Thursday 11 July 2019

A Plea For Peace and Unity in Sri Lanka



Sri Lanka sadly witnessed devastating terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday this year in hotels &
churches which killed over 250 people and injured over 500 individuals. As the country was
recovering from this tragedy, two weeks later racist individuals in response to the Easter Sunday
attacks terrorised Muslim communities in many towns across Western Sri Lanka which resulted in
homes, businesses & mosques damaged and one person murdered. The fact that the terrorists
behind the Easter Sunday attacks are Muslim has led to an emergence of racism against the Muslim
community which I believe is bad for the country. In this article, I’m making a plea for peace and
unity in Sri Lanka which is needed right now. 


It is common for individuals to boycott Muslim owned shops and businesses at the moment. I do not
agree with this action for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is falsely associating the actions of the
terrorists with the whole Muslim community. It is probably a minority of Muslims who support the
actions of the terrorists. This can alienate Sri Lankan Muslims from Sri Lankan society and result in
some Muslims becoming radicalised, thus being bad for national security. Secondly, it is being
disrespectful to both fellow Sri Lankans and Muslims. Thirdly, it is doing damage to the economy as
the employers and employees of those companies go through financial difficulty as a result of the
boycotts. In many cases, it is not only Muslims who are employed by these businesses. The families
of the employers & employees suffer as a result of this.


I think that boycoting Muslim owned businesses and shops as well as racism against Muslims is
playing into the hands of terrorists. This is the kind of behaviour that terrorists want. They want the
other communities to be hateful and do bad things to the Muslim community to further their deeply
deranged cause as a recruitment tactic. When it comes to the economic damage from the Easter
Sunday attacks, they are adding to the already prevalent economic issues facing the country.
Boycotting these businesses and shops causes even more economic damage to the country. I’m
sure that those who are involved in these boycotts would feel distressed, disappointed and
saddened by negative news of the economy. I plea with you not to cause more negative news to Sri
Lanka’s economy. The economic problems of these shops and businesses will likely further extend
to the country as a whole. It could make the already difficult cost of living issues get worse. No one
wants to hear of Sri Lanka experiencing negative economic growth. 


If you’re engaged in boycotts, think back to the kind of people these Muslim owners you previously
interacted with were like. Think logically about how they compare with extremists & terrorists based
on how they behaved and what they did. Recall the positive and good memories of them, e.g. if
there were acts of kindness, good quality of service, discounts they gave you etc. If you know of an
instance of them speaking against extremism and/or terrorism in their own community/religion, recall
those remarks and think about it. 

I was focusing mainly on shop and business boycotts, but I what I say does apply to the problem of
racism, terrorism, extremism and hatred in Sri Lanka right now. Work to make Sri Lanka the country
you want it to be. In the same way that negative actions by a group of people can disrupt society,
positive actions by a group of people can enrich society. Think of things you can do to make Sri
Lanka more safer, secure, united, tolerant among many other improvements needed for the country.