Fear of revenge. Sri Lanka's Muslims under pressure

A report published in the French newspaper Lacroix refers to the attacks that rocked Sri Lanka last week during the Easter holiday and killed and wounded hundreds, including many Christians, and says the adoption of the Islamic state's organization of these attacks has caused tensions between religious communities.

"Those who committed these barbaric attacks are not among us," author Dolphin Misho told Muslim officials in Sri Lanka.

While Mufti Rizouya told journalists he was absolutely guilty of the actions of the nine suicide bombers, Muslim leaders opened their doors to Christians who wanted to pray there, especially in light of the closure of churches for security reasons.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe called for a return to calm and said most Muslims condemned the incident and were as angry as Tamils ​​or Sinhalese.

For fear and sanctions
"Muslims are punished three times, they have been targets of violence in the past, and they are currently afraid of retaliation after the recent attacks," said Dillon Madafun, a researcher for the Center for Studies on India and South Asia. Discrimination in daily life, especially in administrations. "

The report says landowners have evicted Ahmadi refugees who were sheltering them, fearing that their property would be targeted by groups seeking revenge in response to recent attacks.

Cohesive coexistence
Since the recent attacks, the Sri Lankan authorities fear a breakdown of inter-communal dialogue and seek to preserve the country's unity. Sri Lanka has about 21 million people living in a mosaic of different ethnicities and religions living together in peace. Such as Buddhists, Tamils, Hindus, Christians and Muslims.

According to Madhavun, the culture of cohabitation exists in Sri Lanka, "where all other cults of the community are respected, food exchanged between neighbors during religious ceremonies, and there are even common places of worship."

But the anger of Christians at the present time threatens the cohesion of this fragile coexistence, and the promotion of anti-Muslim sentiment will be a victory for the state organization, which will play the card of sectarian strife.

The newspaper pointed out that the authorities blocked the sites of social networks, to prevent the outbreak of sectarian clashes may be fueled by the publication of inaccuracies, adding that the extremist Buddhists called through Facebook and Wassab sites to spread hatred against Muslims. She says many mosques have been destroyed, as well as declaring a state of emergency for 10 days in the country.

Hundreds of Muslim refugees in the city of Negombo, west of Sri Lanka, have been threatened with mosques and police stations after being threatened, especially after a Muslim was beaten, she said.