The 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka were a series of religious riots targeting Muslims that began in the town of Ampara located in Sri Lanka on 26 February 2018, spreading to the Kandy District from 2 March until its end on 10 March 2018.
Muslim citizens, mosques, and other properties were attacked by mobs of Sinhalese Buddhists. The Government of Sri Lanka undertook a forceful crackdown on the rioting by imposing a state of emergency and deploying the Sri Lankan Armed Forces to assist the police in the affected areas. By 9 March, the riots were mostly under control. Two fatalities and ten injuries were reported among Sinhalese, Muslims, and the police. According to the police, 45 incidents of damage to houses and businesses were reported, while four places of worship were attacked. The police arrested 81 persons in connection with the rioting.
Rioting in the Kandy District began in Udispattuwa and Teldeniya, later spreading to Digana, Tennekumbura, and other surrounding areas. It all began when a truck driver of Sinhalese ethnicity was assaulted by four Muslim youths following a traffic accident. The truck driver died of his injuries four days later. In response to this, on 5 March, Sinhalese mobs began attacking Muslim properties in the region, resulting in widespread damage to property.
Groups of local Sinhalese youth organized by Buddhist monks protected mosques from attackers. Sri Lankan cricketers Mahela Jayawardena, Kumar Sangakkara, and Sanath Jayasuriya condemned the attacks, and nearly 300 mostly Sinhalese volunteers rebuilt a Muslim business in Anamaduwa. The riots were the first large-scale demonstrations of Buddhist-Muslim sectarian violence since 2014, and prompted the Government of Sri Lanka to declare a state of emergency for ten days, in addition to the police curfew already imposed on the district. The state of emergency was the first such since 2011.
Social media networks including WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram were blocked in parts of the country to prevent mobs from organizing their attacks and spreading propaganda. However, the block on social media networks was lifted after 72 hours. After three days of raids in the main town of Kandy, at least 81 people were reported to have been arrested in connection with the incident by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) of the Sri Lankan police, including the main suspect Amith Jeevan Weerasinghe. The police officers stated that the unusual situation which prevailed in the country for a few days had been brought under control, but tight security was imposed in a few parts of the nation as the predicted threats had been focused on the Muslim prayers on 9 March 2018. The riots were denounced by Buddhist monks, and many Sinhalese and Buddhist monks rallied to protect and help Muslims and Mosques during the prayers across the country. According to the government, independent observers, Muslims and Sinhalese in the area, the majority of the rioters came from other areas of Sri Lanka to carry out the riots.
The government revealed that nearly 465 houses, businesses and vehicles were destroyed and promised to compensate the families who were severely affected due to the communal violence.
A few weeks after the end of the anti-Muslim riots, new CCTV footage revealed that some police officials aided the rioters. Furthermore, politicians belonging to the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the party of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, were seen during the riots. The party claimed that they were trying to calm the rioters, while the government accused them of helping the rioters. The activity caused an investigation by the police officials. It was confirmed that the deficiencies and ineffective attitudes of the police were to be investigated and questioned by the Sri Lankan government. Officials were later arrested on charges of torching a mosque but were granted bail after it was found that the mosque was not torched.
Background Despite coexisting peacefully for the most part, many Sinhalese have a history of being suspicious of Muslims, believing that their slightly higher birth rates threaten their demographic supremacy, while others view Muslim businessmen as exploiting poor Sinhalese. Some political analysts believe that Sinhalese extremists are trying to transfer the remaining hostility against Tamils onto the mostly Tamil-speaking Muslim population. Moreover, it is alleged that the increasing Arab influence over Sri Lankan Muslim culture in recent years including the construction of a large number of mosques financed by Arab countries and the adoption of the niqab by Muslim women which diverges from the traditional dress has increased the suspicions between the two communities.
Sri Lanka has seen several communal violence charged incidents between the majority Sinhala community and the country's Muslim minority. Ampara District has experienced tensions since 2017, with Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forced conversions and vandalizing Buddhist archaeological sites.
The recent communal violence in Kandy is the first since the Black July violence which occurred in 1983 between Tamils and Sinhalese Buddhists. This violence is also the first time such communal violence has occurred between Muslims and Buddhists in the district of Kandy since the 1915 Ceylonese riots which were incited by the British administration.
Riots and Violence Ampara An aggressive mob had openly ignited attacks on several shops in the surrounding area of Ampara. Hotels in the vicinity of the mosque were also attacked by the mobs, with the police unable to bring the situation under control. The Special Task Force (STF) and police reinforcements were then dispatched from nearby police stations which dispersed the mobs.
Areas with larger Muslim populations in Maruthamunai, Sammanthurai, Akkaraipattu, Addalaichenai and Kalmunai in Ampara District were conducting Hartals, as a response against the anti-Muslim riots. The protests resulted in 8 buses being damaged. 31 Muslims were arrested who were damaging public property and released after a warning.
