The failure of authorities to act decisively in the wake of the Sri Lanka church bombings on Western Easter has only encouraged more persecution of Christians. The Roman Catholic Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, has criticized the Sri Lankan government for failing to protect the churches despite government intelligence from India warning of the Easter attacks, and has called for more security for Christians. The Sri Lankan government has not heeded his call, and consequently Christians still live under constant threat all over Sri Lanka, as this story indicates. The Order hopes that the Sri Lankan government will begin to provide effective protection for all of Sri Lanka’s Christians.
“Muslim extremists order Christian Tamils to convert or move out of traditional homeland in Sri Lanka,” Barnabas Fund, July 11, 2019:
Many Tamil Christians and Hindus in Sri Lanka are being ordered by Muslim extremists to convert to Islam or leave the villages where their families have lived for generations.
Hindu Tamil rickshaw driver Jyothinathan Chandrasekhar, his wife, Vinojini, and their three-month-old child fled for their lives after jihadists burned out their home when they refused to convert. His rickshaw was also destroyed in the blaze on 31 August 2018.
The family lived in the village of Walathappatti in Ampara district, Eastern province, which for thousands of years has been the traditional home of ethnic Tamils. The majority of Tamils are Hindu, while around 20% are Christians.
According to local sources, Muslims came to dominate the area when they moved to new homes built for victims of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The new Muslim community went on to stake its claim by renaming the village Islamiapuram.
Jyothinathan and Vinojini, who have since moved to another district, said nine of their relatives have been forcibly converted to Islam by the jihadists….
Photo by Frantishak – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20561365
