The devolution proposals put forward by the People’s Alliance (PA) government after it came to power in late 1994 were welcomed by the SLMC, but there was little progress with these proposals. The main demand of the SLMC – in the face of Tamil separatist demands for merger of the north and east – has been the creation of a separate regional council for Muslims in the east. The formation of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) in the 1980s enabled Muslims to adopt a distinct political profile. Throughout the conflict and even during the 2002 cease-fire Muslims in the east faced attacks, land loss, intimidation, harassment, abductions and extortion by the LTTE.
Muslims also became target of other gruesome massacres by the LTTE, and this led some Muslim political leaders in 1992 to discuss the needs for a jihad, or holy war, to defend their religion. In the same year a 160 were killed in a mosque attack in Eravur. During 1990, 130 Muslims were gunned down at the Kattankudy mosque.
Muslims were the victims of attacks in the Eastern Province, which had the objective of clearing the region of non-Tamils. In 1990, the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE or ‘Tamil Tigers’) began a purge of all Muslims living in the north some 70,000 lost their homes overnight and most remain in displaced camps. Muslims are strongly opposed to becoming a minority within a Tamil-speaking and Tamil-dominated homeland consisting of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The increasing radicalization of Tamil politics, especially the shift in Tamil demands from federalism to secession, drastically affected Tamil-Muslim relations. Muslims of the eastern region speak Tamil. Muslims are also divided between mainly agriculturists living in the east, and traders who are dispersed across the island. The remaining Muslim community is dispersed throughout the urban centres of Sri Lanka. The majority of these live in the east, where they constitute more than a third of the population. The Moors make up the larger majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka.
The Malays are Muslim immigrants from South Asia who arrived in the country during Dutch colonial rule in the 17 th century. The term ‘Moor’ has historically been applied to Muslims of Arab origin, though ‘Moors’ are largely believed to also include Muslims of Indian origin. Muslims also include smaller Islamic sects including Boras and Kolas. The major groups that make up Sri Lanka’s almost 2 million Muslims (2012 Census) are Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Moors and the Malays. We have a small favour to ask: if you appreciate our work, would you mind considering making a donation to support our work? Thanks for using our World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples! We hope you find it interesting.
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