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.