Unbelievable how a reputed media organization can publish reports without a substance. I'm working in a Muslim majority area and everyone is living in symbiosis despite the recent atrocities. Your article seem to want to provoke something non-existent. Please don't kill the peace we have in our beautiful island. Don't put our lives at stake to increase your readership. Sri Lanka is one of the most tolerating and resilient nations. Please be responsible in your reporting and support to establish peace as a responsible organization without trying to create chaos.
4
Muslims form 8% of Srilanka (SL) population but are highly radicalized. SL sends highest number (as % of population) of ISIS recruits to places like Syria.
This radicalization has been over many years and a slow process. Almost all SL Muslims speak Tamil but so much is the radicalization that they see nothing in common with their colinguist Tamil speaking Hindus.
What happened in SL was terrible but SL Muslims will pay the price. The price is that they allowed themselves to be radicalized thereby showing their faith in Muslim ummah not the SL State that gives them food and protection.
This beautiful teardrop island is in for another round of bloody clashes, this time between Muslims and majority Sinhalese.
5
Hi, im a Sri Lankan and a Christian. I would like to know from the writer of this artical actually where did these things happen. Because there is not a single reported case of violance against muslim community in Sri Lanka.
Yes, everyone is tensed but we are living peacefully letting authorities do their job. Even the muslim people are helping the task. If there was an attack on the muslim community I think your reporters and reporters from other medias will be able to take an publish some of the footage. And yes, i saw the pictures that you have published. For that I am asking from the other readers, remove the caption underneath it and look at the pictures. Because without the caption they can mean anything.
So i truely would like to know what are you expecting archive by publishing something like this in the public. And if you are sticking to what you are saying please publish actual evidence not things that becomes an evidence with a caption.
4
This news is misleading. Though I’m not a Catholic, I was very proud of my fellow Catholic community on how disciplined they were in peaceful tolerating their grief. I understood very well that their God is a god of love and forgiveness.
The Pakistani refugees were feeling unsafe, that’s true. It’s not due to any physical attack on them.
3
Honk Honk, the Muslims are the real victims in Sri Lanka!
4
First of all, the authors. Visit the place in here first, check on the people, “the actual people” who lives here with the muslims. We are not terrorists. We live with the real muslims in peace and with giving support to the military to manage the situation. None of the normal people were harmed by us. Only loss is from the bombs blasted by the terrors’. Keep your papers reputation and post the true only. Don’t loos the dignity with false news. This country had enough with the fake news and ruining the country name. Don’t add more bad about the people or the country. God bless you
1
I am not sure if readers understand that IS/ Daesh is a political organization with political goals.It is not a Muslim religious movement. It presents a half baked ideology that rope a dupe certain individuals with a suicidal bent. It is not an ideological system that is tolerated in the Muslim hence most causalities of their terrorism are Muslim. IS has been fought by Iranian troops, Iraqi and Syrian Kurdish irregulars through out Iraq and Syria. The fight was long before Obama Administration’s bombing campaign.
4
@Taher Some people say it is Political Islam. An extreme form.
2
Ah, the New York Times back in its comfort zone: Christians as villains.
18
I really pray for the innocent Muslims who are by nature very honest and caring for all of us. So, please stop attaching and scaring them. Please leave them and their families to live a peaceful life in Sri Lanka.
If you, as a responsible government, acknowledge that you have failed to act on the intelligences reports. So, please stop your aggressiveness towards the innocent Muslims, but truly focus on the small group of people who are radicalised and caused raukus in Sri Lanka.
While I pray for those who mercilessly lost their family members, I place my sincere request to the Sri Lankan government to act swiftly and take stringent action on this cowardly people who bombed us.
This news article is spreading inaccurate news.Nothing like this happened, no one attacked any one or any ethnic group.We all doing our best to overcome these situation. As a renowned news cooperation you should be more vigilant before publishing news like this.
9
This is the wrong news. Stop this post immediately. These are the immigrants that come to Sri Lanka from Pakistan. But Catholics or caste in Sri Lanka did not attack any Muslim. The refugees took houses on rent based on the attack on the terrorists. After the attack, the villagers scared and the government took them to another area
3
There are 50 Muslim-majority countries in the world today. One wonders why Pakistani Muslims would seek ‘asylum’ in a Buddhist country 2000 miles away.
And why are these people identifying as ‘refugees’? Pakistan isn’t at war
8
@Michal, from what I have read they are Ahmadiyas. They are a persecuted minority in Pakistan: not considered Muslims by the state and at the receiving end of attacks by extremists. I suspect this is the case in many of the other countries as well.
Sadly mob violence targeting innocent people after major attacks happen with depressing regularity. It is especially sad to see this persecuted minority be the target of violence in what should have been a safe haven from persecution in their Homeland.
Nicely created story. Weldone
4
These terrorist are murderers. Just like nazis and Communists and ted bundy or anyone else that gets off on killing other human beings. On top of that they are inflicting as much harm on peaceful religious worship as possible. They hide behind dogma and call themselves religious. They worship satan and evil. Never confuse Islamic terrorists from murder and blood worship. Muslims DO need to be more vocal in their denunciation and their embrace of all religions.
4
This comment is to all the people who will flock here to bash Muslims:
Since 1983 over a hundred thousand people have been killed in Sri Lanka as a part of our civil war. Most of these killings were committed by Tamil & Sinhalese people ( most of whom are Hindus and Buddhists).
While Muslims were the victims of many attacks on their communities in the northeast almost none of these killing were committed by them. Most recently Muslims have been at the receiving end of abuse and harassment by Sinhalese nationalists.
I would remind all those who are quick to condemn Muslims to reflect on this: In Sri Lanka's history Muslims have been peaceful, good citizens who have been on the receiving end of violence and not vice versa.
These attacks are clearly meant to destabilize our society and cause retaliation against our Muslim communities.
By condemning Islam in a broad way and inciting people against Muslims you are giving the bombers exactly what they were hoping for.
Ps: I am a Sri Lankan Buddhist who is disgusted and thoroughly ashamed of how my fellow Sri Lankans are behaving in the name of religion.
69
@Honeybee First of all, you have a lot of nerve putting words in someone else's mouth. Second, you appear to be advocating for the presumption of guilt: any Muslims who doesn't openly and publicly condemn terrorism - on the record - must be a terrorist sympathizer.
12
@Honeybee
I beg your pardon? Condemn your white supremacy movement in the US before pointing fingers at complex post colonial violence that you can’t easily categorize please.
13
Sri Lankas Muslims are not silent. The attacks have been condemned and assistance offered in so many ways.
Do we demand that all white people condemn attacks by white nationalists? I didn't think so.
10
What terrorists want is to destroy PEACE in Sri Lanka.
Our enemy is terrorism, not any religion.
All Sri lankans want is peace, Terrorists want us to fight.
If you fight you are supporting terrorists.
