A Sri Lankan police officer stands guard while colleagues inspect a vehicle at a checkpoint in Colombo on March 8. (Photo by AFP)
A new police unit tasked with "national reconciliation" and defusing sectarian tensions will have a tough task in Sri Lanka.
Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe announced the special police on Nov. 18. The unit will tackle people who harm religious coexistence and national reconciliation.
Trincomalee Bishop Noel Emmanuel said that reconciliation was important but questioned the effectiveness of the new police unit. "Why should the police take this initiative?" he said.
He was skeptical because the police and army often turn a blind eye to Buddhist extremism, Bishop Emmanuel said.
One example was an incident in Batticaloa district on Nov. 12 when a Buddhist monk, enraged at a Tamil official serving court sentences to Sinhalese residents, called him a "Tamil dog" and threatened to kill him. The police looked on and did nothing.
That particular monk was "not behaving like a religious leader," Bishop Emmanuel said, adding that his home diocese has faced numerous instances of tension between religious groups instigated by Buddhist monks.
Buddhism is the national religion and Buddhist monks enjoy a special place in society. So police tend to act with restraint when dealing with complaints against them. They are afraid that if they were to arrest monks the backlash from the majority Sinhalese population could be serious.
The Minister for Coexistence and Official Languages, Mano Ganesan said that the Nov. 12 incident could be perceived as an isolated case and not indicative of a general sectarian malaise.
The bishop said that Buddhist monks had erected Buddha statues in areas where there were no Buddhists residing with the protection of the armed forces. The actions are known to disturb the sentiments of the local Hindu community but it goes ahead anyway.
Politicians in these areas have been unable to stop the statues being erected. Again, they are scared to go against the monks, according to Bishop Emmanuel.
The people are too scared to challenge these issues openly but they have expressed their anxiety to me, the prelate said.
Other reactions
The Buddhist community also had mixed reactions. Fundamentalist Buddhists, known as the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) said at a press conference on Nov. 22 that the new police unit was not welcome.
However, Ven. Dambara Amila, a Buddhist monk who has been instrumental in fighting against radical groups like the BBS told ucanews.com that he thought the new unit would be "a good thing."
The National Peace Council, an independent organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflicts said that tensions have increased after a lull that followed the election of the current government.
"Most notably in the north and east, there are clashes being reported on inter-religious grounds," said the National Peace Council in a statement on Nov.25.
"There are many incidents of religious clergy getting involved in expansionist projects, such as religious conversions, destruction of ancient sites or building places of worship in areas where they are less numerous," the statement added.