Govt. relocates attacked mosque; keeps heavy military presence to deter clashes
Tuesday, 13 August 2013 01:08
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By Uditha Jayasinghe
Officials began removing an old bo tree at the old mosque to make way for the relocation of the attacked mosque surrounded by a heavy Army and Police presence yesterday, who kept a wary eye on residents.
Grandpass, where the attack took place, is a low income area where Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils have lived peacefully for decades. However, the area is now camouflaged under a tense Police, Army and Special Task Force commando presence after a mosque was attacked on Saturday night during sunset prayers.
Eyewitnesses claim that the group was led by Buddhist priests. Incensed Muslim youth also took to the streets on Sunday night, prompting the Police to impose curfew till 7 a.m. on Monday morning.
This was the second consecutive night that the area was placed under curfew.
Even with the curfew lifted, two Army trucks and several Police jeeps along with a water cannon were parked near the mosque when Daily FT reporters visited the site. A heavy sprinkling of Army and Police officers with the former carrying guns led the way inside the small lane where an estimated 400 Muslim families lived and prayed.
On Monday morning Buddhist priests were chanting prayers before the bo tree was cut down by municipal authorities as residents watched. Sri Lanka Telecom employees were readying to remove telephone and power lines as the massive tree loomed over several houses lined up underneath it.
This was all in accordance with decisions made at a hastily called high-level meeting on Sunday night where Sinhalese and Muslim political and religious representatives agreed that the Sri Lankan Government should return the old Molawatte mosque to Muslim devotees and give permission for an old bo tree to be cut down to make space for its expansion.
Both the old and new mosques are just a few metres apart. The Buddhasasana and Religious Affairs Ministry also released an official notification giving the nod for the old mosque to be returned.
“The plot of land at No. 166 Swarna Chaithya Road in Colombo 14 has been taken under the Urban Development Authority (UDA) and it has been agreed that the mosque would be moved to the land at No. 158 Swarna Chaithya Road, Colombo 14,” said the letter issued by Secretary M.K.B Dissanayke.
However, residents pointed out that the mosque now is near several Sinhalese Buddhist houses whereas earlier it was in the midst of the Muslim community.
“There were no problems before. We all lived together peacefully. Then about a month ago complaints were made that the mosque was built illegally and it was asked to be removed. We didn’t know that it was illegal; the mosque was donated land by one of our neighbours and a new place of worship was built,” resident M. Nizam told the Daily FT, pointing out the gates and windows that had been broken during the melee.
The as yet unidentified group had attacked the three-storeyed mosque during prayer time on Saturday night by throwing stones. Several houses and vehicles parked adjacent to the mosque, located in the Grandpass area of Colombo, were also damaged by the mob.
Local media reports noted that at least a dozen people including two Policemen had been injured in the attack.
A Police curfew was imposed on Saturday and Sunday night after the incident with heavy Police and Special Forces security provided to the site.
“The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is conducting investigations,” Police Spokesman Buddhika Siriwardena told the Daily FT.
The US Government on Sunday expressed concern over the attack and called for an end to religion-based violence. This spate of violence provoked an unusually stern response from Muslim Ministers in the ruling coalition led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who issued a scathing statement, slamming the Government’s “lukewarm and ineffective” measures to curb anti-Muslim violence that they claimed had strengthened extremist groups spreading chaos in the country.
The Ministers, who also wrote a strong letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, demanded that the Government take action to prosecute and punish those acting against national unity.