Be patient what ever it takes, Put the humanity glasses on.
All Sri Lankan people want is PEACE.
24
It is not fair, that the writer only wrote about the fears of muslims.
At least 359 innocent people is dead by this terrorist attack.
Not only muslims all sri lankan people are living in fear now.
Don't be bias, please write about everyone's sorrow and fear.
6
Authors stop spreading false news and hatred. Proberbly you wrote about what you wish to happen so you can sell it as a journalists as peace and patience is not selling. Disgusting!!!! This article spread hate.. instigating muslims and by wrongly accusing christians puting salt in their wounds! Check the srilankan history and give one incident that srilankan christians went against muslims or any other religion .. Love heals that is why you guys love hate...as unity is no news but fights and distraction is juicy news! Shame on you!
4
We should keep in mind that Jesus did not advocate attacking innocent people, While opinions differ, from my reading of the New Testament years ago, I believe Jesus was a total pacifist. The "just" war theory developed by Catholic theologians, sometimes used to try to justify killing innocent people in wars, is not part of Jesus' teachings. The closest theory to the pacifism of Jesus is the pragmatic pacifism of Mahatma Gandhi, who was not an absolute pacifist.
The violence and anti-Muslim bigotry of some Sri Lankan Christians is probably due to "tribal" mentality. To counter that, we should remember that whether a person is born into a Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian or Muslim family is an accident of birth. It doesn't mean that a person is a member of an aggressive organization. We recognize that clearly in the case of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. While the perpetrators were members of the U.s. government, the majority of Americans aren't part of it and are innocent. The vast majority are simply born here, also an accident of birth.
With that in mind, we should consider the idea that we might have been a different color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and many other characteristics. Let us not judge others based on such accident-of-birth characteristics, especially baldness.
26
@Ahmed the writer You stated that the violence and anti-Muslim bigotry of some Sri Lankan Christians is probably due to "tribal" mentality.
That is misinformation.
There hasn't be reports of violence and anti-Muslim bigotry of Christians in Sri Lanka. However, there has been violence and anti-Muslim bigotry from the Buddhist fundamentalists in recent times; the social media is inundated with anti-Muslim messages in Sri Lanka.
6
@Ahmed the writer
If groups of bald men went around forcing people to shave their own heads and blowing off the heads of those who wouldn’t, I would not be condemned for being very wary of all bald men.
12
@Ahmed the writer
I think religion, bigotry and tribalism are too deep for this instance. This seems more like an action/reaction. Yes, Christians are looking for Muslims, but their doing so is as a reaction to the bombings, not because they are Muslims.
I understand this is a topic for a long discussion and I may well be mistaken.
I do feel that the action/reaction masked by religion or race is exactly what the terrorists of shapes and sizes want.
2
If Muslims and Christians are now fighting in Sri Lanka then the terrorists have achieved their goal. Sad.
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@Jim Houghton there is no such a fight my dear freind ...writer may be hoping for.
2
@Jim Houghton there is no such fight in Sri Lanka. People are living in harmony
2
Devastating tragedy and heartbreaking aftermath.
This is exactly what the perpetrators wanted: sow discord between Christians and Muslims and disrupt the interfaith harmony that existed in Sri Lanka despite decades of civil wars.
A rogue international group claiming to represent Islam is no different than white supremacists including, KKK, and all its neo-Nazi offshoots doing it all in the name of Christ and burning crosses in the process.
Neither has anything to do with the beautiful messages of love and peace, which underpin the teachings of Christianity and Islam.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." (1 Corinthians 13:4-5)
“If anyone kills an innocent person, it is as if the has killed all of humanity.” (Quran: 5:32)
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@TrueObserver. Tell the whole truth TrueObserver:
5:33 Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment.
Peaceful, indeed.
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@Rob
Context matters. Just like the ‘Fourth Amendment’ made more sense during the Civil War or the Revolutionary War than it does in 21st century suburban USA.
Few unhinged criminals cherrypicking the verses for their evil deeds makes as much sense as Some local American or another from Europe, Asia or NZ cherrypicking the bits of the US Constitution to further his violent agenda in the name of ‘white supremacy’, ‘Christ’ (if you ask KKK) or on behalf of the US Govt.
Despite the mass shootings in the US and people misusing the 4th amendment for their nefarious agenda, the appeal of the country has hardly waned because there’s plenty that the rest of the world admires about the US.
In the same vein, despite the actions of a few misguided criminals, the religion of Islam is peaceful and stands for peace.
Now verse 33 (Chapter 5). First of all, It has no basis of applicability in a sovereign, non-Muslim country.
Secondly, Learn to ‘read’ the verse. These innocent worshippers were attending mass, where ‘no one’ is waging war against Islam in Buddhist-dominated Sri Lanka.
Third of all, earlier verses, including the preceding one, make it clear about it is only in self-defence that violence is permitted.
Fourth of all, I could have quoted a dozen or so Bible verses about violence starting with ‘eye for an eye’ but I know better.
As a Hindu (Gandhi) once said, ‘an eye for an eye’ makes the world blind.
6
@TrueObserver The quote is not unique to the Koran. It is the foundation of ethic established by ancient Greeks. It is called the universalization principle of an action.
1
What these attacks and their aftermaths demonstrate is not that people's faiths are irreconcilable, but that we humans spend too little time breaking down the barriers of religious, national, ethnic, or other tribalism in our daily lives. The time to bring the desired peace is not after 300 people were massacred, when the affected people are understandably irrational, but before or much after, when the feelings aren't so raw.
Also, I'm confused as to why nobody at the army checkpoint prevented the beating of Auranzeb and his children. That and the lack of action over the pre-attack intelligence reports raise questions.
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@Aaron
Just notice in some days that which neighboring powermad country will milk this situation trying to divide and rule, create differences between SriLankans and Pakistanis or get votes again to the butcher of gujarat - narendra modi on the basis of fear and hatred in indians. Hopefully India won't succeed in this power game just like it lost the air battle to Pakistan fair and square.
2
This is just so sad and so frustrating. Attacking and killing innocent people does nothing to further your cause, no matter which side you're on.
Rational, reasonable people already know that you can't blame an entire demographic for the actions of a few.
The Christchurch shooter had put all Muslims in a box. The Easter morning terrorists blamed all Christians for the actions of that one shooter. And now people are going to blame all Muslims for the actions of the Easter morning terrorists.
It has to stop.
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@Patty O, do you seriously think 9 people commit suicide to avenge Christchurch?
ISIS "claims responsibility" means nothing more or less than that before they died, the bombers made a suicide video pledging to the Caliphate. If there were a legitimate caliphate, it would be the duty of all Muslims to do so if you're from the ultra-fundamentalist right wing of the religion.
So it means almost nothing. As one other commenter has mentioned, an attack of this complexity and magnitude was being planned long before Christchurch.
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@Patty O
“It has to stop.”
