It's tragic and terrible. In Sri Lanka, Easter Sunday was used as an occasion to bomb churches and hotels. So far over 200 are dead in the attacks, and as I write this, no one is sure who is responsible.
Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country. The biggest segment of the population is Buddhist, but there are sizeable populations of Hindus, Muslims and Christians as well. Something like 7% of the people are Christians. There have been tensions between the Buddhists and the Muslims, and occasionally with the Hindus as well. In the past, however, the Christians have not been involved in the mix. Targeting the Christians is a new phase, and doing it on Easter Sunday is especially heinous.
It may well be that the attacks in Sri Lanka are not coming from others in that country. They could be the work of Iranian backed terrorists. Iran is not far from Sri Lanka, and Teheran might look at an assault on Christians and tourists as a great way to strike back at the US or the West in general. No group has taken ownership of the attacks since they happened, and that is the usual method used by the Iranians to keep their distance from terror attacks. For example, in the 1990s, Teheran organized a major attack on the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires which killed about 100. No one claimed credit for the blast.
Most likely, it will take a few days before the authorities in Sri Lanka can determine who is responsible. If it turns out to be something set up by the mullahs in Iran, however, there ought to be a swift and unified response from the world community. Of course, when that doesn't happen, individual nations should act.
No matter who is responsible, however, we should join people all around the world in praying for the victims and their families. Let's hope that this is the last time the world experiences something like this.
Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country. The biggest segment of the population is Buddhist, but there are sizeable populations of Hindus, Muslims and Christians as well. Something like 7% of the people are Christians. There have been tensions between the Buddhists and the Muslims, and occasionally with the Hindus as well. In the past, however, the Christians have not been involved in the mix. Targeting the Christians is a new phase, and doing it on Easter Sunday is especially heinous.
It may well be that the attacks in Sri Lanka are not coming from others in that country. They could be the work of Iranian backed terrorists. Iran is not far from Sri Lanka, and Teheran might look at an assault on Christians and tourists as a great way to strike back at the US or the West in general. No group has taken ownership of the attacks since they happened, and that is the usual method used by the Iranians to keep their distance from terror attacks. For example, in the 1990s, Teheran organized a major attack on the Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires which killed about 100. No one claimed credit for the blast.
Most likely, it will take a few days before the authorities in Sri Lanka can determine who is responsible. If it turns out to be something set up by the mullahs in Iran, however, there ought to be a swift and unified response from the world community. Of course, when that doesn't happen, individual nations should act.
No matter who is responsible, however, we should join people all around the world in praying for the victims and their families. Let's hope that this is the last time the world experiences something like this.
1 comment:
Jeff: Buddhists will not take this lightly;Mosques may be burning before the week ends.
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