COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s government said yesterday it would give the go-ahead to plans to develop a mosque in central Colombo, despite objections from Buddhist hardliners who have targeted members of the minority Muslim community in a spate of recent attacks.
Requests to expand the mosque had been repeatedly rejected, Muslim clerics said, because the building work would mean having to cut down parts of a bo tree, considered sacred by Buddhists.
A three-storey mosque was built in its place around a month ago, but it was attacked late on Saturday, triggering clashes between Muslims and Sinhala Buddhists and a two-day curfew in the neighbourhood in the centre of the capital.
There has been increasing violence against Muslims in Sri Lanka since last year, mirroring events in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which has also seen a surge of attacks by members of the majority community against Muslims.
In Sri Lanka, a group known as Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or the “Buddhist power force”, has been trying to win over Buddhists to their own campaign. But the BBS has denied any involvement in the latest mosque attack.
“The Urban Development Authority will hand over the land to the earlier mosque and the bo-tree will also be completely removed to facilitate the construction,” M K B, Dissanayake, secretary at Ministry of Buddhism and Religious Affairs, said.
“The expansion of the mosque also will be allowed,” he said. “The government will help construct the earlier mosque, if they (Muslims) request help.”
At the same time, the government said it would close down the new mosque, although it gave no reason for the decision. Buddhists in the area say the new mosque was built without proper approval.
As elite police officers armed with guns looked on, local authorities began to cut down the bo-tree to make way for the expansion, a reporter at the scene said.
Local residents said that police could have prevented the weekend violence if they had acted more decisively. CCTV footage taken from a nearby house showed people attacking the mosque despite the presence of police.
REUTERS
