aluthgama report final

attacks against the Sinhalese were limited to these six houses alone while the other Sinhala
houses close by were untouched
The fact that the government responded within a week by sending the military in for
rebuilding, and the fact that rebuilding efforts are continuing sends a positive message to the
Muslim community that the government is committed in some way to reversing the
consequences of the incident. However, the limited progress with regards to finding and
prosecuting the perpetrators of the crimes, the fact that those inciting hatred are still at large,
and seem to be continuing their work, the fact that the government maintained a limited
account of events sends the message to reassure racist and violent segments of society that
they got away with criminal acts.
The presence of the military for clearing and rebuilding purposes is having a significant
impact on communities in the area. The fact that the government pledged a certain amount of
money and the military personnel are already there engaging in rebuilding activities is
somewhat hopeful. While some expressed concern for such a large military presence in the
area, others had developed good relations with the military. Some families were providing
cooking pots and stoves for the military and permission to use their houses while building
was ongoing. The military in Adhikarigoda had also shown flexibility with regards to the
building process by moving walls, and doing minor changes to the original plan. This attitude
prompted one government official to actually call this a “blessing in disguise” and that many
might end up with houses that were better built than the original. 142
The lack of any mechanism for an independent inquiry into the events remains a problem and
indicates that the government is not interested in establishing any credible account of what
happened during those two days.
The government in offering explanations for the violence that frame Muslims as instigators of
the large scale violence perpetrated against them contributed to the further escalation of anti
Muslim sentiment and also to the deterioration of relations between the Muslim and Sinhala
communities. The dominant explanations sought to ensure that the Sinhala communities were
not upset or blamed for what happened in anyway. This reinforced the hierarchical
positioning of ethnic communities, which were largely internalized by both communities. It
is extremely unfortunate that even opposition political parties have failed to send any strong
messages to counter this. Although all groups speak of the need to ensure ‘equality’ between
different groups, there is an implicit understanding that this equality is within a framework
that accepts Sinhala superiority.
One of the most unfortunate consequences from the incidents is the breakdown of relations
between Sinhala and Muslim neighbours in the area. We met people who were hopeful that
142 Needless to say the research team did not concur with this statement!
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