Why? It should stop but that is no reason that it has to. It has been going on since before the conquest of Medina. 1400 years of tit for tat but far far from Medina which is safe, The Hagia Sofia is a mosque, Constantinople long a center of the Caliphate. War has worked out well for the victor.
11
I think the bombing is not a sole motivation to target Christians. Its intention is also to create chain reaction. After the attacks -
1. Media clearly mentioned it had racial motivation
2. Tensions would rise between different religions bringing differences that are not there
3. Attacks on Muslims who have nothing to do with attacks.
4. Clearly the young Muslims considering these attacks on innocent Muslims as injustice thereby more joining hands with terrorists groups.
5. The whole cycle repeats again thus creating a name and place for these terrorists groups.
It is up to the individuals to consider above mentioned points and act as a human rather than a Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or a Hindu.
Everyone staying together - MAINLY YOUNG GENERATION and opposing, staying away and focus on the countries economical and social improvement will be a tight slap.
This is false. Most Pakistani refugees in Sri Lanka are Christians. No vengeance or violence apart from the blasts were reported from the country. Please check for the legibility of your news sources.
2
@Lishantha
Yes .. totally agree
First of all this article does not represent the current status of my island. There has been no violence against muslims what so ever. The cover photo does not show mualims of negombo it's actually ILLEGAL pakistani imigrants who might be sent back.
A diverse country may it be but im last decade we saw a significant growth of extremism within muslim community . The ongoing concern over the 'Burkah' is a fine example of this. Srilankan muslims needs to understand if they want to avoid so called backlash they need to separate themselves from the extremists.
5
So you contacted a Pakistani refugee who claims there are full fledged attacks on the Muslims during a situation where the terrorists' intention of creating racial disputes at large failed utterly?
Hmm... How very convenient...
3
Incorrect. Christian have repeatedly targeted Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Just last month a group of Christians attacked a Hindu community and destroyed parts of a Hindu temple and arch way. They screamed about Jesus quite a bit. Historically, Christian Portuguese and Dutch used Christians to oppress native populations. They even imposed the Christian equivalent of the Jizya upon Hindus and Buddhists. Muslims obviously came as more than traders, and were dedicated to Jihad from the beginning in the 11th century. The islands were quite peaceful and advanced for their time, prior to the arrival of Christians and Muslims. Even the supposed Hindu Tamil Tigers, were actually led by a Communist Baptized Christian. Rajiv Gandhi's assassins were also baptized Christian as well. However, the bombs from the Sri Lankan Government fell upon the Hindus. Nifty for them, more destitute free converts as well.
16
@WT It is a fact that the Portuguese and Dutch oppressed native populations. Please read about how Hindus were forcibly converted during the Goan inquisition. Those found to retain Hindu customs were tortured (e.g. boiled in hot water). The Dutch were also very brutal in Indonesia especially during their conquest of Bali, which attracted international outrage. In that conquest, women were massacred. By committing these actions, or should I say, atrocities, they uprooted the very organization, institutions and way of life of the locals. Just so you know, prior to the British arrival, India had a much larger share of world GDP, which progressively diminished during the rule of the East India Company. India was more productive in textiles. So, the British learnt the techniques, and had their fledgling cotton industries use them. Then, the thumbs of weavers in India were cut off so they would never be able to compete with Britain in textiles. And the British were considered to be more civil than the Dutch and Portuguese! The industrial revolution in these countries would not not have been possible if not for pilfered wealth from the colonies which provided much needed capital to grow. Also, before the siege by the Muslim sultanates in the 16th century, the city of Hampi-Vijayanagara was supposedly the largest urban area in the world together with Peking. Portuguese travellers compare it to Rome in grandeur. But the Muslim armies razed it to the ground. Just saying.
3
@Jack
Nowhere do I say British colonialism never happened, and do not assume that I am unfamiliar with the things you discuss.
Given that my comment concerns Raj's attempt to justify anti-Christian violence and blame the violence of the Sri Lankan Civil War on Christians, I do not see what relevance your comment has here. Unless you too believe that Sri Lankan Christians were a fifth column and "had it coming."
@WT No one deserves to suffer from violence. My heart goes out to all Sri Lankans (Christians or not) who perished or lost their loved ones. But you are wrong to state there was no 'golden age' prior to European colonialism. The Cholas had a vast maritime empire which stretched from South India across South East Asia including many of Indonesia's islands. I also gave the example of Vijayanagara.
4
In Pakistan, Christians face this every day. Someone accuses a Christian of looking at a mosque wrong and their house is torched. An old man desires a 12 year old Christian girl who he thinks is cute. His sons kidnap her, father 'marries' and then rapes her, and says that she willingly converted. Police shrug their shoulders.
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@Rocket J Squrriel And the Times doesn't cover those daily events in Pakistan.
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@Rocket J Squrriel This is a problem of lawlessness and political corruption, not Islam per se. Witch hunts and rape aren't unique to Islam. For starters, check out thev appalling popularity of witch hunts in Papua New Guinea. The indigenous people there are nominally Christian, if it matters.
9
@Sue
And that is terrible as well and the government is trying to stop it. Its a bit different because you have peoples with little contact with the modern world getting modern diseases they don't understand well.
In Pakistan, you have a modern people who use their religion to destroy people who are different only in faith. And the government doesn't seem to want to stop it.
Asia Bibi, a Christian, had her blasphemy case thrown out by the highest court in Pakistan but she is still in custody. The government won't stick her on a plane to join the rest of her family in exile. Why? Because they are terrified the jihadis will kill them.
2
Um, have any of you wondered what refugees from Pakistan are doing in Sri Lanka? Sri Lanka doesn't seem like the type of country one leaves to seek refuge. What are they doing there in the first place? Also surprisingly, there is not a single claim in this article that Sri Lankan Muslims are affected. Maybe the issue is more complicated than what this article is making it out to be?
19
@Tony Jokin
These refugees are from a different sects. They are not considered as Muslim in Pakistan because of government law. But they believe that they are Muslim and others are not in the right path. Since they stay nearby Christian area, Angry people making them target easily without knowing their religious beliefs. Their purpose to stay in Sri Lanka is to apply through UN to settle in Europe. UN is helping them in Sri Lanka.
2
@Tony Jokin - Sri Lankan Mohamed Iqbal, owner of the burned-out shop Shoe Fashion, would beg to differ that there is not a single claim in the article that Sri Lankans have been affected.
1
Many of the commentators are suggesting the Times has not been giving substantial coverage to the Christian victims of the bombing. I wonder, have they been reading the Times since the bombings occurred? Its coverage of the victims has been thorough and extensive.
It's also bewildering to see this outrage about publishing one article highlighting revenge attacks on innocent Muslims in the Island. It's as if the commentators are saying that it is shouldn't be mentioned because they deserve it, even though the people being attacked had nothing to do with the bombings. It is essentially a dehumanization of Muslims.
