Let us not jump to conclusions. There are fanatics in most of the world's major religions, with the exceptions of Christianity and Judaism. By fanatics, I mean the kind of "people" who would blow themselves up along with as many "infidels" as possible, in the name of their god. For some reason, Muslim extremists come to mind. But there are, in south Asia, Hindu fanatics (many of whom support India's BJP) and even Buddhist fanatics.
Sri Lanka has them all. For 30 years there was a civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhists -- the majority population in Sri Lanka -- and the Hindu Tamil Tigers (LTTE), who wanted to rule over their own little chunk in the northeast of the island. About ten years ago the Tigers threw in the turban [towel, surely! Ed.] and laid down their arms... supposedly... and Sri Lanka has enjoyed a period of piece ever since. Until today, when "somebody did something" -- a co-ordinated series of bombings of Christian (mainly Catholic) churches and luxury hotels in Colombo and the suburb of Negombo. The death toll stands at over 200, with at least 470 injured.
Lankan government officials immediately pointed the finger at "terrorists", and rounded up 13 suspects, without identifying them as followers of any particular political or religious group. The Sinhalese community was quick to blame the LTTE. But a statement by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe late today opened the door to the possibility that the attackers were, errr, not Tamil fanatics. Mr Wickremesinghe said the suspects' names were "local", but added that investigators were probing whether they had any "overseas links".
Hmmm. The attack bore little similarity to the violence of the civil war, but had echoes of mass Islamist terror attacks around the world in recent years. And the targets were not Buddhist temples or institutions of the Sinhalese-dominated government, but Christian churches and luxury hotels frequented by Westerners. Hmmm.
The Prime Minister also admitted that the country's security services had received "information" about possible attacks ten days ago! "Foreign sources" are said to have warbed the Lankans that "prominent churches" would be targeted by suicide bombers. It is not clear what precautions were taken... if any.
The reported warnings, circulated by senior police officials, suggested that an extremist Islamist group called the National Thowfeek Jama'ath was behind the attacks. Mr Wickremesinghe said the information had not been shared with him or cabinet ministers. "While this goes on we must also look into why adequate precautions were not taken," he said.
Probably just a coincidence, but within an hour or so of the attacks, The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka issued a statement condemning the attacks on the places of worship of "our Christian brothers and sisters on their holy day of Easter, as well as on the hotels in Colombo.... We mourn the loss of innocent lives due to extremist and violent elements who wish to create divides between religious and ethnic groups to realize their agenda." Again, hmmm.
Almost as quick off the mark to express his shock and sympathy was Yousef al-Othaimeen, Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, who described the attacks as "cowardly", for targetting innocent worshippers and civilians. The OIC has 57 member nations. It is headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Hmmm.
This is (rather obviously) a breaking story. Walt will have more to say tomorrow.
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