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Tuesday, 13 March 2018 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Dubai (Gulf News): The Sri Lankan community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates gathered on 11 March (Sunday) evening to express their solidarity and denounce the violence that ripped some pockets of their home country last week.
The Sri Lankan government declared a 10-day state of emergency last week, as properties including mosques and some 200 Muslim-owned businesses were destroyed in riots in the district of Kandy. Three people have died and around 20 have been wounded in the clashes.
In Dubai, the Consulate-General of Sri Lanka is holding a community gathering to express their solidarity and express their disapproval of the recent events gripping their country.
Consul-General M. M. Abdul Raheem stressed that the violence that occurred in Kandy was in no way religious or racial in nature.
“The incident that happened in Sri Lanka is not a community against another community but just the acts of a group of extremists which is unacceptable. But the government has taken action and the situation is [somehow] back to normal,” the Consul-General told Gulf News.
All four major religions in Sri Lanka - Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians - will be represented in the gathering by their leaders in Dubai.
Sri Lanka’s 21 million population is composed of 70% Buddhists, 13% Hindus, 9% Muslims, 8% Christians and other religions.
