Colombo: A red-robbed Buddhist monk calmly picked up stones and hurled them at a security camera. Then, as police looked on, his followers smashed up a popular, Muslim-owned clothing store.
March's attack on the Fashion Bug chain near the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, filmed by a local television station whose cameraman was attacked by the mob, was the most public outburst in a growing anti-Muslim campaign by Buddhist nationalist groups in the island nation. The escalation in attacks and anti-Muslim rhetoric has caused fears of a new wave of ethnic violence in a country still recovering from a quarter-century civil war between the government, controlled by ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, and a mainly Hindu ethnic Tamil rebel group.
"They just finished hunting the Tamils, without solving any of the issues, and now they are starting on the Muslim hunt. Virtually all minority communities are being threatened," said Muslim political leader Azad Salley.
The anti-Muslim campaign has been led by Buddhist monks and is fast gaining ground among youth through raging speeches and ludicrous conspiracy theories spread on social media. The leaders of the campaign complain that Sri Lanka's ethnic Sinhalese Buddhists, who make up almost 75 per cent of the country's 20 million people and control the government and the military, are under threat from the 9 per cent of the country that is Muslim....
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09:50 AM, Apr 08, 2013
Guwahati: Bodoland area in lower Assam witnessed fresh trouble with the killing of four persons by armed assailants in Jiaguri even as police arrested a member of Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District in connection with the killing. The assailants fired randomly on a group of persons at Jiaguri in Kokrajhar police station in which four persons were killed late last night, Inspector General of Police (BTAD) SN Singh said on Saturday....
10:21 AM, Nov 17, 2012
Guwahati: In a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence in Assam's Bodoland, two persons were killed in Kokrajhar district on Saturday, a senior police official said. One person was shot dead at Badugaon under Gosaigaon police station at around 1340 hrs and in a retailatory attack. A youth was hacked to death with sharp-edged weapons at nearby Batlanmara village, Additional Superintendent (Headquarters) of Police Surjeet Singh said. The fresh bout of...
12:19 AM, Nov 11, 2012
Kokrajhar: One person was killed and four others were injured when unidentified persons lobbed a hand grenade at a busy place in Assam's Chirang district on Wednesday evening, officials said. The miscreants came in a car and hurled the grenade towards a group of people around 6.30 pm near a wine shop at the railway crossing in Basugaon town, they said, adding one person died on the spot while four...
09:43 PM, Oct 24, 2012
Guwahati: One person was killed and five others injured in three separate incidents of violence in Assam's strife-torn Kokrajhar district late on Monday night, the police said. The first incident took place in Phumti Village under Salakati police outpost, but no casualty was reported from there. In yet another incident, one person was killed and four others injured when miscreants opened fire in Pakritola village under Fakira gram, they said,...
09:20 AM, Aug 28, 2012
Yet another cycle of violence has erupted in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-lingual Northeast, a "frontier" region that historically, socially and spatially has had only a tenuous connection with India. Bordering Bangladesh, Myanmar and China, the naturally well-endowed region is riven by land, language, religion and identity conflicts. For the past several weeks, ethnic and communal violence has engulfed the Bodo tribal homeland, claiming more than 60 lives and putting...
12:39 PM, Aug 18, 2012
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is in constant touch with his counterparts in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharasthra following reports of exodus of the state's students after being targeted in the wake of violence in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD). "The Chief Minister is in constant touch with his counterparts who have assured him to provide security to the students from the state who are in the grip...
11:58 PM, Aug 15, 2012
New Delhi: Blaming illegal migration for ethnic violence in Assam, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday charged the Congress with having a "tie-up" with infiltrators for vote-bank politics and demanded that the border with Bangladesh be sealed. "The Congress has a tie-up with infiltrators from Bangladesh for its vote-bank politics and this is the main problem for the recent violence in Assam," Gadkari alleged. "They must break this and protect...
