NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented development, following an attack on April 21 which killed at least 250 Christians on Easter Sunday, several mosques across Sri Lanka did not conduct special prayers on Friday, marking a first for the country where Muslims account for 9.7 percent of the total population of more than 21 million.
Some mosques which did conduct the prayers did so under a heavy security blanket while maintaining a low profile.
On Friday, after appealing for calm, President Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that the entire Muslim community cannot be held responsible for the crime of a few people.
“There is a deep sense of fear among the Muslim community,” Hilmy Ahamed, Vice President of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka, said.
“In the first couple of days, there was a genuine fear of things going out of control and Muslims being at the receiving end of the collective wrath of the society. The situation now has calmed down. But we are worried about the backlash,” Ahamed told Arab News.
For his part, he thanked the Christian Cardinal of Colombo for releasing a strong statement to drive home the point that “Muslims cannot be held responsible for the acts of few terrorists.”
“That really calmed the situation very much,” he added.
Colombo-based Ahamed said that lots of bridges needed to be built to “maintain inter-religious harmony in the country.”
“At the same time, the Muslim communities in Sri Lanka will have to address the issue of fringe extremism in society. We have decided to set up a committee in every mosque in the country to be vigilant about any nefarious activities – be it by an outsider or insider and check the radicalization of youth,” he said.
Sheikh Muiz Bukhary, a renowned Muslim preacher, concurred.
“The perpetrators of the terror attacks had Muslim names. The entire Muslim body does not want to have anything to do with these criminals so much so that we have decided not to accept their corpses in the Muslim burial ground,” he said, adding that despite the measures taken, there continues to be a certain level of “uneasiness in the society.”
“The president’s message was very assuring. We don’t want to be blamed or charged for what a small and the tiny section of the people did,” Bukhary said.
He told Arab News that “we hope that the majority of the country does not act in a xenophobic or Islamophobic way.”
Citing examples of incidents reported in the past few days following the attack, he added that looking at Muslims with suspicion, asking Muslim women to take off their hijabs or abayas at department stores, was “disturbing.” “This is going to make it difficult for us to continue to have a normal daily life,” he said.
Lawyer and civil rights activist Ali Sabry PC said this has become a catalyst for the Muslim community to remain in “a state of shock and disbelief.” “We are appalled at what has happened on Sunday. We also fear what will happen to our country,” he said.
“We fear the consequences which the Muslim community might have to face as a result of this violence. With the undercurrent of tensions already existing between the majority Buddhist community and Muslims, the terror attacks have added further uncertainty to the inter-religious relationship,” Sabry told Arab News.
He added that with messages and speeches to promote solidarity, the Sri Lankan leadership was taking a step in the right direction, but he noted that the initiative was taken a little too late, blaming the government for not acting against Muslim extremist forces despite being warned about them last year.
“We gave a list of Muslim extremists last year who were involved in the attack of a Buddhist temple and warned the government about the danger they posed, but the president did not prioritize the threat,” he said.
Abdul Wahab Mohamed Imthiyaz, a prominent Colombo-based lawyer, added that the issue doesn’t end here, with several from the community now worried about their future.
“Muslims are concerned about our future generation, how are we going to co-exist in this multi-cultural society? A tiny group of extremists, guided and exploited by geo-political interests, have created a mess in Sri Lankan society and we, as Muslims, are facing the consequences now,” Imthiyaz told Arab News, adding that several are thinking of migrating to another country.
“Some of the Muslims are now thinking of migrating. We are going to be questioned, tortured. Already a section of the majority community has started questioning our ways of life, like wearing hijab, going to mosque and all,” he said, adding that “our acceptability in society is being challenged now.”
Political analyst Ahilan Kadirgamar added that it is “a really worrying time for Sri Lanka today.”
“The development might inject some religious tension into our politics. It’s very important that all communities come together and no backlash takes place against any community,” he told Arab News.
“A new dynamic of religious tension has come into play after this attack. My worry is that there might be a mobilization of extreme religious forces in the country...and this may not be confined to only one particular group,” he said.
Don’t paint us all with the same brush, Sri Lankan Muslims plead after terror attack
Don’t paint us all with the same brush, Sri Lankan Muslims plead after terror attack
- Several mosques across Sri Lanka did not conduct Friday prayers on April 26
- President Maithripala Sirisena reiterated that the entire Muslim community cannot be held responsible for the crime of a few people
Daesh group claims attack on Sufi shrine in Afghanistan
- A local resident, who said he knew victims of the attack, said worshippers had gathered at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine on Thursday evening
KABUL: Daesh (IS-K), the terrorist group’s branch in Afghanistan, on Saturday claimed responsibility for a gun attack that left 10 people dead at a Sufi shrine in northern Baghlan province.
