評論
打印
Sri Lanka's Muslims
斯里蘭卡穆斯林
Buddhist power
佛教武裝
Another minority is under threat
又一個少數群體遭受威脅
Living in fear
活在恐懼中
FIVE years after the end of a bloody civil war that pitted Sri Lanka's ethnic-Sinhala-dominated government against members of its Tamil minority, fears are growing about mounting violence along another of the country's fault-lines—religion. On June 15th Sinhala Buddhist mobs rampaged through three towns on the southern coast, burning and attacking Muslim businesses and homes. Families cowered in marshes and took refuge in mosques as crowds banged on doors, baying for Muslims to come out. Some carried clubs, others flung petrol bombs.
五年之前，主要民族僧伽羅人控制的政府軍和泰米爾少數民族之間的血腥內戰讓斯里蘭卡變得遍地彈坑。如今，對于該國不同宗教間不斷增加的暴力沖突的擔憂也越來越多。6月15日，僧伽羅佛教暴徒在南部沿海的三個城鎮實施暴行，焚燒和襲擊了穆斯林商店和居住地。大群暴徒敲打著穆斯林的家門，叫囂著讓他們滾出去。這些暴徒拿著木棒，揮舞著汽油炸彈，所以居民們只能退縮到沼澤或到清真寺里去尋求保護。
The violence sputtered for nearly two days. Four people, three of them Muslims, were killed, and about 80 were injured. Calm was restored only when the army stepped in on June 17th. Outnumbered, the police and their special forces had struggled to beat back the mobs. Angry Muslims say many stood by and did nothing.
暴行持續了兩天，造成4人死亡，80人受傷。直到17日，軍隊進入事發地區后才恢復了平靜。這之前，寡不敵眾的警方和特殊武裝一直在勉強對抗暴徒。憤怒的穆斯林表示很多軍人只是在圍觀，而沒有采取任何行為。
The mobs were incited by an inflammatory speech from a Buddhist monk named Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara. A rabble-rouser like the Burmese monk, Wirathu, whom he recently visited, Mr Gnanasara leads an organisation called Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Power Force, that supports militancy against minorities to preserve the dominance of the Buddhist majority. Muslims have been particular targets. Although just 10% of the population, they are making headway in business and finance. Most shops attacked this week were run by Muslims. Some were razed to the ground.
這些暴徒是受到了佛教僧侶Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara講話的煽動。Gnanasara是一個和緬甸僧侶維拉圖一樣的煽動者，他最近還拜訪了后者。Gnanasara領導著一支名為Bodu Bala Sena的組織，該組織支持用武裝力量打擊少數教派來保住多數人信奉的佛教的統治地位。穆斯林被列為主要的打擊對象。只占10%的人口的穆斯林在貿易和財政行業表現出色。本周受到襲擊的店鋪大多為穆斯林經營的。但其中不少被夷為了平地。
The BBS organised a rally in the town of Aluthgama at which Mr Gnanasara raged that any “marakkalaya”who laid a finger on a Sinhalese was doomed. His timing was pointed. Three days earlier hundreds of angry people had surrounded the Aluthgama police station after a Muslim man assaulted the driver of a Buddhist monk following a traffic dispute. The monk claimed that he too had been wounded. The government was blamed for allowing the BBS meeting to take place so soon after the incident. The inspector-general of police said he had thought the rally would end peacefully. Muslim parliamentarians countered that they had tried hard to stop it from going ahead. Mr Gnanasara's hate speech clearly violates the law. Nor is this the first time he has incited violence against Muslims. He has not yet been arrested for his latest speech, though on June 17th the police got a court order to stop another BBS rally. They have been authorised to shoot violators.
“佛教武裝力量”曾組織在Aluthgama鎮發起了一次集會，集會上Gnanasara憤怒地表示任何一個動了僧伽羅人的“marakkalaya”都完蛋了。他刻意選擇了這個時機。3天前，因為一名穆斯林男子在一次交通糾紛后襲擊了佛教徒司機，數百民憤怒的民眾包圍了Aluthgama警察局。這個佛教徒司機稱自己也受了傷。在事故發生后這么短的時間內居然讓“佛教武裝力量”舉行了集會，政府因此飽受指摘。警察總長表示，他本以為集會和平結束。穆斯林議員們也反駁說，他們已經為阻止集會發生做了很多努力。Gnanasara充滿惡意的演講明顯違反了法律，而且這已經不是他第一次煽動對于穆斯林的仇恨。目前，Gnanasara還沒有因為最近的這次演講而被逮捕，但警方在6月17號接到了阻止“佛教武裝力量”集會的法庭命令。他們也被允許對反抗者開槍。
The local press has largely ignored or played down the rioting. As it was under way President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Bolivia at the G77 summit, tweeting breezily about climate change. After being criticised for his apparent insouciance, he did take to Twitter again to pledge to “bring to book” those responsible. He has promised an investigation and has said the government will rebuild destroyed houses and shops. But his government will find it hard to portray itself as a staunch defender of its Muslim minority.
大部分地方媒體忽視或是淡化了這次暴動。正在玻利維亞參加77國集團峰會的馬欣達·拉賈帕克薩總統也是如此，他輕描淡寫地發布著關于氣候變化的推特。被批評為漠不關心后，總統又再發推特，保證會“譴責”這些不負責任的人。他還承諾會展開調查，并表示政府將修復被摧毀的房屋和店面。但是拉賈帕克薩政府很難讓人相信他們會成為為穆斯林少數群體堅定的保護者。
