Sri Lankan mob disrupts Christian gathering on Tamil rights
The incident highlights threats to free speech, assembly, and post-war reconciliation in the island nation
Updated: May 26, 2025 11:58 AM GMT
A mob stormed a Christian-led gathering on Tamil rights and constitutional reform in a city near the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, after accusing attendees of undermining the nation’s constitution.
The mob, allegedly composed of Buddhist-majority ethnic Sinhalese men and women, disrupted the program hosted by the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM) in Negombo on May 24, organizers said.
The attackers left after police arrived and told them to leave, but the event was cut short.
Dismayed Christians said the incident highlighted threats to free speech, assembly, and post-war reconciliation in a country that endured a bitter civil war for two decades, stemming from conflict between the Sinhala majority and minority Tamils, mostly Hindu.
The CSM’s convener and Catholic priest, Father Sherard Jayawardena, said it was very disturbing to see a peaceful forum conducting a healthy and fruitful debate being attacked and branded anti-constitutional.
“A lot of discussion [was held] around the cause, origin, and cure of the ethnic war and how to achieve equality and durable peace for Tamils and their inherent right of self-determination,” the priest told UCA News.
He said the program consisted of a lecture, talk backs, discussions, dialogues, and a symbolic street march, all focusing on the historical origins of ethnic conflict and advocating for constitutional changes to devolve power to disadvantaged groups.
The police and security forces warned about a crowd traveling from Colombo to stop the street march, he said. “The march was put on hold following a court order.”
The priest alleged the disruptors carried national flags and shouted nationalist slogans while accusing the organizers of carrying out “anti-constitutional activities.”
Anglican priest M. Sathyavelu, who spoke during the gathering, said it was unfortunate some people refuse to acknowledge genocidal atrocities and the need for post-war reconciliation.
“A genocide was carried out in the North and East, and the victims are still calling for justice until today,” he said.
The civil war resulted in the death of an estimated 100,000 people, mostly Tamils in the northern and eastern parts of the country, over the years. The army crushed the armed struggle for a separate homeland for Tamils in 2009.
Thousands disappeared during the war, and tens of thousands have also been displaced, according to rights groups.
Activist Surani Mallawa said ethnic animosity and religious sectarianism continued even after the war, and are still prevalent.
“This reminds us of the Rajapaksa government, when religion and racism were weapons to consolidate their hold on power. We owe it to ourselves to build a new politics of reconciliation, not of division,” she told UCA News, referring to the Rajapaksa political dynasty that ruled Sri Lanka for decades before being ousted in a public uprising in 2022.
She criticized the current left-wing government of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for delaying constitutional reforms and ignoring Tamil grievances.
“The Tamil people waited 75 years. It’s time to act with determination to guarantee justice, equality, and autonomy for all of us,” she said. “Sri Lanka cannot achieve lasting peace without equal rights for all communities.”
The conflict was the culmination of fighting between the Tamil militia seeking a separate homeland and the military of the Sinhalese-dominant government. Both sides were accused of crimes against humanity for causing large-scale civilian deaths.