Of course, some will say this is because of the teachings of Islam or the like, despite the fact that the number of Muslim terrorists worldwide does not reach a factor of a percentage point of all Muslims. But this is merely an expression of primal rage, with the aggrieved group looking to inflict damage on anyone associated with the group that it perceived to have harmed it, regardless of whether the target of this aggression had anything to do with the original inflicted harm.
Implicitly justifying revenge attacks on Muslims because of the Church bombings reflects the same mentality that justified the terrorists to bomb these churches, when they claimed they were in revenge for the New Zealand attacks simply because the perpetrators there were Christian. It is barbaric and will never right a wrong.
20
Thanks for the story. Actually, I was waiting to read something of the kind reported. The attacks made to sow discord and hatred amongst a populace who hadn’t any issue within them. It was done to reduce them to the same level as the perpetrators of these crimes. Then they become malleable and controllable and are controlled through fear. Fear of one’s own neighbors, brothers and sisters, fear of their own family members in the global family of humans. This is done by first focusing on the differences in the diversity and then teaching people that these differences are things to hate. That leads to the logical conclusion of hating a person and the entire group that s/he belongs to. It’s an age-old tactic, the only thing remarkable about which is that it still works. This is what was once used against the Jewish people for centuries in Europe and Russia which led to their ghettoizing and eventually to Hitler’s infamous Final Solution. Today Muslims seem to be in that boat.
Though I know it’s expected, I’m really very sorry to see this happening. The hate attacks are to cause chaos and disruption of SL society and turn one person against another. This creates a smoke screen which hides real issues. When people immersed in grief and anger and are looking to hit back, they aren’t thinking clearly and all they need is a target. That is provided by implying that anyone from the community of the criminals is like them and so can be made a victim in retaliation.
19
@Sirajul Islam Your theory is true and it is all very convenient for everyone to believe that that is what happened. But my dear friend, our patience is not through yet. No one is terrorizing anyone other than the extremists themselves.
4
Countries with diverse religious populations have to be secular democracies where every citizen has a voice and laws should protect every citizens regardless of their religion, race and national origin. In Asia, India is a shinning example of a secular democracy in the Indian sub continent. It has gone through turbulent divisive times but remains united against terrorism. Compared to another example of secular democracy, Canada, India is the largest democracy in the world. India's problem is overpopulation and several times the population of Canada per square mile. Canada's inclusion of few nonwhite non Christian Sikhs is quite recent. Contrast that with India's. It had a Sikh prime minister (PM) for 10 years in this century. India had Sikh chiefs of defense services and several Sikh cabinet ministers. through out the history of independent India. There was also a Sikh president. There have been 4 Muslim presidents of India. How many Muslims have been cabinet ministers in Canada. Has there ever been a Sikh, Hindu or Muslim PM of Canada? One woman was PM of Canada for a few months of its 150 years history of PMs. Canada as an example of equal opportunity for all Canadians, it has ways to go when you compare it with India. PM Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi is truly a model global leader and India is very fortunate that he was India's PM for the past 5 years and he certainly deserves a 2nd term so that India can continue to progress, stay safe from extremists and remain secular.
5
@Girish Kotwal, you're kidding right? India has had one of the most ethnic and religiously turbulent histories in the world. The lie of secularism has not been true in decades. A Sikh murdered Indira Gandhi after she laid siege to the Golden Temple, targeting a religious minority. Your Modi stood watch while thousands of Muslims were murdered in Gujrat. He wasn't even allowed to enter the US before he became PM because of his horrible human rights violations. He is the brainchild of RSS and as secular as the pope. And all the Muslims you speak of were presidents, mere figureheads to appease alleged secular values, never PM with real values as the India of today will never vote for a Muslim PM.
3
@AZ from Chicago. I am not kidding nor am I evaluating India like a narrow minded kid. Modi was not a brain child of the RSS but he belonged to the RSS and grew up from humble beginning to the most tech savvy secular global leader who has cultivated exemplary relations with all the leaders of all countries of the world. including countries with Muslim majority. Even the leader of Pakistan Imran Khan has said that the best chance of peace with Pakistan is if Modi is reelected. Modi being the prime minister had nothing to do with his religion. He is a devout Hindu and a strict vegetarian and a tetotaller. He is incorruptible and is not trying to build a dynasty or build his wealth or try to live like a Maharaja. He is humble and has the admiration for his outstanding qualities. That may or may not result in his reelection and I am acutely aware of that but he is certainly the best India has.
I am hopeful that a reelected Modi and Imran Khan will meet before the end of year and resolve all outstanding issues by sitting across the table. The problems in the Indian Sub continent are many but not impossible. It will always remain in a state of equilibrium and flux because of the diversity and historic divisions but in the end it will always strive for harmony an defeating extremists from all sides.
3
There haven’t even been funerals for all the actual victims of Sunday’s bombing at the hand of Radical Muslims and already the Times has to rush to somehow portray Muslims as the real victims despite the fact that there hasn’t been a single casualty in their ranks from this supposed unrest.
Retaliatory violence against all Muslims isn’t the answer but that doesn’t seem to be happening. In fact, has the times even confirmed any of these stories of beatings and physical assaults they’re reporting? All these accounts seem to be narrated directly by the supposed “victims.” Are there police reports or videos of any of this?
And one burned shoe store? It’s unfortunate for the man who owned it but the BLM protesters destroyed more than one building in Ferguson alone with less handwringing from the NYT.
Let’s focus our sympathy on the real victims - the injured and the family members of those who died in Sunday’s cowardly bombings.
190
It’s heartbreaking to see the loss of human life because of these evil terrorists who claim to be Muslim. We don’t need these terrorists in this world and they are actually the real enemy of Muslims. Terrorism anywhere nowadays in this world is a threat to Muslims everywhere.
As a Muslim, if I hear about an attack anywhere, my heartbreaks for families who lost loved ones, then my second thought is a pray to God that terrorist isn’t Muslim because then all of us would be blamed for that. I’m sitting thousands of miles away and feel guilty because that’s how media and few people make us feel every time if there’s an attack by Muslim. We all get labeled compared to terrorist of other religion (though they don’t have any religion).
Revenge and wars never make any society peaceful. Terrorists kill innocent people, creates division and hatred among people and then revenge takes more innocent lives and this cycle keeps going.
Humans are killing other humans every single day. Some of that makes it to the news and some don’t. History tells us that humans are the enemy of the humanity. Even Jesus was crucified.
8
When will we consider religion, superstition, primitive and obsolete;, civility, reason and compassion the 21st Century a novel idea for living together?
4
It is true, there has been some conflicts between some groups in Sri Lanka, after bombings. In my opinion, this article does not reveal the true situation in Sri Lanka. This seems to be in someway biased.
2
@Harindu
Do you really know what you are talking about? specify where it has happened.
