Civil war in Sri Lanka: Muslims caught in Sri Lankan crossfire

Now what did we do?

As a tentative ceasefire takes hold between Israel and Hezbollah, and refugees slowly begin to come out of hiding to survey the damage, another case of a country fighting a militant group is resulting in thousands of new refugees, many of whom in this case are also Muslim. The Sri Lankan government has long fought off the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), more commonly known as the “Tamil Tigers”, who are seeking a separate Tamil homeland in the northern part of this (appropriately) teardrop-shaped country. (For those who think that suicide bombing is a uniquely Muslim endeavor, the Tigers both introduced this tactic into modern warfare – using it to kill the prime ministers of India and Sri Lanka – and still lead in the number of suicide attacks undertaken in the past 30 years.) Despite the existance of a 2002 cease-fire, hostilities have increased in a spate of bombings and shootings between the mostly Buddhist Sri Lankan government and the predominantly Hindu Tamil separatists that have left the minority Muslim population caught (literally and figuratively) in the middle. While Sri Lankan air raids (using Lebanon-tested Israeli-made jets, no less) are accused by Muslims as being responsible for some of the deaths, the LTTE has aggressively driven out Muslims from the north and east of the country, which the Tigers claim as part of a Tamil homeland and where Muslims constitute nearly 1/3 of the population. (Interestingly, as in the case with Israel and Lebanon, the LTTE gave notice to flee the Muslim Muttur area before attacking.) Sri Lanka’s Muslims are appealing for support from Muslim countries, but with little luck so far, given the attention that ongoing conflicts in the Middle East draw from sympathetic Muslims. “It is perhaps the largest Muslim refugee problem outside of Lebanon,” said Basheer Segu Dawood, a member of Parliament and chairman of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), who noted that similar purges of Muslims by the LTTE occured in the 1990’s. (He also pleaded with the Sri Lankan government to stop the shelling of their areas.) Both sides claim no hostility towards Muslims, but Muslim leaders remain skeptical. “The government says it won the Muttur battle, the Tigers claim they achieved their objectives,” says Dawood. “[But] people are now refugees. Is this not a fact?”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.