With Mahinda Rajapaksa falling to a stunning defeat, there’s one question that remains to be answered. Many among the Sinhala majority and even the Tamils had made their preference for Maithripala Sirisena known even before the first vote was cast, but how did Rajapaksa end up losing the Muslim vote, too? For the answer, you will have to rewind to June 2014 when three were killed in a clash at Aluthgama, a southwestern coastal town, which capped a series of incidents of anti-Muslim violence. According to Y L S Hameed, general secretary of the All Ceylon Makkal Congress, the Buddhist radicals behind the attacks were “sponsored” by the state to woo Sinhala votes. “But Rajapaksa’s calculations went wrong,” said Hameed. The Congress defected to the opposition on December 22, a week after the party’s leaders met Rajapaksa to demand action against those who attacked Muslims. “He gave us many promises but no action was taken,” Hameed said. On December 28, the country’s largest Muslim political party —- Sri Lanka Muslim Congress —- also defected, accusing the government of intolerance towards minorities. Sri Lanka has a population of roughly 2 million Muslims of whom about 1.4 million are registered voters, accounting for 10.7% of votes. “At least 90-95% of them cast their vote for Sirisena,” said a leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress. The Muslim leaders are clear about who is behind the violence: the Colombo-based Sinhalese Buddhists nationalistic organisation called Bodu Bala Sena. “They engaged in hate speech and attacks against the Muslim population. We were made victims and the government remained as a mute spectator,” claimed Hameed of All Ceylon Makkal Congress.
