For the first time in decades, Muslims and Tamils, the two minority groups in Sri Lanka, are closing ranks against the Mahinda Rajapaksa government. An indication of this came when representatives of several Muslim organisations in Tamil Nadu met the visiting Lankan Tamil MP Suresh Premachandran in Chennai.
Though the Sri Lankan Muslims are also Tamils, the communal divide kept them away from the decades long Eelam war spearheaded by the LTTE. But a growing anti-Islam sentiment in the island nation and the recent attacks on Muslims, allegedly by Sinhalese, are bringing Tamils and Muslims together.
The meeting between Premachandran and Muslim representatives is significant, coming as it does against the backdrop of the ongoing anti-Lanka protests in Tamil Nadu and an attack on a shop owned by a Muslim in Colombo a week ago, allegedly by a group led by a Buddhist monk. Political observers point out that this is the first time that such a large number of Muslim organisations, under the umbrella of Tamil Nadu Federation of Muslim Organisations and Political Parties, constituting 24 outfits, are coming forward to support the Lankan Tamil cause. The federation was in the news recently for its protests against Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’ and an agitation against the US over an anti-Islam film, during which the American consulate in Chennai.
Federation’s leader Mohammed Hanifa said, “Tamil Muslims in Sri Lanka had bitter experiences with Tamils in the north. We discussed our differences with Suresh Premachandran. The meeting was meaningful and we decided to work together.” The attacks on Muslim establishments by Buddhist monks are continuing, he alleged.
Though the Sri Lankan Muslims are also Tamils, the communal divide kept them away from the decades long Eelam war spearheaded by the LTTE. But a growing anti-Islam sentiment in the island nation and the recent attacks on Muslims, allegedly by Sinhalese, are bringing Tamils and Muslims together.
The meeting between Premachandran and Muslim representatives is significant, coming as it does against the backdrop of the ongoing anti-Lanka protests in Tamil Nadu and an attack on a shop owned by a Muslim in Colombo a week ago, allegedly by a group led by a Buddhist monk. Political observers point out that this is the first time that such a large number of Muslim organisations, under the umbrella of Tamil Nadu Federation of Muslim Organisations and Political Parties, constituting 24 outfits, are coming forward to support the Lankan Tamil cause. The federation was in the news recently for its protests against Kamal Haasan’s ‘Vishwaroopam’ and an agitation against the US over an anti-Islam film, during which the American consulate in Chennai.
Federation’s leader Mohammed Hanifa said, “Tamil Muslims in Sri Lanka had bitter experiences with Tamils in the north. We discussed our differences with Suresh Premachandran. The meeting was meaningful and we decided to work together.” The attacks on Muslim establishments by Buddhist monks are continuing, he alleged.
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