While Christians across the globe celebrated the sacred holiday of Easter, Sri Lankans were left in turmoil after six suicide bombers killed hundreds in churches and hotels across the country’s capital, Colombo. It is estimated that the death toll has reached more than 250, with at least 500 more individuals injured. This is the first major attack in Sri Lanka since the end of the civil war in 2009.

Importance of Sri Lanka’s Ethnic History

The roots of this current crisis date back many years and are closely related to the ethnic demographics of the country. The 2012 Sri Lankan census cites a total population of 22 million people. Of this 22 million, 70 percent are Buddhist, 12.6 percent are Hindu, 9.7 percent are Muslim and 7.6 percent are Christian. Since gaining independence from the British in 1948, there have been tensions between the majority Sinhalese-Buddhists and the minority Tamils.

While most Tamils are Hindu, there is a significant portion who are either Muslim or Christian. However, it is important to note that many Sri Lankan Muslims do not consider themselves Tamil; instead, they identify as Moors, distinct from both Tamils and Sinhalese.

The civil war began in 1983 as a result of the rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elan (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, wanting their own state separate from the majority Sinhalese. Not belonging to either group, Moors and Christians were further marginalized and forced out of their homes in majority Tamil territory.

In 1991, a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber assassinated former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, leading many nations to declare the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Following this, Sri Lanka’s president Ranasinghe Premadasa was also assassinated in 1993.

While no group took responsibility for Premadasa’s assassination, is thought to be a result of LTTE action. After multiple failed peace negotiations, the war ended in May 2009 when the Sinhalese military invaded the North and killed the chief of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The United Nations estimates that approximately 40,000 civilians were killed during this period. It is believed that this war contributed to Sri Lankan Muslims feeling further isolated and angry as their needs went unaddressed.

[Read Related: Christchurch Terror Attacks: A Wakeup Call for Politicians, Pundits and Apathetic Journalists]

Last Sunday’s Attack

Tensions have been rising between Buddhists and Muslims in Sri Lanka as some Buddhists believe Muslims to be a security threat, The New York Times reported. Last year, Sinhalese mobs attacked Muslim businesses and a mosque during which at least one person was killed.

Now, some believe it is possible that this marginalized group is angry with the country, and Sunday’s attacks are a result of this growing tension. 

In 2014, the leader of Sri Lanka’s main Muslim party, Justice Minister Rauf Hakeem, told foreign journalists, ‘A community pushed against the wall like this will suddenly become a fertile ground for outside forces.’

‘It’s a real time bomb, the way things are happening. This is what we are really worried about. We don’t want to go that far. We have to be as restrained as possible,’ Reuters reported he said.

Sri Lankan officials believed Sunday’s attack was conducted by the Islamist group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath. However, in a recent report published by The New York Times, ISIS has claimed responsibility

Recently, Sri Lankan government officials have admitted that they failed to respond to multiple warnings prior to Sunday’s attack. The Associated Press reported that Sri Lanka’s deputy general of police, Priyalal Disanayaka, sent a letter to four Sri Lankan security agencies warning them about the attacks on April 11. However, both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have denied receiving any intelligence information.

Earlier this week, Sri Lankan government minister Harsha de Silva told CNN that advanced intelligence was received from “both India and the United States.” However, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Alaina Teplitz, told CNN on Wednesday that advanced intelligence pertaining to Sunday’s attacks was not provided to Sri Lanka. 

‘We had no prior knowledge of these attacks the Sri Lankan government has admitted lapses in their intelligence gathering and information sharing,’ she said.

When CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour asked Teplitz about de Silva’s claim, Teplitz responded,

Well I can’t speak for others. I don’t know what other sources of information the government of Sri Lanka might have had. I can just tell you that we had no prior knowledge.

With Wickremesinghe stating that there are “still people on the run with explosives,” the Sri Lankan people and those traveling to Sri Lanka are being urged to remain out of crowded areas and pay attention to safety reminders.

Sources have told CNN that two of the suicide bombers involved with the attacks were sons of Mohamed Ibrahim, a prominent Muslim spice trader in Colombo. Mohamed Ibrahim was among the many individuals taken into custody since the attacks Sunday.

In the most recent update, Sirisena announced that Zahram Hashim, the Islamic cleric who allegedly planned the Easter attacks was confirmed dead, BBC reported Friday. Sirisena identified Hashim as the leader of the attack on the popular tourist hotel, Shangri-La Hotel.

We will continue to follow these updates as more information becomes available.

