Anti-Muslim violence is systematic pogrom, not communal riot

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 June 2014, 21:09 GMT]
After waging war against the nation of Eezham Tamils, there is a clear, systematic pattern of violence against the Muslims in the island of Sri Lanka during the last two years, said the State president of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), Mr KKSM Tehlan Baqavi, in an exclusive interview to TamilNet this week. The Tamil Nadu politician of the pan-Indian Muslim political party urged the world to pay particular attention that the Buddhist extremist Bodu Bala Sena is a creation of the SL military system led by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. There is a clear nexus between the military and the extremist force, he said. There is also a serious question why the pogrom is getting instigated at this juncture, despite the global focus on the records of the SL State, he said.





There is a clear pattern in the attacks on mosques, chauvinistic projects against the practice of Islamic laws and cultural practices of Muslims, Mr Baqavi said claiming that the Muslims in the island also constitute a distinct nation, next to the Eezham Tamils, who have been facing the brunt of the genocidal onslaught by the Sinhala Buddhist State system for decades.

Apart from the interpretation that this is a next step of the long-term genocidal project, this could also be a manouvering technique to divert the focus away from the grave crime of genocide against the larger nation of Eezham Tamils, he said. We already see how and where the responses are coming from, he said.

The world should perceive the role of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s military and the Sinhala Buddhist genocidal project now targeting Muslims. The anti-Muslim pogroms are early warning of the next stage in the genocidal project of the extremist Sinhala Buddhist agenda, which dreams of a Sinhalicized Buddhicised unitary State in the island, Mr Baqalavi said.

“We condemn the media that denote the violence as communal violence as if Muslims were also inciting violence. Muslims have not attacked the Sinhalese. It is only a one-sided systematic violence, which is a State-sponsored pogrom, he said.

Mr Baqavi urged the secular forces and Tamil nationalist forces in India to stand united with the Islamic organisations in their democratic struggle against the genocidal intent of the Sri Lankan State.

“We have met the High Commissioner of Ilangkai and have placed our strongest condemnation,” he further said.

Tehlan Baqavi’s statement comes after Muslims and Tamil activists in Tamil Nadu attempted to lay siege to the SL Deputy Mission in Chennai.

Tamil Nadu Sources say that is SDPI planning to give a memorandum to the UN office condemning the UN for its passivity in the anti-Muslim pogrom in the island.

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