These Pakistani refugees are lying so that they can get a chance to go to a western country. That is what always they do. If SL is not safe, let them go back to Pakistan
3
Sri Lanka needs a unifying leader like Jacinda Arden to pull the country together. This is the time Sri Lankans need to pull together to express empathy with the victims' families, and revenge killings need to be strongly condemmed.
10
@Mary M
No it needs a leader to destroy these extremists entirely.
2
The NY Times got it right on this. The article is -not- sensationalist reporting, nor is it fanning the flames of religious prejudice. It -is- good, accurate reporting on the resurgence of such prejudice.
We know the identity of some of the suicide bombers. We know that some of them were Muslim. We don't know their exact motives. We don't know whether or to what extent ISIS's claim of responsibility is accurate; it has not been verified, and ISIS has a history of claiming credit for violent actions by others.
We know there was some screwup by the security people, who failed to communicate and act even after Indian warnings of imminent attacks.
Let's all publicly express our hope that, regardless of whoever did this, it does -not- throw Sri Lanka into another cycle of religious violence. I think that's what most Sri Lankans of -all- religions want.
10
I'm sorry to see such a distortion of what's really happening in the country. The incident which this article embellishes did take place, in the heart of the town of Negombo where one of the worst bombs of the incident detonated, but said mob was rapidly dispersed by the security forces. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported, and no other mobs have formed to this day.
Yes, a backlash has occured. But it has mostly left the muslim populace alone. Instead the backlash focuses on the terrorist sympathizing muslim politicians, the feckless government that allowed it to happen, and the radicalized islam extremist groups such as the National Thowheed Jamath which is suspected to be the group behind the attacks.
There is also a growing backlash against the burka and the niqab, but that comes in the wake of an incident where, a mere day after the attacks a man was found in said dress near a Catholic Church in suspicious circumstances. I think it is fair to say that the fears of the populace that the dress, which conceals identity, may be a risk to national security is justified.
Additionally, I hope to clarify the blanket statement tagged on at the end of the article regarding "buddhist extremism". While periods of increased tensions have existed, the riots it mentioned occured as the culmination of a series of events which have now been exposed as of the same terrorists implicated in the bombings, such as destruction and vandalism of buddhist statues.
35
@Chathura Thank you very much for your clarification and explanation. It makes sense.
3
The moment I heard several hundred Christians were murdered by terrorists I knew the news media would quickly determine who the real victims were.
My heart goes out to the Muslim community of Sri Lanka. May you find peace- the whole world is mourning your loss.
67
@willt26
Haha! +1...
24
@willt26 I don't understand this comment. Why your heart goes out to the Muslim community there instead of Christians.
17
@wilt26
NYT is a newspaper. They report ‘news’, unless you didn’t get the memo.
There’s no equivalence here. Whether it’s a white terrorist blowing up mosques in NZ or ‘non-white’ terrorists in Sri Lanka doing the same with a higher tally of victims.
And The ensuing backlash on a group of innocent minorities is still terrible.
Just like any ensuing backlash on white Americans would be, by non-whites, following a ‘Oklahama City-type bombing’ by a fellow ‘white’ terrorist. All violence is bad, regardless of who the perpetrator is or what their ‘twisted’ reasoning may be.
All such acts are reprehensible, whether done on behalf of ‘white supremacy’’ (a billion or so white people) or someone’s twisted version of an Abrahamic religion (with a billion or so followers), they’re still repugnant and have no justification - Ever!
Neither one represents the Race or Religion they desperately crave to be associated with, plain and simple.
19
There's nothing so irrational and divisive as organized religion.
History (and current events, unfortunately) show all too clearly that when people desperately seeking guidance and a way forward in their lives are taught that their club has the only "correct" viewpoint, and that all those having different beliefs are misguided are "wrong", nothing good can come of it.
18
the irrational belief systems, and the most organised religions are not revaluating their Creed according to our age of reason , human rights and freedom..On interacting with my friend of all faiths, I found rarely any moderate ,liberal voice..A few blame scriptures---the root cause , instead defend them.
3
And often those others are seen as not just wrong, but also evil. Very little good will flow from that.
4
@Lowell H
You can say there is nothing more divisive than "governments" Communism and Capitalism has killed 100s of millions people in the 20/21st century
4
Let me get this straight. Hundreds of Christians died of terror attacks on their holiest holiday. While violence is never the right answer, they were understandably upset and sought revenge, but as yet no Muslims have died. Yet the venerable Times has seemed fit to publish an article sympathetic to the terrified ... Muslims???
Over and over Christian minorities in other countries are subjected to daily persecution and periodic massacres while this paper goes silent.
Yet the editorial page is frequented by stories of how “islamophobia” is affecting the lives of American Muslims.
Let’s pray for peace in Sri Lanka and comfort to the mourning families, including the Muslim victims of the New Zealand attack. Hopefully one day this paper considers the Christian victims as equals.
247
@Andy -- Yes, and NPR did the same thing. We live in an upside down world! It makes no sense.
65
@Andy
So, we are waiting for Muslims to die, through violence, before they deserve a story? The way sentiments are developing, it may come to that, unfortunately. Not a comfortable situation to be in. But that's who it starts, when people want to inflict collective punishment for the crimes of few.
21
@Andy Read again and check you bias. The article is not "sympathetic to Muslims", it describes a group of terrified immigrants that did nothing wrong. The Times is correct to highlight the aftermath of terrorism and its effects on the innocent.
50
Hundreds of Christians were killed. Yet your ridiculous article talks about Muslim fears. How about Christian fears?
154
@Billy Bobby
And yet tribal Lutherans never participating in ecumenical services.
3
This article is talking about innocents’ fears whether they are Muslims, Christians, or of any other religion. We should not let these criminals blind our judgment. Nobody is responsible for anybody else’ evil acts.
19
This article is alarmist yellow journalism of the worst kind.
Can't believe this is NYT.
Vast vast majority of Sri Lankans are still processing their collective grief in a dignified and thoughtful manner.
The incidents of mob violence given so much attention in this article are the rare rare exception.
The anger you see on the streets is directed, justifiably at the corrupt and craven politicos who had had let their petty infighting distract them from their sworn duty to protect the people.
Instead of paying attention to the 350+ innocent lives lost and thousands maimed for life,NYT thought this was the perfect time to bring out the tired Liberal trope of "Islamaphobia" and to paint a picture of present Sri Lankan society so off the mark it's astonishing.
Shameful of you NYT,.
You are not helping the society heal in this instance with your sensationalist reporting.
101
@BoingBoing
This is the reason why I no longer subscribe to New York Times. It turned into yellow press.
Who on earth thought now is a good times to bring up the subject of islamophobia. Granted it exists as does antisemitism and racism but this is so out of place ridiculous and what this kind of article brings out is resentment towards Muslims nothing more or less.