By Erinn Bacchus

Erinn C. Bacchus is a doctoral student at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and obtained her MPH in … Read more ›

Every year on August 5th, the Sikh American community remembers one of our community’s most devastating tragedies in recent memory — the Oak Creek massacre. On this day in 2012, a white supremacist gunman entered the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, a gurdwara (Sikh house of worship) in Oak Creek, Wisconsin where he shot and killed six worshippers and severely injured others. This violent attack was the deadliest mass shooting targeting Sikh Americans in U.S. history, and at the time, was one of the worst attacks on a U.S. house of worship in decades. Six worshippers — Paramjit Kaur Saini, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, Prakash Singh, Suveg Singh Khattra, and Satwant Singh Kaleka — were killed on that horrific day. An additional community member, Baba Punjab Singh, was severely paralyzed and ultimately passed away from complications related to his injuries in 2020. Others, including Bhai Santokh Singh and responding police officer and hero, Lt. Brian Murphy, were seriously wounded during the shooting. 

[Read Related: Oak Creek Gurdwara Massacre’s 4th Anniversary: Young Sikhs Express Optimism for the Continued Struggle Against Hate and Ignorance]

In 2022, the community came together to demonstrate that we are undaunted. My organization, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) joined in supporting the anniversary observance at Oak Creek: a remembrance event centered around the theme of “Heal, Unite, Act.” The Oak Creek Sikh community hosted a series of in-person events, including the 10th Annual Oak Creek Sikh Memorial Anniversary Candlelight Remembrance Vigil on Friday, August 5, 2022. The program included a representative from the White House, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz, and representatives of the families who lost loved ones. Being there in Oak Creek 10 years after the tragedy was deeply meaningful — both to see the inspiring resilience of this community and to remember how much remains to be done.

In D.C., SALDEF continues to fight for policies that improve the lives of Sikh Americans. I had the honor of chairing the most recent iteration of the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council at the Department of Homeland Security, providing recommendations at the request of Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. Consequently, the three subcommittees published a report that emphasized the importance of greater accessibility, greater equity, and greater transparency in counterterrorism efforts that for too long revolved around surveilling populations like the one that was senselessly attacked at the Oak Creek gurdwara in 2012. Leading the FBSAC as a Sikh woman, and representing a community that was highly targeted alongside Muslims by both white supremacists and in post-9/11 counterterrorism profiling, was an opportunity to push the Council to advocate more fiercely for further information-sharing between communities and law enforcement, extending grant opportunities for security for Gurdwaras and other houses of worship, and building trust between the government and Sikh communities. In addition, I advocated for accountability for the damage needlessly caused to Muslim, Arab, South Asian, and Hindu (MASSAH) communities by federal agencies historically pursuing “counterterrorism” objectives which has resulted in eroded trust rather than the development of strong partnerships. 

Although we have made great strides in this country, there is still more to do. Through our work we have partnered with many across the nation to come together and find solutions through tenets central to Sikhism and America — unity, love, and equality. SALDEF continues to strongly endorse the policy framework articulated across the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act (H.R. 350 / S. 963); Justice for Victims of Hate Crimes Act; and the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Improvement Act (H.R. 6825). We believe strongly in mandating federal agencies to create dedicated offices to investigate domestic terrorism; allowing prosecutors to feasibly indict perpetrators of hate crimes; and allowing religious nonprofits to access federal funding to enhance their own security.

[Read Related: Anti-Sikh Hate is on the Rise: Here’s What we can Do]

While 11 years have passed, the effects of the Oak Creek shooting are never far from the minds of Sikh American advocates and the community we serve. SALDEF will not stop taking a stand against senseless violence and hate crimes. We continue to work in unity with our community and movement partners, and fight for better policies that will actively keep all of our communities safe. Through tragedy, we find hope. We know there can be a world where people from all backgrounds and cultures can practice their faith freely and, even though it has eluded the Sikh American community in the past, we still believe this world is possible.

Photo Courtesy of Amrita Kular

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By Kiran Kaur Gill

Kiran Kaur Gill is an accomplished professional with exemplary executive experience. In her role as Executive Director, she is responsible … Read more ›

The following open letter is written by Hindus for Human Rights, an organization advocating for pluralism, civil and human rights in South Asia and North America, rooted in the values of Hindu faith: shanti (peace), nyaya (justice) and satya (truth). They provide a Hindu voice of resistance to caste, Hindutva (Hindu nationalism), racism, and all forms of bigotry and oppression.

Dear President Biden,

As Indian-Americans, human rights organizations, and concerned allies, we are writing to urge you to engage publicly and meaningfully to push back against the Indian government’s escalating attacks on human rights and democracy, especially ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States.

