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print version. . . While the numbers do provide some sense of the scale of the violence, it is important to make distinctions in terms of the nature of violence in each of these incidents. The majority of these cases are against Christian places of worship, mostly against non-traditional churches and there are also a number of attacks on Muslim places of worship. The 65 attacks can be categorized into three main types: inter-communal attacks, intra-religious violence, and robbery.
In terms of inter-communal attacks the bulk of incidents where perpetrators have been identified, are instances of Sinhala Buddhist attacks on other religious communities’ places of worship. While in the majority of incidents the perpetrators have not been prosecuted and in a number of cases are unidentified, in others there are allegations against groups and individuals who are believed to be responsible. A significant proportion of the attacks incidents relating to Buddhist and Hindu religious places are cases of theft and vandalism. There have also been several incidents of intra-religious violence between denominations of all the religious communities apart from the Hindu community.
While a number of the incidents appear to be isolated, in a number of cases it is evident that the attacks on an individual religious place is sometimes preceded by other forms of violence, threats and intimidation against a religious community in a specific area. The report attempts to include some of these incidents, including violence against clergy, protests against religious practices and hate speech, in order to provide a context to the attacks. The continuing acts of violence against places of religious worship coupled with a culture of intolerance are threatening to undermine efforts to consolidate peace, emphasising the need for immediate action by all actors, especially the Government.
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- Attacks on Places of Religious Worship in Post-†War Sri Lanka
- Centre For Policy Alternatives
March 2013