Kandy The first signs of violence were reported from Udispattuwa on the night of 2 March as the body of a victim of Buddhist-targeted violence was being taken to Ambala, groups set tires alight on the road as a sign of protest against the killing; the police, anticipating violence, deployed 1000 Special Task Force personnel in and around the area, encompassing Moragahamula, Udispattuwa, Teldeniya and Ambagahalanda. Despite these efforts, two Muslim-owned shops in Moragahamula were subjected to arson on the night of 4 March. 28 suspects were later arrested for their involvement in the fires. General disorderly behavior and violence associated with the killing by the residents of Teldeniya and outlying areas were also reported.
The uproar began to spread to Digana by the morning of 5 March, when a large mob converged on the town, setting fire to a mosque, shops and houses. In response, police used tear gas and water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowd, which saw retaliation from the mob who threw various projectiles, while the violence spread to more residences, shops and nearby vehicles. Traffic along the A26 was forced to a halt, and by 3 PM, the police requested the support of the Sri Lanka Army, which deployed 200 troops from the Sinha Regiment base in Digana in the evening. The police then followed up by declaring a district-wide curfew in Kandy until 6 AM on 6 March; the same curfew was re-imposed on Teldeniya and Pallekele at 8 PM on 6 March, after the body of a 24-year-old Muslim male was discovered within the remains of a shop in Digana. By the evening of 6 March, a total of 4 mosques, 37 houses, 46 shops and 35 vehicles were damaged or destroyed as a result of the riots in both Digana and other locations in the Kandy District; 1 confirmed fatality was reported.
On the night of 6 March, mobs were seen in Lewella and Balagolla, moving towards Tennekumbura and the general direction of Kandy. Soon after, an arson attack on a mosque in Tennekumbura was reported. Reports noted that on this day a Buddhist man had died after being beaten by a group of Muslim men who were upset over a traffic violation. According to sources, At 2 PM on 22 February 2018, a Sinhalese lorry driver from Ambala, Medamahanuwara was assaulted by four Muslim youths in Karaliyadda, Teldeniya. The victim was admitted to the intensive care unit of the National Hospital (Teaching Hospital) Kandy and died on the night of 2 March from his injuries. The victim's assistant (also traveling in the lorry) was assaulted, admitted to the hospital, and later discharged after treatment.
The motive behind the attack has not been established. Some reports state it stemmed from a road accident where the trucker had damaged the wing mirror of an auto rickshaw the assailants had been travelling in while attempting to overtake it; all four suspects were reported to have been intoxicated. The suspects were arrested by the police on the day of the attack and remanded until 7 March. High ambulance activity was reported from Menikhinna, and 7 people were arrested there for disorderly behavior and for causing unrest. Three police officers were injured. Curfew imposed on the evening of 6 March was lifted briefly in the morning of 7 March but was soon re-imposed. 7 March also saw Muslim residents of Mullegama barricading themselves inside a local mosque after a Sinhalese mob attacked their homes alleging theft of a donation box from a nearby Buddhist temple; the Muslims accused the police of inaction in the face of the mobs. One Sinhalese male was reported to have died and another was injured in an explosion of unknown origin in the course of the Mullegama attacks. Some media reported that his injuries were sustained in an attack carried out by Muslim men. As a reaction to a statement made by a Buddhist monk at the Mullegama temple, a projectile attack against his temple was carried out by Muslims earlier in the day.
Katugastota also saw anti-Muslim violence and arson, while a mob assembled in the Ambatanna town center after a rumor that a temple was being attacked. The mob then proceeded to damage property and engaged in rioting.
Other districts Small incidents were reported in other districts against Muslims. A tire was burned in front of a mosque in Medina Nagar, Vavuniya. However, the police and army controlled the situation and protected the mosque. Some shops belonging to Muslims were damaged and some shop workers were assaulted in Ambatenna, Matale. A grenade blast left one dead. The incident occurred despite a ban on social media networks designed to reduce bloodshed.
Response Sri Lankan police arrested at least 81 rioters including Amith Jeevan Weerasinghe, the leader of the Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist Mahason Balakaya who is believed to be the leading figure among the rioters alongside Suredha Suraweera who was also arrested. Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thera was also seen alongside Amith during the riot and also demanded the release of those arrested by the police but Thera was not arrested. Sumanarathana Thera is known for his active participation in violence against Tamils and Muslims. Further, the main suspects were brought to Colombo for further enquiries.
A panel of three retired judges was appointed by the Sri Lankan President to probe into the anti-Muslim riots to inquire into the incidents which took place in areas such as Digana and Teldeniya.