Taliban authorities in Kabul have repeatedly said they have defeated IS-K, but the group regularly claims responsibility for attacks, notably against Sufi or Shiite minorities, targets they consider heretical.
On Friday, interior ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani told AFP that a gunman opened fire on Sufis “taking part in a weekly ritual” at a shrine in a remote area of Nahrin district, killing 10 people.
A local resident, who said he knew victims of the attack, said worshippers had gathered at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine on Thursday evening.
They had begun a Sufi chant when “a man shot at the dozen worshippers,” he said on condition of anonymity.
“When people arrived for morning prayers, they discovered the bodies,” he added.
The UN special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, wrote on X: “Religious minorities remain under grave threat. More prevention, protection & justice needed.”
The Daesh group accuses Sufis of worshipping more than one god because of their devotion to saints.
In mid-September, the group claimed responsibility for an attack in central Afghanistan that killed 14 people who had gathered to welcome pilgrims returning from Karbala in Iraq, one of the holiest sites for Shiites.
India opposes COP29 finance deal after it is adopted
BAKU: India strongly objected to a climate finance deal agreed at the United Nations COP29 summit on Sunday, but their objection was raised after the deal was formally adopted by consensus.
“I regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. This, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. Therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document,” Indian delegation representative Chandni Raina told the closing plenary session of the summit.
UN climate chief says ‘no time for victory laps’ after COP29 deal
BAKU, Azerbaijan: UN climate chief Simon Stiell on Sunday said it was “no time for victory laps” after nations at COP29 in Azerbaijan agreed a bitterly negotiated finance deal.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps,” Stiell said in a statement.
Mass rape trial sparks demonstrations across France
- Police sources said 35,000 people had turned out across the country, while organizers put the figure at 100,000
PARIS: Tens of thousands demonstrated in major French cities Saturday against violence targeting women, as campaigners push for the country to learn from a mass rape trial that has shocked the public.
The prosecution in the southern city Avignon is in its final stages for 51 men, including one who drugged his wife over the course of a decade and dozens of others charged with accepting his invitations to abuse her at their home.
Out on the street, “the more of us there are, the more visible we are, this is everyone’s business, not just women,” said Peggy Plou, an elected official from the Indre-et-Loire region in western France who had made the trip to Paris.
Thousands of people marched in the capital alone, mostly women but including some children and men. Police put the turnout there at 12,500, while organizers said 80,000.
Police sources said 35,000 people had turned out across the country, while organizers put the figure at 100,000.
Hundreds also turned out in other major cities including Marseille in the south, Lille in the northeast and Rennes in the northwest. Local officials in Bordeaux, in the southwest, put the turnout there at 1,600.
Many demonstrators carried signs with variations on the slogan “Shame must switch sides,” popularised by the plaintiff in the Avignon trial, Gisele Pelicot.
She has become a feminist hero for choosing public hearings in her case rather than a trial behind closed doors, despite their painful content.
“A law about consent must be put in place very quickly. Just because someone doesn’t say something, doesn’t mean that they agree” to sexual contact, said Marie-Claire Abiker, 78, a retired nurse who marched in Paris.
France’s legal definition of rape calls it “any act of sexual penetration... by violence, constraint, threats or surprise” but includes no language about consent — a key demand of women’s rights groups especially since the MeToo movement launched in the late 2010s.
“In 2018, there were basically only women (demonstrating). Today there are, let’s say, 30 percent men. That’s really great news,” said Amy Bah, a member of the NousToutes (All of us women) feminist group protesting in Lille.
“I feel like this is my business too, we each have our role to play, especially men,” said Arnaud Garcette, 38, at the Marseille demonstration in the city’s historic port with his two children.
“We’re at the source of the problem, and at the source of the solutions too,” he added.
The demonstrations, called by more than 400 campaign groups, come two days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Monday.
Equality Minister Salima Saa has promised “concrete and effective” measures to coincide with the global day.
According to a report in Sunday’s Tribune Dimanche weekly, Prime Minister Michel Barnier will announce measures including increased training for police officers and more support for victims of domestic violence who leave their home.
