斯里兰卡穆斯林

　　Buddhist power

　　佛教武装

　　Another minority is under threat

　　又一个少数群体遭受威胁

　　Living in fear

　　活在恐惧中

　　FIVE years after the end of a bloody civil war that pitted Sri Lanka's ethnic-Sinhala-dominated government against members of its Tamil minority, fears are growing about mounting violence along another of the country's fault-lines—religion. On June 15th Sinhala Buddhist mobs rampaged through three towns on the southern coast, burning and attacking Muslim businesses and homes. Families cowered in marshes and took refuge in mosques as crowds banged on doors, baying for Muslims to come out. Some carried clubs, others flung petrol bombs.

　　五年之前，主要民族僧伽罗人控制的政府军和泰米尔少数民族之间的血腥内战让斯里兰卡变得遍地弹坑。如今，对于该国不同宗教间不断增加的暴力冲突的担忧也越来越多。6月15日，僧伽罗佛教暴徒在南部沿海的三个城镇实施暴行，焚烧和袭击了穆斯林商店和居住地。大群暴徒敲打着穆斯林的家门，叫嚣着让他们滚出去。这些暴徒拿着木棒，挥舞着汽油炸弹，所以居民们只能退缩到沼泽或到清真寺里去寻求保护。

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　　The violence sputtered for nearly two days. Four people, three of them Muslims, were killed, and about 80 were injured. Calm was restored only when the army stepped in on June 17th. Outnumbered, the police and their special forces had struggled to beat back the mobs. Angry Muslims say many stood by and did nothing.

　　暴行持续了两天，造成4人死亡，80人受伤。直到17日，军队进入事发地区后才恢复了平静。这之前，寡不敌众的警方和特殊武装一直在勉强对抗暴徒。愤怒的穆斯林表示很多军人只是在围观，而没有采取任何行为。

　　The mobs were incited by an inflammatory speech from a Buddhist monk named Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara. A rabble-rouser like the Burmese monk, Wirathu, whom he recently visited, Mr Gnanasara leads an organisation called Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Power Force, that supports militancy against minorities to preserve the dominance of the Buddhist majority. Muslims have been particular targets. Although just 10% of the population, they are making headway in business and finance. Most shops attacked this week were run by Muslims. Some were razed to the ground.

　　这些暴徒是受到了佛教僧侣Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara讲话的煽动。Gnanasara是一个和缅甸僧侣维拉图一样的煽动者，他最近还拜访了后者。Gnanasara领导着一支名为Bodu Bala Sena的组织，该组织支持用武装力量打击少数教派来保住多数人信奉的佛教的统治地位。穆斯林被列为主要的打击对象。只占10%的人口的穆斯林在贸易和财政行业表现出色。本周受到袭击的店铺大多为穆斯林经营的。但其中不少被夷为了平地。

　　The BBS organised a rally in the town of Aluthgama at which Mr Gnanasara raged that any “marakkalaya”who laid a finger on a Sinhalese was doomed. His timing was pointed. Three days earlier hundreds of angry people had surrounded the Aluthgama police station after a Muslim man assaulted the driver of a Buddhist monk following a traffic dispute. The monk claimed that he too had been wounded. The government was blamed for allowing the BBS meeting to take place so soon after the incident. The inspector-general of police said he had thought the rally would end peacefully. Muslim parliamentarians countered that they had tried hard to stop it from going ahead. Mr Gnanasara's hate speech clearly violates the law. Nor is this the first time he has incited violence against Muslims. He has not yet been arrested for his latest speech, though on June 17th the police got a court order to stop another BBS rally. They have been authorised to shoot violators.

　　“佛教武装力量”曾组织在Aluthgama镇发起了一次集会，集会上Gnanasara愤怒地表示任何一个动了僧伽罗人的“marakkalaya”都完蛋了。他刻意选择了这个时机。3天前，因为一名穆斯林男子在一次交通纠纷后袭击了佛教徒司机，数百民愤怒的民众包围了Aluthgama警察局。这个佛教徒司机称自己也受了伤。在事故发生后这么短的时间内居然让“佛教武装力量”举行了集会，政府因此饱受指摘。警察总长表示，他本以为集会和平结束。穆斯林议员们也反驳说，他们已经为阻止集会发生做了很多努力。Gnanasara充满恶意的演讲明显违反了法律，而且这已经不是他第一次煽动对于穆斯林的仇恨。目前，Gnanasara还没有因为最近的这次演讲而被逮捕，但警方在6月17号接到了阻止“佛教武装力量”集会的法庭命令。他们也被允许对反抗者开枪。

　　The local press has largely ignored or played down the rioting. As it was under way President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Bolivia at the G77 summit, tweeting breezily about climate change. After being criticised for his apparent insouciance, he did take to Twitter again to pledge to “bring to book” those responsible. He has promised an investigation and has said the government will rebuild destroyed houses and shops. But his government will find it hard to portray itself as a staunch defender of its Muslim minority.

　　大部分地方媒体忽视或是淡化了这次暴动。正在玻利维亚参加77国集团峰会的马欣达·拉贾帕克萨总统也是如此，他轻描淡写地发布着关于气候变化的推特。被批评为漠不关心后，总统又再发推特，保证会“谴责”这些不负责任的人。他还承诺会展开调查，并表示政府将修复被摧毁的房屋和店面。但是拉贾帕克萨政府很难让人相信他们会成为为穆斯林少数群体坚定的保护者。