Taking to social media, Sri Lankan cricketers condemned the ongoing anti-Muslim riots and the recently reported violence in the country.
Multan Sultans’ star player Kumar Sangakkara asked “have we not learned anything from past?” and said, “No one in Sri Lanka can be marginalized or threatened or harmed due to their ethnicity or religion.”
In a video message, he advocated inter-faith harmony and demanded an end to the violence based on racism. “We are One Country and One people. Love, trust and acceptance should be our common mantra. No place for racism and violence. STOP. Stand together and stand strong,” he tweeted.
No one in Sri Lanka can be marginalized or threatened or harmed due to their ethnicity or religion. We are One Country and One people. Love, trust and acceptance should be our common mantra. No place for racism and violence. STOP. Stand together and stand strong.
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2) March 7, 2018
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardena recalled his childhood when the country was suffering from the civil war which lasted for 25 years. He said, “I strongly condemn the recent acts of violence & everyone involved must be brought to justice regardless of race/ religion or ethnicity.”
I strongly condemn the recent acts of violence & everyone involved must be brought to justice regardless of race/ religion or ethnicity. I grew up in a civil war which lasted 25 years and don’t want the next generation to go through that.
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) March 7, 2018
Sanath Jayasuriya, a former opener and team selector, requested the Sri Lankan people to be wise and stay together in the tough times. He exclaimed, “Disgusting and sickening to see the acts of violence in Sri Lanka.”
Disgusting and sickening to see the acts of violence in Sri Lanka. I condemn strongly and to bring the involved culprits to justice. I request people of Sri Lanka to be wise and stay together in these tough times
— Sanath Jayasuriya (@Sanath07) March 7, 2018
According to the agencies, a daytime curfew was relaxed on Thursday in the troubled Sri Lankan district of Kandy where three people were killed in anti-Muslim riots, but schools remained closed as beefed-up security forces patrolled the streets.
More than 200 homes, businesses and vehicles were set ablaze during three days of violence sparked by the death of a man from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.
The unrest began in the central district on Monday, and escalated the following day when a Muslim man was found dead in a burned building.
If I am not wrong then on the very first day of the riot a body of a Sinhalese man was found badly mutilated. Then all hell broke loose the next day. This reminds me of Myanmar riots in 2012 when two young Buddhist Burmese girls were abducted, raped and then brutally killed by 3 Muslim men. Nearly 500,000 Rohingya Muslims were sent out of Myanmar after that horrific incident. I hope Sri Lanka Muslim leaders condemn this senseless killing and ask for the forgiveness. Else we are looking at another Myanmar kind situation in Sri Lanka. It is a myth that small minority can poke in the eyes of the majority community and get away with it, however violent you may be.
Sometime one may wonder if Muslims can ever live peacefully with the rest of the world? This ‘bloody barbaric religion’ may be the root cause of the trouble in the world today!
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