Colombo, March 4 (newsin.asia) – Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was last week appointed as the island’s new Law and Order Minister said Sunday that his Ministry would conduct a comprehensive probe into the Buddhist, Muslim clashes which hit Ampara, in Eastern Sri Lanka last week.
The Law and Order Ministry, in a statement said the DIG in charge in the Batticaloa District had been ordered to conduct an impartial probe and take action against those responsible.
The Ministry further said that immediate steps would be taken to compensate those whose shops and vehicles had been destroyed and burnt in the clashes while steps would also be taken to restore the mosque which had been damaged.
At least five people were wounded and several shops and a mosque damaged in a clash between majority Sinhalese Buddhists and minority Muslims in Ampara last week.
According to local media reports, the attack took place after a group of people accused a Muslim owned shop of mixing some infertility pills in the food.
The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka (MCSL), an umbrella body that includes most Muslim organizations in the country, condemned the attack and requested the government to conduct an impartial inquiry into it and arrest the perpetrators.
Muslim Ministers too, last week condemned the latest spate of violence and called on the government conduct an immediate and impartial probe.
President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe have promised to protect minorities, but attacks against Muslims have continued in the island country.
Muslims comprise about nine percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 21 million. Buddhists make up about 70 percent and Hindus about 13 percent.