50
@Nagumumo
If government act wisely they could have saved many lives indeed .
4
@BoingBoing
These kinds of mob violence against ethnic/religious minorities have been the hallmark of Sri Lanka since 1958. These are not isolated incidents. Fortunately, Sri Lankan Government acted wisely this time to ban the social media to curtail these kinds of violence. How small they maybe, there is no justification for harming innocent people as a retribution. The bigger question here is how the country moves forward from here.
5
Again, this is why the victory lap taken by the White House over the end of the real estate held by ISIS in Syira (a few months ago) was completely over-hyped. The ideology of the Islamic State is one that transcends geography and boundaries. It did not demise simply because it lost some buildings and territory.
However much we hate to consider this, this is a terrorist group that has formed a radically different ideology than its predecessors. It has somehow created this dogma that allows itself to be inserted across multiple borders. Groups from Boko Haram (in Nigeria) to Abu Sayaf (in the Philippines) have pledged allegiance, and have some degree of resource sharing mechanism.
Yes, other terrorist groups have expanded across borders, but not on this scale level. The Islamic State has refined that process, from recruitment to stage setting.
This is a group that must be fought not just on the battlefields and intelligence gathering. There must be some kind of active prevention measure. Ways to combat online radicalization and dis-incentivizing more people to join. This requires not just intelligence officers, but also prominent scholars and clergy from the community to combat radicalism. That is how global terrorism ends. Not just by hunting them down across remote mountains, but con-jointly by stopping all recruitment efforts on all fronts.
9
This kind of horrible acts committed by radical extremists under the name of Islam disrupts the inter faith harmony and it is sad that innocent Muslims who had nothing to do even remotely with these bombings unfortunately face an angry and at times violent and merciless backlash. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens of all faith and to sending a message that the people who had nothing to with the loss of lives and destruction should not be harmed.
Whenever there is a rapid demographic change anywhere without preparing the population to assimilate and welcome people of different ethnicity, religion or national origin there can be problems. One of the suicide bomber had lived in the United Kingdom and probably was radicalized while in England and trained in countries with safe havens for terrorists in bomb making and delivery. Partition of British India on this basis of religion was a big mistake and it resulted in million senseless brutal deaths.
The model of secular democracy that India with equal rights for all citizens chose could have been the best model for religious harmony for other countries of the Indian sub continent. Unfortunately, the colonial powers that ruled the Indian subcontinent got replaced by violent extremists who have disrupt the equilibrium.
Priests instead of calming their flock often do instigate their flock and each religious group should do their best to ensure that hatred and call for violence not be allowed to preach.
4
@Girish Kotwal
I agree with the first paragraph, but maybe the second, but let’s not get carried away.
Plenty of populism and ethnocentric violence in India especially since 2014 and even prior to Modi’s election. RSS and its goons in the govt want to revert India to its pre-secular Hindutva beginnings. Nothing harmonious or peaceful about lynch mobs and rapes.
The American or Canadian model of secular democracy should be the standard for other countries to follow. Granted, the current American version would not work, but a pre-2016 America should be the example to emulate.
And if you really want to do one better, the northern neighbour is the one to beat. Sikh Canadians serving in key cabinet positions such as the current Defence Minister of Canada, who was born in India.
Now that’s a true example of multiculturalism and interfaith harmony for the world to strive to emulate.
13
@TrueObserver from earth. I disagree with your narrow minded view of secular India, the largest democracy in the world. India's problem is overpopulation and several times the population of Canada per square mile. The multiculturalism of Canada is in cities. You are talking about Sikh Canadians in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. India had a Sikh prime minister (PM) for 10 years in this century. India had Sikh chiefs of defense services and several Sikh cabinet ministers. through out the history of independent India. There was also a Sikh president. There have been 4 Muslim presidents of India. How many Muslims have been cabinet ministers in Canada. Has there ever been a Sikh, Hindu or Muslim prime minister of Canada? I don't remember any woman being prime minister of Canada. With regard to religious harmony in Canada. You are probably not aware of the innocent Muslim worshipers shot in their back while praying in Quebec and then there was some incident in parliament. The Native Canadians were mistreated. I love Canada don't get me wrong. It is a wonderful country and I have lived in Canada for 5 years and I am grateful to Canada for that but Canada as an example of equal opportunity for all Canadians, it has ways to go when you compare it with India. With regard to PM Narendrabhai Damodardas Modi. He is a truly model global leader and India is very fortunate that he was India's PM for the past 5 years and he certainly deserves a 2nd term so that India can progress and stay safe.
1
In light of how the Sri Lankan civil war was concluded, I do not see a happy ending for the folks who pulled this off. And for those even remotely connected. These folks were bombed for years. There will be no mercy.
5
After reading this article I thank goodness I'm an atheist.
27
Will the Prime Minister of New Zealand offer NZ citizenship to the Catholics of Sri Lanka? How about the persecuted Christians of Pakistan?
Why did the Obama Administration discriminate against Syrian Christians when they were being killed by ISIS, refusing them refugee status in the US?
46
Religion divides us. Other things divide us too...racism, sexism, nationalism, bigotry... oh, and, Bible based homophobia is running rampant here in the heart of America. But religion, and specifically all the evangelistic religions reign supreme in their ability to tear us apart, figuratively and/or literally, depending on which extremist of which sect of which ideology of which religion you prefer. But you already know that. So aren't we all responsible for all of it in a way? We've continued to support this nonsense for thousands of years. All I see is death and decay in religions vengeful wake. Literally everything I deplore in humanity starts with religion. Things like racism, sexism, bigotry, homophobia, etc. etc. Is there a God, god, gods? Unlikely but I don't really know, nor do I care. But I reject the idea that an all powerful creator would approve of what man has created to reach "Him, Her, It." Is there no way we can find our way to decency without this indecent institution and the extremists it breeds? Such a monumental waste of humanity, resources and life. Writing this is a waste as well but I won't recruit anyone to force my thinking on you or burn you at the stake or blow you to pieces if you don't precisely agree with me. This won't make it to the comments either. But I feel better. Not really. I'm heart broken for the people of Sri Lanka.
15
@-C- agreed.
3
Compared to the violent recent Muslim reactions to the printing of satirical cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, or the alleged burning of a Koran, this is nothing. It's wrong, yes, but in comparison, it is nothing.
45
I'm a Sri Lankan living in Sri Lanka. There was a minor incident yes. But it was controlled and the majority of Sri Lankan community don't believe in attacking innocent people. Even Cardinal have released a message saying Catholics will not harm muslims in any way. Where is the mention of that message in this article ? Where is the mention of everyone uniting to bury more than 380 people who died of the attack? Don't spread news like this and try to divide us. We stand united. We protect our people. We stand against terrorism as a community.
209
@Shashanka
I agree with you
11
How can this be considered a ‘minor incident’?