Despite objective evidence that India’s democracy is under critical attack, you have not spoken out about this crisis. In early 2023, Indian authorities conducted retaliatory raids on the BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices for releasing a documentary about Prime Minister Modi. The week before the Summit for Democracy, the Indian government made three successive attacks on Indian democracy. First, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party expelled Rahul Gandhi from Parliament. Second, the Indian government shut the internet down in Punjab, severely impacting the rights for Sikhs to peacefully organize and protest. And third, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that Indians can be found guilty by association for terrorism. And yet, not one representative from the Biden Administration said anything about even one of these developments. Instead, while Islamophobic violence gripped India in late March, you invited Prime Minister Modi to speak at the Summit for Democracy. Mr. Modi visits DC at a time when the state of Manipur has experienced heavy communal and anti-Christian violence after Modi’s ruling party pushed an initiative to undermine Indigenous rights in the state.

“As privileged members of the diaspora, it’s our duty to challenge the repressive practices of the current regime in India. We stand in solidarity with those … opposed to the government’s attempt to reshape the country into a Hindu nationalist state. https://t.co/RxU9wUy2Zy

— Hindus for Human Rights (@Hindus4HR) June 19, 2023

Even when confronted with questions by Indian reporters about human rights in India, your administration has only had private two-way conversations about how both of our governments can always improve. Quite frankly, we find it unacceptable to see such equivocation on Indian democracy from an administration that has been strident in its defense of American democracy and the rule of law. 

India is one of the fastest autocratizing nations in the world, mostly thanks to the current government. Freedom House has rated India as a “partly-free” country for the past three years, and has blamed Prime Minister Modi’s government for a rise in discriminatory policies, including persecution against Muslims and caste-based violence against Dalit and Adivasi communities; harassment of civil society, protestors, academia and the media, and the targeting of political opponents. It has also rated Indian-administered Kashmir as “not free,” citing violations of human, civil, and political rights after the Modi government revoked the territory’s autonomous status. In Reporters Without Borders‘ press freedom ranking, India has dropped to 161 out of 180 countries in 2023. India has appeared in the Committee to Protect Journalists’ Impunity Index — which examines accountability for unsolved journalists’ murders — every year for the past 15 years and currently ranks in 11th place worldwide. According to PEN America’s Freedom to Write Index, in 2022, India was one of the top 10 countries that jailed writers globally. The Varieties of Democracy Institute characterizes India as an “electoral autocracy” and blames India’s descent into autocracy on Prime Minister Modi. And the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has said India has been one of the top 15 countries at risk for a mass atrocity event every year since 2017, which reflects the toxicity of Indian politics under Modi. 

“If the President meets with PM Modi, then the protection of the Muslim minority in a majority Hindu India is something worth mentioning…if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities, there’s a strong possibility India starts pulling apart.” Thank you @BarackObama! https://t.co/RhcMNfiqaR

— Hindus for Human Rights (@Hindus4HR) June 22, 2023

Given the magnitude of this crisis, we ask you to engage directly with Indian-American and human rights civil society leaders to explore solutions to address India’s human rights crisis. We also ask you to employ the tools at your disposal to ensure that the Indian government cannot attack Indians’ human rights with impunity. As the 2022 Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor report details, several government individuals have committed human rights violations that, under U.S. law, would qualify them to be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act. Indian security forces that have engaged in human rights violations should have security assistance rescinded, under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. 

Finally, we urge you to publicly call on the Indian government to honor its commitments to human rights, including calling on Prime Minister Modi and his cabinet to halt the use of anti-terror laws to arbitrarily detain political critics. You can publicly denounce the rising numbers of political prisoners and the weaponization of the rule of law in India to shut down criticism. Even if you are not willing to personally criticize the Prime Minister, you have ample opportunity to criticize the Indian government’s misuse of public trust and public institutions to consolidate power and undermine the will of the Indian people.

This morning in DC, on the lawn of The White House at the welcome reception for Modi.

Wherever Modi goes, he will be challenged ?? pic.twitter.com/t1wBnI8pGx

— Arjun Sethi (@arjunsethi81) June 22, 2023

As President of the United States of America, you hold a unique position to lead the fight against authoritarianism. Prime Minister Modi will listen to you when you speak. But he and his allies will only change if you take a stand publicly. We urge you to listen to those of us who care about India and ensure that one man cannot steal the futures and the rights of our loved ones in India.

— Signed by countless organizations and individuals leading the charge (linked here).

By BrownGirlMag