Sri Lanka curfew

This item appears on page 69 of the August 2014 issue.

In Sri Lanka, clashes between Buddhists and Muslims on June 15, which left three Muslims dead and 78 people wounded, compelled authorities to institute a curfew in the southwestern towns of Aluthgama and Beruwala. 

The unrest began during a Buddhist rally in Aluthgama at which anti-Muslim slogans were chanted and, reportedly, Muslims were beaten and there was looting. The rally was in response to an incident three days earlier when Muslim youths fought with a Buddhist monk’s driver. 

Acts considered insulting to Buddhism are illegal in Sri Lanka. In April 2014 a British tourist was arrested in Colombo, and later deported, for having a tattoo of Buddha on her arm. In 2012, two French tourists in Sri Lanka were given suspended prison sentences and deported for kissing a statue of Buddha.