12
@Shashanka
I couldn't confirm this story. Maybe this is terrorist propaganda? One of my friends from school died from the Shangrila attack. So many children died. I saw a baby in a coffin. The coffin was too big for him. After the blast I whatsapped my friends and relatives, muslim families included, to make sure they are safe. I told muslim frinds to stay safe expecting some retaliation but nothing happened. I'm a sinhalese buddhist. And I'm proud of our christian community who embrace love and peace. Kind words from Father Malcolm (cardinel) calmed the whole nation.
Monique Allen, who donated Rs. 100 million to build a paediatric unit in the Rathnapura hospital also died :'(. Some people in the international might not care about Sri Lankans, but I guess they can feel for the Allen family.
Here's the story...
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10218948628055454&id=1496077231
17
“With or without religion, good people would behave well and bad people would do evil; for good people to do evil takes religion.” Steven Weinberg
29
Sri Lanka just got taken off my bucket list. I simply have no wish to be among people who beat their innocent neighbors with iron bars while soldiers passively watch.
12
@Don Juan where does he say its okay if people are blown up???
2
more murder in the name of god.
13
Terrorism leads to a collective fear among the supposed targets, but it becomes personal for only a fraction of a per mille. But the terror from IS and other Muslim groups have negative personal consequences for almost all Muslims. I do not believe that IS are unaware of that. They pretend to fight a war for the Muslims, but everything they do is just an escalation of the war against Muslims. I don't know who actually started it, but IS is doing it's best to make sure it does not end.
What is this really about? As always if you want answers - follow the money.
9
The operative section of the article is:
"observers have said it was as if powerful forces in Sri Lankan politics were looking for a new enemy to fight. Hard-line Buddhist monks targeted churches and mosques, priests and imams, often with the tacit support of the security services."
This is the same the world over. Ruling rich seeking to distract and divert growing discontent by inventing scapegoats: immigrants, Blacks, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Russians, Chinese, etc. The hatreds are invented at the top and then propagated down and out by the same actors as always. New enemies must be found to divide and rule, or else all the poor, unemployed, hungry, debtors and the ill, just might start rebelling. Slogan of the rich: Better wars and pogroms than revolutions.
6
An eye for an eye...and the entire world blind.
That's the sad reality.
9
So sad what is happening in Sri Lanka. To withstand these kinds of attacks and counter attacks it is absolutely necessary to create understanding and bridges between communities prior to attacks by extremists elements. It is not possible after violent attacks.
3
The fact that the warnings were either not transmitted or ignored is curious. Two minorities are now set at each other. Accidental?
Or not?
5
@nyc
Completely intentional. Do notice which neighboring country will milk it the most. Divide and rule. Also to create differences between Sri Lankans and Pakistanis too.
2
Here is the crux of the problem:
Islam escaped Judeo/Christian “Enlightenment” inner search; remaining encapsulated within the Ottoman Empire. The result; Islamic countries today, and particularly those in the Middle East at the center of Islamic origins, did not experience the disruption that brought about a questioning of ancient Abrahamic religious thought and the opening of the medieval mind. Islam lay in silence; in a sense a “sleeping giant.”
Then, suddenly that “sleeping giant” was awakened. After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries and the discovery of oil in the Middle East, Muslims were suddenly exposed to a strange new Western world of self-critical secular intellectualism.
www.InquiryAbraham.com
18
For as long as humans identify with the body, they will permanently identify themselves with temporary bodily identifications, and then they will fight. People don't know they are not these temporary bodies and their temporary designations: gay, straight, black, white, Christian, Muslim, Jewish. Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita that only fools think: I am in this body.
If these people were serious about living in peace, the first think to do is to start acting on the platform of the soul. There, it is eternality and real companionship.
Otherwise, all you get is hypocrisy - like "peaceful" and "nonviolent" Buddhist monks attacking Christians and Muslims.
Give me a break!
3
When will humans figure out that the horror of the deaths of innocents drives the cycle of violence? The sole way to break that cycle is by blocking and justly punishing only the exact perpetrators of a crime, not the people who share the same religion or customs or nationality or family.
Look at what drives those who commit violence. They are always reacting to past violence. And so violence begets violence which begets violence which begets more violence.
When will we humans stop letting our raw emotions rule our brains? We keep thinking that attacking innocent people will hurt and deter the guilty.
How was any innocent Muslim in Sri Lanka supposed to know about the Easter Sunday bombings? How could any Christian in New Zealand know about the intentions of the mosque shooter?
Osama bin Laden was incensed by the horror of women and children killed in the Qana mosque bombing in Lebanon. Of course, no one working in the World Trade Center towers had anything to do with the Qana mosque bombing. The United States bombed innocents in Afghanistan and Iraq who had nothing to do with 9/11. And on and on and on. So pointless. So brutal. So dumb
15
See first Barbary wars
It was my understanding killing innocents is prohibited by the Quran? Ifs that’s true, the bombers aren’t Muslims, they are just terrorists.
That would also make the NZ bomber a terrorist.
6
@Prudence Spencer
Obviously the terrorists did not see the Christians they murdered as "innocent."
4
@Prudence Spencer
And the NZ shooter is being charged as a terrorist.
7
Why are there Pakistani Refugees in Sri Lanka? Pakistan isnt at war with anyone but themselves.
36
I will not set out the volumes of statistics, but here is one that is true: "Muslims in America have been subjected to more insults, attacks and hate crimes in the last two or three years than ever before, specifically more than after 9-11."
— Omar Rachid on Saturday, July 21st, 2018 in a San Antonio Express-News story
Nowhere is there a listing of Muslims being murdered in the USA. Despite the USA being the most diverse nation on the planet no one religious group is murdering another. Yes there have been incidents of people attacking churches, mosques, and other places of worship and murdering lots of people, but the magnitude in nowhere like it is elsewhere in the world.
Why?
I think the reason for that is that the magnitude of the orthodox belief in all religions is greater elsewhere in the world than here.
The problem really lies with the religious leaders all over the world.
If any religious leader calls upon his congregants to murder people of another religion his center of power should be closed down and everyone associated with such vile utterances placed in a nice secure prison.
I for one am sick in my heart at what I have heard about Eastern Buddhists murdering people of other religions in their countries.
I don't know what can be done to stop such things in a world where almost every religion believes and preaches that there way is the only way.
Maybe it is a good thing that religion is dying in many places. Perhaps it doesn't deserve to survive!
11
@Joel Friedlander No religious group is killing another? Are you kidding? WTC 1993, 9/11, San Bernadino. Boston Marathon Bombing, Pulse Shooting, Fort Hood, West Street 10/31. All of them were religiously motivated to kill nonmuslims. There have been many more foiled attacks.
13
And trump remains silent.
11
@Robert Schmid
So? Its not our country and we shouldn't be sticking our noses in. Let them deal with it.
10
@Robert Schmid I don’t see Obama or Hillary say “Christians” and “Christianity” but you seem to be OK with that!!!
