by Melani Manel Perera

Led by monks, a mob stopped a meeting that had brought together northern families, activists, Catholic clergy and foreign diplomats. The police were present but did not intervene to stop the attackers.

Colombo (AsiaNews) - A group of Buddhist monks on Monday night led a mob that forced its way into a meeting to honour war victims, which had brought together war survivors, Catholic priests and human rights activists as well as representatives of foreign embassies. Police present at the event did not raise a finger to stop the extremists.

Organised by Human Rights Right to Life, the meeting was held at the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) in Colombo and was attended by many families from northern Sri Lanka.

An hour into the event, a group of Buddhist radicals showed up. Shouting slogans against "US-sponsored" NGOs, they took pictures of the activists and families present.

After forcing their way into the building, they left to file a complaint at a local police station against the NGO claiming that human rights activists Nimalka Fernando and Fernando Brito had brought the families from the north to "get information to harm the government of Sri Lanka."

This is why they felt compelled to stop an "anti-national rally organised by traitors."

After the incident, the United States Embassy in Sri Lanka issued a statement, saying that it was "concerned that the initial reaction of the local police to this disruption appeared to be in support of the mob efforts to shut down the meeting".

"These protesters," it went on to say, "were not exercising their right to peaceful protest, but rather were disrupting a peaceful gathering of conflict survivors, including children. The strong impression was that the protesters were seeking to intimidate and silence those in attendance."

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