Colombo, March 7 (newsin.asia): The Telecom Regulatory Commission (TRC) of Sri Lanka has begun monitoring social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Viber, Whatsapp and YouTube as part of the government’s effort to curb hate speech, the State-run news agency Lankapuvath reported.
The Central Sri Lankan district of Kandy has been rocked by anti-Muslim riots.
The agency quoted the police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara to say that in view of continued disturbances in parts of Kandy district, the Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara has sent three Deputy Inspectors General and three Superintendents of Police to Kandy district to beef up the leadership of the law and order mechanism there.
Additionally, police curfew was re-imposed throughout Kandy disrict.
On Tuesday, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena promulgated an island-wide State of Emergency for seven days.
Opposition Leader Rajapaksa Blames Government
Meanwhile, former Sri Lankan President and MP Mahinda Rajapaksa rejected reports that the violence in Digana and other places in Kandy district stemmed from a “political conspiracy” and said that the incidents reflect the “inaction of the United National Party (UNP) led government.
“This is not a political conspiracy. It reflects the inaction of the UNP. They are not keen on resolving the matter and the government has deviated from its responsibilities. There is no one to turn to,” Rajapaksa said in response to journalists’ questions outside his residence in Nugegoda on Tuesday.
Party leaders of the Joint Opposition met a group of Islamic community leaders at Rajapaksa’s residence Tuesday evening.
Speaking to media following the meeting, the former President said that they discussed the latest incidents and urged that immediate measures should be taken to prevent the tense situation from aggravating.
“We request everyone to respect rule of law, maintain law and order and not to hurt anyone belongs to different ethnic communities. We all should act responsibly,” Rajapaksa said.
He said he was surprised at the silence maintained by the government over the issue.
“The State of Emergency should have been imposed before,” Rajapaksa said.