The campaigners who organized Saturday’s protests are calling for more far-reaching measures, including a dedicated 2.6 billion-euro ($2.7 billion) budget and a stronger legal framework to tackle the problem.
During his first term as French president, Emmanuel Macron vowed to prioritize the cause of equality between men and women and to work to eliminate violence against women.
US reels from rain, snow as second round of bad weather approaches for Thanksgiving week
- A winter storm warning in California’s Sierra Nevada on Saturday was in effect through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph
WINDSOR, California: The US was reeling from snow and rain on Saturday with a second round of bad weather threatening to disrupt holiday travel ahead of Thanksgiving. A person was found dead in a vehicle submerged in floodwaters in California, which braced for more precipitation while still grappling with flooding and small landslides from a previous storm. And thousands in the Pacific Northwest remained without power after multiple days in the dark.
A winter storm warning in California’s Sierra Nevada on Saturday was in effect through Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service’s Sacramento office, with heavy snow expected at higher elevations and wind gusts potentially reaching 55 mph (88 kph). Total snowfall of roughly 4 feet (1.2 meters) was forecast, with the heaviest accumulations coming Monday and Tuesday.
Forecasters said the Midwest and Great Lakes regions will see rain and snow Monday, and the East Coast will be the most impacted on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
A low pressure system will bring rain to the Southeast early Thursday before heading to the Northeast, where areas from Boston to New York could see rain and strong winds. Parts of northern New Hampshire, northern Maine and the Adirondacks could get snow. If the system tracks further inland, the forecast would call for less snow for the mountains and more rain.
Deadly ‘bomb cyclone’ on West Coast
The storm on the West Coast arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before its strong winds moved through Northern California. The system roared ashore on the West Coast on Tuesday as a ” bomb cyclone,” which occurs when a cyclone intensifies rapidly. It unleashed fierce winds that toppled trees onto roads, vehicles and homes.
Santa Rosa, California, saw its wettest three-day period on record with about 12.5 inches (32 centimeters) of rain falling by Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service in the Bay Area. On Saturday vineyards in Windsor, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) to the north, were flooded.
To the west, rescue crews in Guerneville recovered a body inside a vehicle bobbing in floodwaters around 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Rob Dillion, a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy and spokesperson. The deceased was presumed to be a victim of the storm, but an autopsy had not yet been conducted.
Dominick Conti, a 19-year-old volunteer firefighter, and a friend drove around the Santa Rosa area Friday helping people whose vehicles were swamped. With his 2006 Dodge Ram pickup truck and a set of ropes, they were able to rescue the driver of a sedan that stalled out in water, a truck stuck in a giant mudhole and a farmer stranded on a dirt road.
Tens of thousands remain without power in Seattle area
Some 80,000 people in the Seattle area were still without electricity after this season’s strongest atmospheric river — a long plume of moisture that forms over an ocean and flows over land. Crews worked to clear streets of downed lines, branches and other debris, while cities opened warming centers so people heading into their fourth day without power could get warm food and plug in their cellphones and other devices.
The power came back in the afternoon at Katie Skipper’s home in North Bend, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the city in the foothills of the Cascades, after being out since Tuesday. It was tiring to take cold showers, rely on a wood stove for warmth and use a generator to keep the refrigerator cold, Skipper said, but those inconveniences paled in comparison to the damage other people suffered, such as from fallen trees.
“That’s really sad and scary,” she said.
Northeast gets much-needed precipitation
Another storm brought rain to New York and New Jersey, where rare wildfires have raged in recent weeks, and heavy snow to northeastern Pennsylvania. Parts of West Virginia were under a blizzard warning through Saturday morning, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) of snow and high winds making travel treacherous.
Despite the mess, the precipitation was expected to help ease drought conditions after an exceptionally dry fall.
“It’s not going to be a drought buster, but it’s definitely going to help when all this melts,” said Bryan Greenblatt, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Binghamton, New York.
Heavy snow fell in northeastern Pennsylvania, including the Pocono Mountains. Higher elevations reported up to 17 inches (43 centimeters), with lesser accumulations in valley cities like Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. Less than 80,000 customers in 10 counties lost power, and the state transportation department imposed speed restrictions on some highways.
Parts of West Virginia also experienced their first significant snowfall of the season Friday and overnight Saturday, with up to 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) in the higher elevations of the Allegheny Mountains. Some areas were under a blizzard warning.
The precipitation helped put a dent in the state’s worst drought in at least two decades. It also was a boost for West Virginia ski resorts preparing to open their slopes in the weeks ahead.
