(25 Apr 2019) After fleeing their homes in Pakistan over militant attacks and government persecution, hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims felt they had finally found peace in Sri Lanka as they sought resettlement around the world.
Then came the Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, many of whom were Christians praying at church, and suddenly they were targeted again.
Many say that Sri Lankans suspicious of their beards, their little-known faith and nationalities have shouted at some, throwing stones and hitting them with sticks.
Others saw their homes attacked.
Now nearly 200 huddle inside their mosque in Negombo and more than 500 are seeking shelter in the small town of Pasyala, 30 kilometres (20 miles) away - just one sign of the fear pervading the Muslim community across this multiethnic island off the southern tip of India.
Activists say some Muslim youths have disappeared, perhaps arrested by tight lipped security forces, while others stay at home, fearful the bombings will spark retaliation from either the government or angry mobs in a nation where inter-religious violence can strike.
"When we were in Pakistan, if you tell we are Ahmadi, they killed us but here we have this problem, we can't even tell we are Pakistanis," said Ahsan Mahmood, a 27-year-old Ahmadi Muslim who fled Pakistan four years ago.
"They say if you have beard it means you are a terrorist," he added.
Sunday's coordinated suicide bombings targeted three churches and three hotels, killing at least 359 people and wounding 500 more.
Authorities have blamed a local group, National Towheed Jamat, previously only known for vandalising Buddhist statues and the extremist online sermons of its leader, alternately named Mohammed Zahran or Zahran Hashmi.
But by Tuesday, the Islamic State group had asserted it carried out the assault, bolstering its claim by publishing images of Zahran and others pledging loyalty to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The Ahmadi Muslims said the harassment only grew more amplified in the days after the attack, fuelled by a mistaken sense that since they came from Pakistan, they too must be like the extremists.
Moulavi K.M Muneer Ahmed, a senior Ahmadi Muslim leader, told the Associated Press that local people have tried to attack Ahmadi Muslims and pulled them out of their houses.
"They're trying to disturb this Ahmadi people because they're thinking that Pakistanis are involved in terrorist activities," he added.
But the Ahmadi themselves have fled decades of persecution in Pakistan.
Ahmadis believe another Islamic prophet, Ahmad, appeared in the 19th century, a view at odds with the fundamental Islamic principle that Muhammad was the final messenger sent by God.
Pakistan changed its constitution in 1974 to declare Ahmadis non-Muslims.
Ten years later, the government declared it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to "pose as Muslims."
They are forbidden from calling their places of worship mosques and cannot sound the call to prayer.
Like other religious minorities, they can face blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty, sometimes used by neighbours in petty disputes to target them.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
