What happened in Pothupitiya
The clash started on May 5 on the border between a Muslim and Sinhala settlement in Pothupitiya, a coastal village. Locals insist it broke out over longstanding tensions about a hut, but escalated into an ethnic riot.
Around 1pm on May 5, a group of young Sinhala men got drunk in a village tavern. Inside a hut on the beach another group of men were playing draughts. Adjoining was their three-wheeler park.
This hut has been a problem for a while, said Nirasha, who owns a small grocery store on the border. “It’s an unauthorised structure built with Muslim political patronage, and unwanted things were happening there throughout the night,” she claimed.
But the clash on Sunday was triggered by the inebriated men. They walked up and down a few times, shouting “ISIS” and making derogatory remarks. This was despite there also being some Sinhalese men in the hut playing draughts at the time, according to a woman who lives in a house on the beach. Then, unexpectedly, one of the drunken men took up the draughts board and landed it on the head of a Muslim man in the hut before they all ran back towards the Muslim settlement. Mohamed Farook Shiyam Mohamed, 36, was in his minimart, which is also on the beachfront. There have been tensions over his building, too. The Sinhalese claim it was built illegally on Coast Conservation Department land - like the hut - with the support of a local politician named Harees.
Farook is Harees’s nephew. He heard the fight break out and called his uncle. Nirasha and others agree that measures were quickly taken to settle the brawl. “It was on the ‘shape side’,” said Farook.
But, then, the rocks started flying. There is no consensus on where they came from first. The Muslims say they were flung from the Sinhala side. The Sinhalese claim the opposite. Some shattered the window panes of Farook’s shop. People from other areas of Negombo rapidly started streaming towards Pothupitiya, wielding poles and sharp implements. Muslim shops in other streets were also targeted. Some remain closed.
“I am from this area and I know what has been going on,” said Nirasha, 49. “There were problems for a long time over these unauthorised structures and the three-wheeler park. The Sinhalese felt there were unwanted activities going on and there have been disputes on and off. This time, it escalated because people came from outside.”
Nirasha says if a fight breaks out in future, the outcome could be worse. That is also because, she explained, “a certain class of people live here”. “Those with greater understanding would not have become this agitated,” she said.
Farook expressed hurt. “We lived in harmony before,” he said. “Sinhalese people came to my shop and would even take loans from me. We want to live in peace. But if they come to beat us in future, we will also hit back.”