Over 200 people have perished in Sri Lanka after bomb blasts ripped through three churches and four luxury hotels on Easter Sunday. 450 people have been injured. The deceased include foreigners as well. Four Pakistanis were also injured in the attacks. This is the first major terrorist incident in Sri Lanka since the end of a bloody, decades-long civil war in 2009. So far, responsibility for the attack has not been claimed by any group.
With these attacks, terrorism has made a grisly comeback to a country that it was thought had put its history of militancy behind it. The 2019 Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka ought to serve as a reminder to all countries — especially Pakistan — that terrorism can rear its ugly head at any time, and that therefore the right precautions and security measures should always be taken on major religious and cultural dates such as Easter.
However, the social conditions and dynamics that lead to the building up of hate and fear between communities that ultimately leads to terrorism and hate crimes must also be considered. In Sri Lanka, local Christian groups have complained in recent years of acts of intimidations by extremist Buddhist monks. There have also been clashes between Buddhists and Muslims, with some hardline Buddhist groups accusing Muslims of forcing people to convert to Islam.
Failure to acknowledge, tackle and neutralise such tensions will inevitably lead to tragedy. Therefore it is mandatory that the international community work together to fight hatred and communalism on the same war-footing as terrorism and militancy.
Sadly that isn’t the case. Instead, the rise of right-wing populism is clearly visible across the world and has already led to acts of terrorism. The perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque attacks, for example, had stated in his manifesto that he had been inspired by the white nationalist rhetoric of Donald Trump.
This trend is most pronounced in India, where the Bharatiya Janata Party has become increasingly hostile towards Muslims. For example, the party’s choosing of Pragya Singh Thakur — who stands accused of murder, promoting enmity between communities and terrorism — does not bode well for the state of inter-faith harmony in India.
The international community must come together to fight the rise of hatred among ethnic and religious groups. There can be no end to terrorism any other way. *