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1. I’m so shook about what is happening in Sri Lanka, I’m not sure what to do. I’ve just been sitting here staring at Twitter like a helpless goof. I thought I would provide just a snapshot of the country for people unfamiliar:
2. Let’s start here: Sri Lanka is massively ethno-religiously complex and a lot of reporting is likely to get it wrong. Of the 20-22 million people in Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese comprise the majority ethnic group, with 74%. They are predominately Buddhist and speak Sinhala.
3. The Tamil community in Sri Lanka is made up of Sri Lankan Tamils (12.6 percent) and Indian Tamils (5.6 percent), most of whom are Hindu, but with a significant number of Christians (mostly Catholic). They speak Tamil.
4. The Muslims of Sri Lanka make up about 7 percent of the population. They speak Tamil, but don’t see themselves as ETHNICALLY Tamil. This has put the community in the crosshairs of many militant groups on all sides.
5. The country experienced a bloody conflict from around 1983 to 2009 between the Tamil Tigers and the SL government. The war came to an end in May 2009.
6. Since then, hardliners in the Sinhala Buddhist community have come to target the Muslim community on several occasions.https://www.google.ca/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSBRE97A04G20130811 …
7. There have been rumours of Muslims in the country being radicalized and groups being funded by KSA/gulf states since at least the early 90s (including the group that is being linked to this attack). And it has been used as an excuse to preemptively attack Muslim communities
8. With this attack, the target selection doesn’t seem to point to Buddhist extremists (not sure what they would get out of killing tourists).
9/9. I would also be very careful using certain media sources out of India, random Facebook pages, and even some Sri Lankan media outlets and government officials as the sole source of info.
Good thread, thanks....Sri Lanka is a lovely country, but sadly plaqued by unrest for decades. Kandy in central Sri Lanka, a tea growing heaven, is magnificient, as are the beaches & the people. It is so sad to see this attack on people celebrating an otherwise joyful occasion.
1st: my sympathies to your commnty. 2nd, u did something very useful: U brought Sri Lanka to life for us. So important that these horrible events don’t remain foggy, abstract, far-away blimps that we just shrug at. Ur thread did that. It’s all that a conscientious person can do
I'm unfamiliar with Sri Lanka's politics and culture so thank you for this! So distraught by the attacks today; it is cowardly and pathetic to target any place of worship, especially on a holy day where worshippers are gathered in large numbers.
Thanks. Can’t fathom motivation. Or what links hotels and churches
Mumbai terrorists targeted a hotel. Dylan Roof targeted a church, others go for population centers like malls, etc. Your attack is designed to maximize destruction and visibility to get your sick message across. That's the sad link.
Those targets were generally linked to their ideology, though. Roof, for instance, was going after a traditional black community centre like generations of white supremacists before him. Not clear who's got a beef with churches and why.
Ideology can be a motivator, like the Synagogue and Mosque shooters. The sad truth is that Churches provide a place where people are all congregated together, vulnerable and with a lack of exits. Same as a concerts, theaters, school, summer camps on an island, etc.
Each of those was, again, linked to the attacker's ideology, though. Especially the summer camp. People who hate both foreign tourists and Sri Lanka's Christian Tamil minority are really rare, and it's weird for them to be able to organise an attack this big.
Then again, the congregation of Christians here, of necessity, likely included Sri Lankans of other ethnicities - Sinhalese, Burghur etc. Which only makes it the more incomprehensible. 
Hate is incomprehensible to most of us it seems. All we can try to do is understand all of the different factors and try to prevent it in the future. Just discussing this incident with nice people on here makes that clear. Our brains just can't process the madness behind it. 
My knowledge is expanded...thank you for sharing this thread...I hope the people of Sri Lanka put humanity before religious or cultural differences and remember we are all travelers in this world, no one is entitled to control the other.
As should we all remember regardless of where we are living in this world.
Absolutely
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