02:49 AM, Aug 08, 2012
Kokrajhar: Fresh violence in Assam has threatened to break the delicate calm which has been prevailing in Kokrajhar and adjoining districts for the past two weeks following communal clashes. The killing of 7 people within 48 hours has triggered fears of a backlash, ruining all efforts of relief and rehabilitation. The 2 week long violence in Lower Assam has left over 70 dead, rendering more than 4 lakh homeless. It...
07:13 PM, Aug 07, 2012
Bongaigaon: Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gets set to visit Assam on Saturday, reports suggest more than 2 lakh refugees are now living in refugee camps. On Wednesday, a baby was born in the camp near Biathamari. However, the mother is yet to get baby food. Electricity remains a problem and shacks are the best alternative for a bed. Meanwhile, the people are just surviving on rice, dal and...
08:02 AM, Jul 28, 2012
Kokrajhar: While the death toll in the ethnic violence in Assam went up to 44, the blame game within the political arena was on. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi defended his government against allegations that it was slow to react to the rioting, and failed to anticipate the violence. He said a reduction in Central forces has made his task tougher. Gogoi also ruled out resignation, saying that his resignation...
06:01 PM, Jul 27, 2012
Kokrajhar: While the death toll in the ethnic violence in Assam went up to 58, the blame game within the political arena was on. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi defended his government against allegations that it was slow to react to the rioting, and failed to anticipate the violence. He said a reduction in Central forces has made his task tougher. Gogoi also ruled out resignation, saying that his resignation...
03:27 PM, Jul 27, 2012
Kokrajhar: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is under fire for his handling of the violence in Assam from none other than the Congress leadership, claim sources. CNN-IBN has learnt that the Congress is upset with him for failing to understand the gravity of the situation, by going to the troubled zone only on the fifth day of the violence, which was on Thursday. Now, in a strong signal to their...
07:35 AM, Jul 27, 2012
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who is the party General Secretary in-charge of Assam has made it clear that there was no question of holding state Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi responsible for the failure to stem the violence. Speaking to IBN18 Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai, Digvijaya said the state government is trying its utmost to bring peace to the area. Here is the full text of the interview: Rajdeep Sardesai: Mr Digvijaya...
05:06 PM, Jul 26, 2012
Kokrajhar: The government is making a bid to bring warring factions to the talking table as the ethnic violence in Assam spreads from Kokrajhar to three other districts all the way to the Bengal border. Sources say two officials from the Home Ministry will be speaking to the two sides in Dhubri and Kokrajhar on Wednesday. More than 80,000 people have been displaced as homes were sent on fire, a...
01:43 PM, Jul 25, 2012
Kokrajhar: The ethnic violence in Assam has spread in and around the Kokrajhar district all the way to the Bengal border. The death toll now stands at 32. Hundreds were fleeing the villages of Dhubri and Pakhgiuri, as their homes were set on fire. Adding to the panic, 1,500 more paramilitary personnel have been rushed in with orders to shoot at sight. More than 80,000 people have been displaced, a...
07:40 AM, Jul 25, 2012
Shillong: With the situation limping back to normal in the ethnic violence-hit Assam-Meghalaya border areas, curfew was relaxed on Thursday for six hours in Resubelpara subdivision of East Garo Hills district. "No incident has been reported in the last two days. Curfew has been relaxed for six hours from 10:00 am. From tomorrow, only night curfew will be in place," Meghalaya's East Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Pravin Bakshi told reporters....
04:17 PM, Jan 13, 2011
Meghalaya CM hits out at Assam for mishandling ethnic clashes between Garo and Rabha communities. ...
01:57 PM, Jan 10, 2011
![One million affected by Kyrgyz violence: UN]( "One million affected by Kyrgyz violence: UN")
They include some 400,000 people left homeless after fleeing ethnic clashes in the southern cities of Osh and Jalalabad. ...
11:26 AM, Jun 19, 2010
![21 Indian students return from Kyrgyzstan]( "21 Indian students return from Kyrgyzstan")
A total of 105 Indian nationals were flown out of trouble-torn southern Kyrgyz cities to capital Bishkek a few days back. ...
07:25 AM, Jun 18, 2010
