Leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Minister Rauff Hakeem has told The Hindu that the recent incident of violence in Kandy was not a Sinhala-Muslim clash, but a mob attack on Muslims, which is repeatedly taking place.
He has said in an interview with The Hindu that while the Aluthgama, Beruwala incidents were among the worst violent episodes based on hate speech, these two incidents in Ampara and Kandy were very carefully planned.
He has noted that they happened soon after the local government elections where the Joint Opposition had a very sizeable victory, and in which the country’s ethnic polarisation was pronounced.
“That is another indicator of whether there was some political background to this. We cannot totally rule out the possibility of some type of political motivation. This is endemic to our culture,” Hakeem has said.
The Minister has noted that whatever political party they may represent, people need to refrain from patronising extremist elements for political expediency.
“The recent incident was not a Sinhala-Muslim clash, it was a mob attack on Muslims and it was repeatedly taking place.”
“The failure of the government to protect Muslims — that is another serious issue.”
