On Easter Sunday, April 21, a series of coordinated suicide bombings tore through churches and hotels in Sri Lanka, which was said by students to be a peaceful country. At least 253 people have been killed, with hundreds more injured. Students shared their devastation at the loss of life, expressed their sympathies to the victims, and worried about the growing tensions between Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians in Sri Lanka.
The bomb blasts rocked the cities of Colombo, Kochchikade, Negombo, Batticaloa, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, and Dematagoda. According to News.org.au, Sri Lankan Government Minister Rajitha Senaratne said authorities believed the terror group National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) was the culprit in the attack. A bomb was also found at the airport, but it was defused by the police.
Reaction to the tragedy
Sula Jayasekara, a junior majoring in information technology, is the only Sri Lankan student currently enrolled in BYU–Hawaii. Jayasekara said his family and friends were safe, as they lived in a town far from the cities where the suicide bombs were detonated.
The day he learned of the bombings, Jayasekara said he was shocked. “Sri Lanka has been a peaceful country up until now. There is tension with religion, but I could not imagine this happening in my country. I never expected Sri Lankan Muslims to become suicide bombers.
“Muslims and Buddhists are the ones who clash all the time, not Christians and Muslims or Christians and Buddhists. Over the past years, there have been killings by both sides, but I never [have] seen Christians come under attack like this. There are extremist groups such as Bodu Bala Sena and the National Thowheeth Jama’ ath, but I have never heard of any Christian extremism in Sri Lanka.
“I feel being a Christian in Sri Lanka is very safe, despite what outsiders may think,” Jayasekara said assuredly. “There have been very few attacks against Christians in Sri Lanka because some of the Buddhists there do not like how some of the Christians go about converting others. Some Christian churches do very controversial things, which may get people angry. There’s a little bit of tension, but only on personal matters, not religious ones.
Jayasekara explained ten years ago Sri Lanka had a civil war. He said when he heard about the attacks, he thought it was the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an insurgency group which fought during the civil war and was known for suicide attacks, but he explained the LTTE only attacked politicians and government buildings. They don’t attack Muslims or Christians or anyone based on their religion.
He said, “This is very unbelievable to me because now everyone is in fear.”
Jayasekara explained he had been looking over Facebook reports straight from Sri Lanka, and expressed his fear about his family’s and country’s safety. “I feel it is breaking down my trust of Muslims, even though I know it was only a small group of Muslims who became radicalized and attacked. Some say radicalized Muslims see only three types of people. They are people who are Muslim, people who need to be converted, and people who will not convert and must be killed.
“After this happened, a lot of people need blood. People from all religious groups donated blood. It is so sad this happened. I expect there will be a larger clash soon between Buddhists and Muslims in the future. I believe the people in Sri Lanka will be threatened and innocent lives could be lost. One of the Buddhist leaders has been saying there are Afghan and Pakistani Muslims coming into Sri Lanka to radicalize the Muslims there.”
With sincerity, Jayasekara took a moment to say, “Anyone can be violent, regardless of their religion. Even if someone’s religion preaches peace, they have the ability to interpret it radically and use it to justify their cruel actions.
“So far, I think the Sri Lankan government is fair to all people, regardless of religion. As soon as the bombs went off, they were able to arrest a lot of suspects. They have a lot of experience from the civil war, defusing bombs and such. Growing up, I saw things about bombings and attacks because of LTTE and the civil war. But this attack is unprecedented.”
Vaddi Vikram Raj, a sophomore majoring in business from India and friend of Jayasekara, said he was devastated at the loss of innocent life. “Sri Lanka is such a peaceful country. The people killed were just trying to go to church and celebrate the sacrifice the Savior made for them and died. It is more tragic because the bombings happened on Easter, where we celebrate life, but instead, it was just more death.”
Who is to blame?
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the attacks could have been prevented in a news conference on April 23. According to CNN, the government received various tips and warnings about a plot to attack Christian churches and tourist spots since the beginning of April. The government received a warning but did not know where the terrorists would strike.
Up until this point, National Thowheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) had only been known for defacing statues. According to News.com.au, Sri Lankan terror experts believed the group had outside help in carrying out the bombings.
The attacks have also affected Sri Lanka’s economy. The airport was shut down in light of another bomb threat. The bomb was found and defused, but according to Jayasekara, the fear inspired by the attacks made everyone traveling to Sri Lanka cancel their flights. “Now whenever I ask my friends to come to Sri Lanka and visit, they might not because they heard about the bombs.”
Abigail Anderson, a freshman majoring in business from New York, visited Sri Lanka about a year ago and said it was one of the friendliest places she had been to. “The community knew we were there automatically and made sure our stay was perfect. They returned our lost shoes and took us surfing. People talked about how glad they were the civil war was over. They felt a lot safer and you could always hear the chanting from the mosque which was very peaceful”
Jayasekara said, “There is no environment in Sri Lanka which would cause someone to grow up and be a suicide bomber. The Sri Lankan people’s mentality is not to suicide bomb. I believe there is a more international presence. It is much bigger than just Sri Lanka. The radicalized Muslim groups around the world have been found to be sending their people into other countries to commit terrorist actions.
“Also, a lot of the people who were attacked were very low income. They were just trying to go to church while trying to survive on less than 10 dollars a day. One woman, both her children and her husband are dead, and she has nowhere to go.
Jayasekara said it was unfair to say Muslims, in general, were to blame. It was the radicalized terrorist group NJT who was to blame. “Blaming all Muslims for the actions of a few is wrong, even if you disagree with the religion. It is the same thing as saying all Christians are responsible for the actions of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Writer: Elijah Hadley