Islamic scholars call on Colombo to protect Muslims

ISTANBUL

The Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has condemned recent attacks in Sri Lanka on mosques and Muslim-owned property, calling on the Sri Lankan government to protect all its citizens, including Muslims.

“These actions [i.e., attacks on Muslims] violate international law and human conscience,” IUMS Secretary-General Ali Qara Daghi said in a Tuesday statement.

Earlier the same day, a mob in Sri Lanka’s Puttalam district killed a Muslim man, despite the recent imposition of a nationwide curfew amid increasingly frequent incidents of anti-Muslim violence.

Qara Daghi also denounced a spate of recent attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned homes and businesses in Sri Lanka’s Muslim-majority Kurunegala district.

After a rash of terrorist attacks on churches and hotels in Colombo left 250 people dead on Easter Sunday (April 21), the government temporarily imposed a nationwide curfew.

The curfew was re-imposed on Monday after several mosques and Muslim-owned businesses were attacked by mobs.