3
@Robert Schmid Remains silent about what? Some Muslims worry their violent co religionists might lead to less than loving feelings towards Muslims in another country?
2
I know IF these were Christian extremists that committed a trend of massacres then I would look closely at the teachings of Jesus and the New testament.
But since we're talking Islam then we need to consider what the teachings of Mohammed are within Quran (as comparable to Jesus as they are both considered eternal and perfect by their respective followers) and the hadith (as comparable to the New testament bible as both are recordings of the history of the faith, with different interpretations and emphasis within sects).
Are there signs of bigotry? Are there signs of intolerance? Are there signs of violence and terror? Are there signs of one faith being superior to all others?
These questions should be asked of ALL ideologies. ALL. IDEOLOGIES.
I know the answers well enough to know that they are quantitatively documented with employment of thorough search results on Google. Christians and Muslims are talking about their differences a lot on YouTube, Twitter, Reddit and other websites. Lots of de-platforming going on there, too.
At the end of the day, these books need to be challenged for their content. This is the elephant in the room, and nobody in the media is discussing it.
69
@russ. Christians have committed, and continue to commit, atrocious acts as well. You don't have to look too far into the past to see mass killings, religious-based, by Christians. In my opinion, ALL religious writings are interesting, sometimes wise, sometimes poetic, but ultimately fictions. People find things in religion to justify their own hatreds and prejudices - which I'm seeing plenty of from Christians in these comments. Buying into the idea that the Muslim vs. Christian conflict is just about religion throws our culture back about 1000 years. People want fervently to believe it. They seem to want a holy war. I guess because in a holy war they can feel holy. We have not progressed at all.
3
Why are there never articles about the “good Christians” who don’t support extremists?
36
@ReadingBetweenTheLines
Because extremist Christians go to Syria to help the injured and get beheaded as martyrs, or give all their property to help the poor.
13
The origins of this tragic event trace back to Sri Lanka in 1991 when a young Tamil girl blew herself up, assassinating India’s former prime minister Rajiv Ghandi.
Soon after that, suicide bombing became a standard tactic of many terrorist organizations such as the PLO, and it eventually found its way back to Sri Lanka via ISIS.
7
At 7%, 10% & 13% of the total population of Sri Lanka respectively, Christians, Muslims & Hindus cannot be considered "small" minorities.
They are BIG minorities, capable of securing their rights through education, legislation, agitation, trade & economic strength.
Small minorities are those that are perhaps 2%, or 1%, or even less, of the total population, and who cannot get even one of their own elected as a member of Parliament. They usually do not have the capacity to increase their numbers, even with a lot of Government help & assistance.
3
Leaders of ALL faiths need to teach their flocks that God desires most of all that we share His love, whether with our own coreligionists or with those who pray differently (or don't pray at all). Any discussion of sin should include at the top of the list acts of violence toward others, no matter their race, gender, or belief system. These lessons should be repeated frequently along with the tenets and practices of the particular faith being preached.
3
Martha, how do you (we) know what God wants? Have you talked to her lately? Considering the size of the universe, it would be a miracle on its own if God were aware of the existence of our solar system.
3
The people of Sri Lanka cannot settle old grievances by attacking one another. Innocent people will lose lives and the cycle of violence will just snowball to chaos and mass murder. The government must step in to keep mobs under control and off the streets. Only a proper law and order ruling can punish the criminals. Just creating a mob and random killing will appease no one and only instigate more violence.
3
This is ridiculous. How is terrorizing innocent families and individuals going to accomplish anything. The police back home need to step it up, but from past events it doesn't look like they will until it is too late.
8
Τhe people responsible for these attacks are hoping to foment inter-sectarian violence. And so far, they are winning.
11
Or, perhaps the people who did not act to prevent the suicide bombings are the ones interested in fomenting sectarian violence.
1
@S North
Creating sectarian violence and creating differences between old friends - Sri Lankans and Pakistanis. Who will milk this situation? Neighboring powermad india with very violent elections going on there.
2
Inclusion begins with the letter "I."
Islam begins with the letter "I."
The faction of Islam that we know as "Islamist" has nothing to with the practice of being a genuine Muslim.
Retaliation of any type fosters the agenda of extremists. Let us build bridges with one another by embracing and respecting our differences. Revenge and persecution have never been the answer.
22
@Ned
It is vital that the Muslim leadership makes that clear to its own followers and takes a stand against extremism.
Inclusion should apply to Muslim states as well.
5
Some of the individuals involved in this heinous crime are said to be well educated, and from well to do families. If that is their background, it is hard to comprehend what exactly motivate these perpetrators. Education and the good family environment has not prevented these individuals from carrying out their hidden agenda. Hate has superseded or taken the upper hand on everything good they stand for.
This recent incident in Sri Lanka is a lesson for parents, political leaders, religious leaders, Educators and other leaders in the community and others as to how better they can guide their communities. This should not just be confined to Sri Lanka. But, a message for countries around the world. Because, what we are seeing is in those locations where there are people from multi ethnic and multi religious backgrounds, they are becoming vulnerable and prey to various forms of extremism. These extremists have no love or value for life. Their beliefs are distorted, and frustrated.
Leaders must understand this and importantly, revisit what they say or preach to the people in the communities. If people speak different languages, and they all have a different religion as their faith, that should not say there is a problem. This is how god has created human beings living in different parts of the world. What is important is for us human beings to understand that, that is how the world is. We have all to respect the co-existence of other human beings, and love each other.
5
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.
54
@Tony C Are you suggesting, turn the other cheek? I don't think so.
6
@Antoine I would imagine not, but certainly taking out anger on innocent people who are not responsible only perpetuates the problem. The root of the problem needs to be understood and addressed if it's to be remedied.
11
@AntoineSo
So you are saying that no one should be a Christian? "Turn the other cheek" is exactly what Jesus preached. The only way to stop the cycle of violence is to carry a shield, not a sword.
3
Extremists exist in every grouping of people. The government needs to do a better job of protecting Buddhists, Christian and Muslims from extremists.
8
@K. H.
In this case, the government could have done a better job, but an all powerful government is not the answer. Each group needs to stand up to, denounce, out, and crush any violent extremists within their own group.
2
I hope Sri Lanka's Christians remember the message of Jesus Christ is
(Matthew 5) "38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well."
and
(Luke 6) 27 “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."
and from the Cross where Jesus was tortured and put to death
(Luke 23) 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
There is not much room for misinterpreting these verses attributed to Jesus Christ. When Christians have put these into practice, they have made the world a better place for everyone (thy kingdom come). When they have not, Christianity has suffered.
13
It's wrong and unfair. Because some people did something innocent Muslims shouldn't be discriminated and persecuted.
17
@areader, did you say, "some people did something" on purpose?
8
@Sue,
What's wrong with my words?
2