Police said 45-year-old Fauzul Amir was slashed with a sword as mobs attacked at least five mosques, causing damage and allegedly burning a Koran, in the town of Negombo, north of the capital Colombo. Amir later died in hospital.
“We are very scared that there is going to be a backlash,” Hilmy Ahamed, vice president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, told CNN in the days after the Easter Sunday attacks. “It can happen anytime.”
Army and police units were deployed to mosques and other houses of worship around Sri Lanka in the wake of the bombings, and strict curfews were also imposed, containing any immediate backlash.
As restrictions have begun to lift, however, there is evidence that the anger and frustration over the attacks, which the government has admitted to ignoring repeated warnings about, has not dissipated.
Christian leaders have urged their followers not to attack Muslims, with whom they have typically had strong relations, both religions being tiny minorities facing pressure from the Buddhist majority.
“Some parties are trying to instigate communal hatred to create religious clashes,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, said last week. “I earnestly request the Catholics not to raise a hand against the Muslims. The Muslims are not behind this incident. Those behind this attack are misguided persons who are being manipulated by international forces to realize their political aims. According to the teachings of our religion, we should not harm anyone.”
CNN’s Angus Watson contributed reporting.
Source : Nbcnewyork
