate many key areas.
Dealing with local politicians is simple for Israelis, whose only agenda has been
against Islam and Muslims as, by and large, most local politicians and even media
personnel are ignorant of Israels crime records and their indifference towards injustice
towards Muslims here and abroad.
This is the reason why the Muslims voted for President Maithripala Sirisena in the 8
January 2015 presidential elections .Muslims feared an island wide attacks on
Muslims this year especially in the context of provincial counselor Udaya
Gammanpila openly stating that an attack on Muslims is inevitable in 2015 to mark the
anniversary of 1915 Sinhala Muslim riots.
This fear was further strengthened by the Rajapaksa government allowing Myanmars
controversial Buddhist monk Asin Wirathu, once described by TIME magazine as the
Face of Buddhist Terror, who has been carrying on a relentless campaign against the
Rohingya Muslims, to enter the country and giving a reception usually given to a head
of state and signing an agreement with anti Muslim racist outfit Bodu Bala Sena.
In view of these developments many knowledgeable Muslims believe that the election
of President Maithripala Sirisena averted an island wide Aluthgama type attack on
Muslims by racist elements to mark the 1915 Sinhala-Muslim riots this year.
It was under such circumstance Muslims observe the first anniversary of the
Aluthgama carnage.
Meanwhile a book titled Mayhem during Curfew on Aluthgama, Bruwala and Dharga

Town atrocities was released recently. This book contains a collection of selected
articles, appeared both in the local and the international media, on the attacks on
Muslims of Aluthgama, Dharga Town and Beruwala. The local media dismissed the
pogrom and thus the need to put the record straight for posterity.

Posted by Thavam