SRW Thanks Sri Lankan Government for Protection of Shia Nationals

Shia Rights Watch expresses gratitude for the Sri Lankan courts for their protection of Shia Muharram ceremonies. It is estimated that over 25,000 Shia Muslims practice within Colombo, Sri Lanka. On the first of September, corresponding with the beginning of the holy month of Muharram, a Sri Lankan official announced that the courts ordered restraints against two nationalist groups that planned to disrupt Shia gatherings in Colombo.

Sri Lanka has been a recent home of violence based on religious beliefs, the biggest of which was the Easter bombings of April 2019. Coordinated attacks in the hands of extremist groups in six locations, three of which were churches, lead to the death of 258 and wounding of over 500 civilians.  Concerns over increased intolerance and extremist violence were raised among authorities within Sri Lanka and the international community.

Shia Rights Watch thanks the Sri Lankan authorities for their active prevention of human rights violations against religious minorities in the nation. Moreover, this organization invites other countries to adopt Sri Lanka’s practice of violence prevention and legal signaling against inhumane suppression of expression in the hands of extremist groups.