Sri Lanka issues state of emergency after killings

SRI Lanka yesterday declared a nationwide state of emergency after riots targeting Muslims left at least two people dead and homes ablaze in a hill station popular with tourists.

The government said it was imposing the extraordinary measures after police failed to curb violence in Kandy, a central district famed for its tea plantations and Buddhist relics.

Heavily-armed police commandos were deployed to restore order in Kandy after rioters defied an overnight curfew and went on the rampage.

“The government is taking all possible measures to protect the people, especially Muslims,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told parliament.

He said an inquiry had also been opened into security lapses by police that allowed mobs of Sinhalese rioters to burn mosques as well as homes and businesses belonging to Muslims.

The body of a 24-year-old Muslim man was pulled out of a burnt home yesterday. Police said two dozen people had been arrested in the wake of the riots.

The emergency measures, imposed for the first time since 2011, give authorities sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods, and deploy forces where needed.

President Maithripala Sirisena said the measures would “redress the unsatisfactory security situation prevailing in certain parts of the country.”

“The police and armed forces have been suitably empowered to deal with criminal elements in the society and urgently restore normalcy,” he said.

City Planning Minister Rauff Hakeem described the riots as a “monumental security lapse” and recommended disciplinary action against those responsible for allowing the situation to deteriorate.

Sri Lanka’s parliament yesterday issued an apology to its Muslim minority, which constitutes 10 percent of the country’s population of 21 million.

The violence in Kandy, a serene region of verdant hills frequented by tourists and pilgrims, has threatened to reignite communal tensions that have roiled Sri Lanka in recent weeks.

It is the first time in seven years that mainly Buddhist Sinhalese Sri Lanka has resorted to such a measure. The island nation was under a state of emergency for nearly three decades during the civil war.