Muslim shopkeeper victim of “pig’s head” taunting in Sri Lanka

There has been a rash of cases of Muslims being victimized in the wake of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.

Innocent Muslims have been the victims of retaliatory actions in the three months after the April 21 Easter Sunday attack in Sri Lanka, which killed 250 people, reported UCA News.

A recent incident, in which a pig’s head was found hanging in front of a Muslim shop, was the latest case of mob retaliation agains Muslims in the island nation, according to minority rights campaigner Nuwan Athukorala, the report said.

Athukorala blames dangerous factions of the country’s Buddhist majority for the attacks and “fabricated” allegations. Buddhists make up 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s population, while Muslims make up 10 percent.

“Sinhala Buddhist hegemonic majoritarianism that prevails in Sri Lanka is very dangerous,” Athukorala said.

Since the attack on Sri Lankan churches and luxury hotels, the following incidents have taken place, according to the report:

• Buddhist monks have accused a Muslim doctor of sterilizing 4,000 women.
• Another monk has accused Muslim restaurant owners of drugging food served to non-Muslims to make them sterile in order to reduce the Buddhist population.
• Buddhist mobs attacked mosques, Muslim businesses, homes and vehicles.
• There have been reports of violence in cities of Naththandiya, Minuwangoda, Negombo, Chilaw and Kurunegala.

Sri Lankan police said on Wednesday that they have not found enough evidence to prove that Islamic State militants were linked to the suicide bombings, although the group has claimed responsibility for the attacks in Colombo and in the east.