Wake up, JVP tells Govt., before country heads towards another bloodbath

Amidst a surge of attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned business establishments across the country, in the past few weeks, the JVP urged the government to awaken from its slumber and arrest the spiralling number of racial and communal acts of violence.

“The government should have acted fast to nip this in the bud but what it is displaying instead is an impotent and ineffectual attitude to this dangerous situation which has the ability to push the country towards another bloodbath,” JVP Leader MP Anura Kumara Dissanayaka told Parliament on Wednesday.

He said that people are suspicious about the inaction on the part of the government on this issue and wondering if, in the face of growing social and economic problems, it is trying to make use of these violent incidents to divert the mounting public displeasure against it,” MP Dissanayaka said.

Making a special statement in Parliament, the JVP MP, who is also the Chief Opposition Whip, said that a majority in the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities abhor violence and none wants to see the country being pushed towards communal disharmony. “We all have had enough of this problem. It is a certainty that only a tiny fraction among the communities engage in violence. They are driven by various agendas and motivations. It is the responsibility of the government to act fast and prevent the country being pushed towards such groups,” he said.

“It is clear that the primary objective of the rabble rousers is to create a clash between the Sinhala and Muslim communities,” the JVP MP said.

He added that the hesitancy on the part of the government to intervene in cases such as the deforestation in Wilpattu, as well as destruction of places of archaeological importance in the East has led to a situation where other organisations have emerged as the guardians of such places and in turn provoked people. If the government does not intervene effectively, it could lead to a mass uprising, and people would take the law into their own hands, he said.

“Muslim people today live in fear. A fear psychosis has overtaken them. Every Muslim family lives in fear wondering when and where the next attack would be. The government should take action to relieve them of their fear,” he added.

EPDP Leader Douglas Devananda also spoke on the issue and urged the Government to intervene immediately to prevent further incidents.

Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake said Police are investigating the reported incidents and have asked for more time to complete their findings and submit a report.

He said the government regrets the unfortunate incidents that have taken place. "There has been a weakness in implementing the law as soon as those incidents happened. We have reiterated to the police that the law should be implemented to the letter and that those responsible for the crimes should be dealt with. We have to stop hate speech. We also accept that peace and maintenance of law and order is of paramount importance,” he said.

Meanwhile Mahaweli Development and Environment Deputy Minister Anuradha Jayaratne said that the government had taken action to rectify the situation in Wilpattu following the encroachment by several families. With regard to sites of archaeological importance, he said the government has identified the sites in the East. "There had been considerable damage to those sites owing to the war. Surveys were carried out from 2013 to 2017 and 430 places of archaeological importance have been identified. Four teams of experts are surveying the area,” he said.

Urban Development, Water Supply and Drainage Minister Rauff Hakeem said that political parties representing the people in the North and East have problems with regard to the alleged incidents of land encroachment and damage done to the sites of archaeological importance. “A Parliamentary Select Committee should be appointed to look into these issues,” he said.