There has been a rash of public commentary in recent days blaming the Easter Sunday bomb blasts in Sri Lanka not only on Muslim radicals but on government incompetence where a squabbling president and prime minister failed to act on intelligence reports and are therefore the tragedy’s midwives.
The revered Mahanayakas in the country often speak of their responsibility to protect the country and the Buddha Sasana.
Sri Lanka has become more fragile, fractured and polarized following the Easter Sunday bomb attacks as the country’s Muslims are harassed and subjected to violence by mobs of Sinhala Buddhists who form the majority of the island’s population.
Legal experts point out that the ICCPR Act under which a fiction writer and a Muslim woman wearing a kaftan featuring the helm of a ship were recently arrested, has never been used to prosecute those who have incited hatred and communal tensions, not even after riots in Aluthgama, Digana and more recently Minuwangoda
‘‘On a global scale regarding maternal healthcare, Sri Lanka is regarded as a forward-looking country. This achievement is not accidental and there are many reasons behind it. The main reason is that 99% of the deliveries take place at the hands of staffers who are professionals (skilled birth attendance) at the hospitals.
Although decisive presidential elections are only nine months away political mobilization is not taking place at the mass level at the present time.
