No Country for Muslims

Sri Lanka, often called the «tear of India,» is an important country in the Indian Ocean for many reasons. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from across the world visit it, which boosts its economy. While the world mostly knows Sri Lanka for its economic crunch and subsequent political crisis, which worsened after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the island nation also faces social issues, as the country has seen occasional eruptions of communal violence.

Sri Lanka is a diverse country. Sinhalese Buddhists make up about 75 percent of the country’s total population, while Tamils constitute about 12 percent, and Muslims make up less than 10 percent, which translates into 2 million people. While Buddhists form the majority, they have often found themselves at odds with other ethnicities, such as Tamils and particularly Muslims.

With the successful conduct of elections in Sri Lanka in late 2024, a new government under the leadership of Anura Kumara Dissanayake has assumed power. President Anura K. Dissanayake, a leftist, is passionate about bringing Sri Lanka out of this economic morass. While he is confident about dealing with economic woes, the question arises: can he put an end to communal violence once and for all? Can Muslims find new ways of engaging with the new political leadership to get their concerns addressed?

Before discussing these questions further, it is apt to shed some light on the historical background of the issue. Historically, Muslims trace their origins back to early Arab settlements when Arabs traveled to Sri Lanka for trade in the 8th century AD. They have lived there since then. Over the centuries, there has been an element of mutual coexistence and harmony between different communities. However, tensions began to rise in the 20th century when nationalism was gaining ground worldwide.

As the world was rapidly transforming into nation-states, the wave of nationalism also swept across Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. For instance, anti-Muslim riots erupted in 1915 when Sinhalese Buddhists targeted Muslims. These events came to be known as the 1915 Pogrom. While anti-Muslim sentiment existed, it remained suppressed until Sri Lanka gained independence from the British in 1948. Post-independence, communal violence against Muslims intensified, and they increasingly became targets.

Anti-Muslim sentiment resurfaced in Sri Lanka after the Easter bombings in 2019 when hardline Islamic State loyalists targeted four hotels and three churches in Colombo, resulting in the deaths of 260 people, including five American nationals. Consequently, Muslims began to be associated with terrorism. Another controversy arose during the COVID-19 pandemic when Muslims were not allowed to bury their loved ones who had succumbed to the virus. This sparked outrage, and international human rights watchdogs took notice. In 2024, after four years, the Sri Lankan government finally acknowledged this injustice and apologized to the Muslim community for the forced cremation.

Soon after the Easter bombings, another controversy emerged regarding the issue of the burqa. The government decided to ban the burqa, citing national security concerns. Sarath Weerasekera, the then-public security minister, stated, “It affects our national security. In the early days, Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa. It is a sign of religious extremism that emerged recently, and we are definitely going to ban it.”