Sri Lanka was rocked by some of the deadliest Easter attacks on Christian targets in history. Three churches and three hotels were initially bombed. Explosions at a house and guest house reportedly followed later.
Official sources report that the latest death toll stands at 310, with at least 500 people wounded. Prior to the Easter Sunday terror attacks, Christians in Sri Lanka mainly faced persecution at the hands of Buddhist extremists. The country ranks at 46 on the Open Doors World Watch List as a result of this oppression.
Sri Lanka is predominantly Buddhist and ethnic Sinhala (80% of the population). The country has a long and violent history for religious and ethnic reasons. After decades of ethnic tension, a full- fledged civil war broke out in 1983. The Sinhalese Buddhist majority fought against the Tamil minority (predominantly Hindu, and a considerable number of Christians). There was a high death toll on both sides. The war ended finally in 2009 with the defeat of the Tamils. But true peace and reconciliation is still far off.
Due to this history, religious nationalism has thrived in Sri Lanka. Radical Buddhist groups have sprouted up across the country and were used by the previous government as a means of keeping religious minorities in check. The main victim was and still is the Muslim minority due to fear of the threat of Islamic radicalization poses.
Increasing violence led to the killing of Muslims in 2014 and flared up again in March 2018 in Kandy when several businesses owned by Muslims were destroyed by Buddhist radicals. Christians have also been facing attacks by local groups, frequently led by saffron-robed monks, and Open Doors has recorded more than 60 attacks and incidents of harassment against Christians last year.
However, these trends do not account for the horrific attacks on Christians this Easter. Bomb blasts are not the style of Buddhist nationalist extremists. The sophisticated coordination and planning needed for these attacks suggests they may have been carried out by ISIS and affiliated groups, who have perfected their methods to carry out deadly attacks. Indeed there are ISIS training grounds in the Philippines which have grown as the caliphate in the Middle East has been defeated.
In terms of coordination and number of sites chosen, the Sri Lanka attacks bear close resemblance to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba an Islamic terrorist organisation based in Pakistan, carried out a series of 12 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks lasting four days.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks but the Sri Lankan Government has named Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath as the group they believe to be responsible. The group is relatively unknown. They are thought to have splintered from another hardline Islamist group in the country, the Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath (SLTJ).
The Sri Lankan government has asked the media not to publish the names of the suspects because that would give other extremist groups the chance to exploit the situation and create tension between the communities.
Persecution in Asia has risen sharply over the last five years with one in three Asian Christians now suffering high levels of persecution. This persecution has many sources, however Islamic extremism has increased in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Persecuted Christians run a higher risk of being attacked during Christian holy days such as Christmas and Easter. Two of the most gruesome killings of Christians took place in 2017, 45 Christians were killed in Egypt on Palm Sunday and 75 Christians were killed in Lahore, Pakistan on Easter.
Sadly, Asia is the new hotbed of persecution for Christians.
