SRI LANKA DECLARES EMERGENCY
Government can now search, arrest people without warrant
Colombo, March 6: Sri Lanka on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for 10 days to rein in the spread of communal violence between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims in the country’s scenic Kandy district that left two persons dead and damaged several mosques and homes.
Violence, triggered by the death of a Sinhalese man at the hands of a mob last week, erupted on Monday in the Theldeniya area of the central hill district popular with tourists.
The government sent troops and elite police commandoes to Kandy to restore order and enforce the curfew.
President Maithripala Sirisena and the Cabinet decided to declare a state of emergency following the violence in some parts of the country, minister of social empowerment S.B. Dissanayake said.
Muslims claimed that around 10 mosques, 75 shops and 32 houses belonging to the minority community were damaged in the attacks by the Sinhalese Buddhists, forcing police to fire tear gas shells and impose an overnight curfew.
Colombo, March 6: Sri Lanka on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for 10 days to rein in the spread of communal violence between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims in the country’s scenic Kandy district that left two persons dead and damaged several mosques and homes.
The situation, however, remained tense in part of Kandy, home to famous tea plantations and Buddhist relics, after charred remains of a Muslim man was recovered on Tuesday from a burnt building.
Fresh curfew was imposed on Tuesday and heavily-armed police commandos of special task force were deployed in Theldeniya and Pallekele areas of Kandy after rioters disobeyed an overnight curfew and went on a rampage.
This will be the first time since August 2011, that a state of emergency will be in force in the Indian Ocean’s island nation. The state of emergency allows the deployment troops on the street, search and arrest people without a warrant.
President Sirisena said stern action would be taken against anyone who spreads violence in the country.
Making a special statement over the inter-communal clashes, he assured action against the elements which spread violence at a time when the government was taking measures to establish political stability, peace among communities and reconciliation in the country. —