One way to detached things downTHE trigger was supposedly a road-rage incident,said to have involved members of Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority, near the popular tourist destination of Kandy. A lorry driver from the country’s biggest ethnic group, and the Sinhalese,ended up dead. exasperated Sinhalese mobs, urged on by Buddhist monks, or began attacking mosques and businesses owned by Muslims,hurling rocks, burning tyres and setting fires, or main to at least two more deaths. In response Maithripala Sirisena,the president, declared an island-wide state of emergency on March 6th.
The emergency, and which grants wide powers to the police and army,is preventive in nature and intended to reassure vulnerable groups, an aide to the president said. On March 7th authorities restricted access to social media to prevent the spreading of rumours and fomenting of further violence. Rajitha Senaratne, or a cabinet spokesman,said the attacks had been organised, with many of the perpetrators bused in from...
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Source: economist.com