Aluthgama violence: Where was

Sri Lankas President?

by Groundviews
- on 06/18/2014
The horrible killings and destruction in
Aluthgama on Sunday was blacked out by almost all mainstream media in Sri Lanka at
the height of the violenceand the morning after. However, the violence was in detail
and close to real time covered extensively over social media, leading to a
documentation many times greater and more detailed than what the Government of
Sri Lanka would have liked.
This documentation generated an unprecedented response from theSecretary General
of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a vote block that has staunchly
supported Sri Lanka at resolutions moved at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The statement,
expressed serious concern at the recent incidents of violence by extremist
individuals against Muslims in the towns of Aluthgama, Beruwala and Draga Nagar in
Sri Lanka. The reports of several fatalities and dozens injured as well as attacks on
homes, businesses and mosques are deeply regrettable.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, expressing his concern about the attacks on
Muslims in Sri Lanka, urged the Government to investigate alleged attacks on
members of religious minority groups as well as take necessary measures to prevent
any deterioration of the situation and to launch an immediate investigation into the
incidents.
On 16th June, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillayexpressed her
deep alarm around the violence, noting that,
I am very concerned this violence could spread to Muslim communities in other parts
of the country, Pillay continued. The authorities must immediately bring the
perpetrators of such attacks to book and make it clear to the religious leadership on
both sides, and to political parties and the general public, that there is no place for
inflammatory rhetoric and incitement to violence.
The US State Department in its Daily Briefing condemned the violence in Sri Lanka
and noted that,
We are concerned by inflammatory rhetoric that has incited violence in recent days,
resulting in several deaths, scores of injuries, and destruction of personal property. We
urge the Sri Lankan Government to fulfill its obligations to protect religious minorities,
including protecting all citizens and places of worship, conducting a full investigation
into the violence, and bringing those responsible to justice. We also urge all sides to
refrain from violence, exercise restraint, and respect the rule of law. The United States
Government continues to stand by the many millions of Sri Lankans who want a
peaceful and unified country.
This echoed a statement by the US Embassy in Colombo which also condemned the
violence, and urged both the government to ensure that order is preserved and the
lives of all citizens, places of worship, and property are protected and the authorities
to investigate these attacks and bring those responsible to justice. The statement was
released in Sinhala and Tamil as well.
On 16 June, Andrew Bennett, Canadas Ambassador for Religious Freedom ina series
of tweets as well as an official statement offered condolences to the families and
friends of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to those injured. Condemning
the violence, Amb. Bennett went on to say that,
This is one of a number of recent and troubling attacks targeting the Muslim
community in Sri Lanka. It is of the utmost importance that every person is able to
practise his or her faith free from the threat of violence. We urge Sri Lankan authorities
to act quickly to ensure the safety of all communities. These attacks are completely
unacceptable and a clear violation of the right to religious freedom.
Amongst others, by Tuesday, 17th June, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of
Sri Lanka (NCEASL), National Peace Council (NPC), Ven. Davuldena Gnanissara
Thera, the Chief Prelate of the Amarapura Sect (see original letterhere), and Sri
Lankas Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe had made official statements
regarding the violence.
But where, one may ask, was Sri Lankas President in the middle of all this violence
and what was he doing? He was getting an award which recognises contributions to
peace and democracy from Bolivia.
One may also ask, in light of very real fears over the escalation and expansion of
violence, what the official response of the President of Sri Lanka was to the worst
communal riots to hit the country in years?
Seven trite tweets two in English, two in Sinhala, three in Tamil. Plus two retweets
from his son. Cute.
The tweets were published in response to the overwhelming pressure over social
media, late Sunday night and the early hours of Monday morning, for the Presidents
Office to issue some kind of statement to quell the escalation of the
violence. Incredibly, there is not a single word of condemnation, condolence, regret or
concern to date around the violence in Aluthgama from the Presidents office. The only
official statement by Government around the violence was made by the Prime Minister
to Parliament yesterday, and predictably sought to downplay the killings and
destruction.
The Presidents official Facebook page has nothing to date on the violence. The
Presidents Twitter profile has pinned a tweet of him attending the G77 summit, from
15th June. The scale of violence and its aftermath get no mention at all.
The Presidents official website doesnt have anything on Aluthgama at all.
Ayeshea Perera, writing in Firstpost, captures the problem around this callousness
succinctly,
By tweeting, the President was only addressing the people who actually knew of what
was happening via the same social channels. Because while the news was getting
out, it was only getting out to the minuscule portion of the Sri Lankan population with
access to social media.
This meant that for a majority of the people and most importantly for the
people affected on the ground their leaders had not spoken. They had
chosen to turn a blind eye to the inflammatory speech made by
Galagodaaththe Gnanasara, the leader of the extremist Sinhala group, the
Bodu Bala Sena which started the violence.
When combined with the downright bizarre responses to the violence by Sri Lankas
diplomatic corps, the question must be asked how much faith can one have in the
government to reign in perpetrators and high-level architects of this outrageous
violence, including thugs garbed in saffron, when it cant even issue an official
statement?
As was accurately observed on Twitter,
Vidura @Apelankawe
Follow
With 2 tweets in two days responding to carnage in #Aluthgama @PresRajapaksa is
giving good competition to JR's indierence to !" riots
10:51 AM - 17 Jun 2014