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Colombo: Sri Lanka has declared a state of Emergency for 10 days to rein in the spread of communal violence, a government spokesman said on Tuesday, a day after Buddhists and Muslims clashed in the Indian Ocean island’s central district of Kandy. US embassy called for quick action against perpetrators, religious minorities and conclusion of emergency swiftly [caption id=“attachment_4312471” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. AP[/caption] Tension has been growing between the two communities in Sri Lanka over the past year, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalising Buddhist archaeological sites. Some Buddhist nationalists have also protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar, where Buddhist nationalism has also been on the rise. “At a special Cabinet meeting, it was decided to declare a state of Emergency for 10 days to prevent the spread of communal riots to other parts of the country,” the spokesman, Dayasiri Jayasekara, told Reuters. “It was also decided to take stern action against people who are instigating violence through Facebook,” he added, referring to postings on social media. The government sent troops and elite police to Kandy after a mob set fire to a Muslim-owned shop, imposing a curfew there on Monday to prevent clashes between majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Muslims. Also, follow
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Sri Lanka declares Emergency updates: US embassy calls for quick action against perpetrators, end to Emergency
Sri Lanka has declared a state of Emergency for 10 days to rein in the spread of communal violence, a government spokesman said on Tuesday, a day after Buddhists and Muslims clashed in the Indian Ocean island’s central district of Kandy.
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‘President ordered security forces & police to enforce law and order’
Heavy deployment outside Colombo’s Premadasa stadium
Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe on Twitter
Turmoil in Sri Lanka
According to sources, the president has ordered the CID team to head to Kandy to investigate the communal clash. Two hundred special task force personnel have been deployed on ground to control the situation, along with 200 army troops and 1000 police personnel.
Curfew has been imposed in a few places across Kandy: Teldeniya and Pallekale. The situation was triggered after a Sinhalese man allegedly beaten up by a group of Muslim men last week succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. The clash was triggered by an alleged altercation over road rage. Violence broke out in Teldeniya and then spread to Digana town. Shops were set afire and a mosque was torched on Sunday night and Monday this week.
In another separate incident last week in Ampara, it was alleged that a restaurant was mixing sterilising medicine with food. A religious undertone was given to that incident. It was alleged that the organised groups carried out the violence in both incidents. They are said to have used social media to organise their activities. The government is trying to control the situation by imposing state of Emergency.
Inputs by Chathuri Dissanayake/101Reporters.
First time Emergency imposed since 2011
This is the first time Emergency has imposed in Sri Lanka since 2011. Police say heavily armed commandos have been deployed since afternoon. Everyone awaiting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s statement in parliament
Video courtesy Sri Lankan citizen journalism website Groundviews
Video courtesy Sri Lankan citizen journalism website Groundviews
Video courtesy Sri Lankan citizen journalism website Groundviews
BCCI acting president CK Khanna
Former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa calls for calm
Cricket statistician Rajneesh Gupta on Twitter
Sri Lankan politician Namal Rajapaksa criticises govt on Twitter
Namal Rajapaksa, son of former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa and a member of parliament took to Twitter to criticise the government
Emergency in Sri Lanka, curfew in Kandy
BCCI: India’s T20 tri-series to go on
BCCI acting president CK Khanna told PTI: “The Indian cricket board is in constant touch with the Sri Lankan government authorities. The security is foolproof and we have been assured that there is no threat to the tournament. So the Indian team, as of now, will be playing the tournament.”
The government decision to declare Emergency came after a Buddhist man was killed and a mob set fire to a Muslim-owned shop. In Sri Lanka, of its 21 million population, Buddhists Sinhalese make up nearly 75 percent, 13 percent of the population are Hindus while Muslims comprise around 10 percent.
Members of Buddhist community protest outside Kandy police station
Members of Buddhist community protest outside Kandy police station
Latest outbreak of violence
In February, five people were wounded and several shops and a mosque damaged in a clash between majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Muslims. In June 2014, at least 40 people were injured and mosques and shops were damaged in clashes that started at a protest march led by hardline Buddhist group Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or the “Buddhist power force”.
‘President will decide if Emergency can be extended’
President Maithripala Sirisena and the Cabinet today decided to declare a state of Emergency for 10 days following the violence prevailed in some parts of the country, Minister of Social Empowerment S B Dissanayake said.
A Gazette notification would be issued right away, he told reporters outside the President’s Secretariat, where the Cabinet meeting was held.
“There are allegations that the law was not implemented to minimise the impact of these tense situations. Now, the police and army personnel had been deployed to respective areas to beef up security,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror.
Dissanayake said the president could decide at the end of the 10 days, whether to extend the state of Emergency.
BCCI reacts to Emergency being imposed in Sri Lanka
Maithripala Sirisena government imposes 10-day state of Emergency
A day after sending police and military into the district of Kandy — and imposing a curfew there to prevent communal clashes, the Maithripala Sirisena government has declared a nationwide 10-day-long state of emergency. The Indian cricket team is expected to face Sri Lanka in the first match of the triangular Nidahas Trophy — to mark 70 years of Sri Lankan Independence — that also features Bangladesh at 7 pm (IST) at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium.