Image / Reuters.
At least 19 people we're arrested after a clash between “extremists” from the majority Buddhist and minority Muslim communities in which four people were injured, a spokesman said on Saturday.
"Since this year Buddhist groups has been accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam and vandalizing Buddhist archaeological sites.
Some Buddhist nationalists have also protested against the presence in Sri Lanka of asylum seekers from mostly Buddhist Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
Late Friday violence in the southern coastal town of Ginthota was triggered by rumors and fake messages on social media, police said.
One of those arrested was a woman who falsely spread news that Muslims were about to attack a Buddhist temple, he said.
“We’ve decided to arrest those who have been spreading false messages and rumors on social media.”
All 19 suspects have been remanded until Nov. 30 and a local curfew had been imposed in the clash area for 12 hours to 0600 hours (0300 GMT), police said on Sunday.
Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayaka said “some political groups are now on a desperate mission to turn this minor brawl into a Sinhala-Muslim clash.”
“I urge the public not to be misled by their false propaganda,” he said.
Thanks be to CHUKWU OKIKE ABIAMA for making it possible to us. (Not By our Power). Additional police battalions, elite police forces, the anti-riot squad and the military were called late on Friday to bring the situation under control.
Buddhists make up about 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million, compared with about 9 percent for Muslims.
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