--> Proposed NEW version <--
The Sri Lankan government was aware of some foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to spread what justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe called Islamic extremism. In November 2016 he told parliament that 32 Sri Lankan Muslims from "well-educated and elite" families joined the ISIL. [1] On 25 April 2019, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed that the government had known of the Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State and returned to the country – but they couldn't be arrested, because joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law. [2] [3] [4]. For some wider background of Muslims in Sri Lanka read here Islam in Sri Lanka.
Independent sources, including the government-appointed Easter attacks commission and the UN, give strong indications that next to this foreign influence the radicalisation of a section of Sri Lankan Muslims was also fueled by local interracial tensions. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Those sources also refer to 2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka and 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka.
In the aftermath of the bombings investigations revealed that school textbooks for Islam published by the government also encouraged radicalisation of Muslims. The school books since the 1980s called for the death sentence for those who leave Islam. [10] [11]
--> Below the OLD version <--
(note that the reference list will have some duplicates due to this sandbox model, the mechanism is not fully detecting the duplicates.)
The Sri Lankan government was aware of some foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to spread what justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe called Islamic extremism. In November 2016 he told parliament that 32 Sri Lankan Muslims from "well-educated and elite" families joined the ISIL. [1] On 25 April 2019, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed that the government had known of the Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State and returned to the country – but they couldn't be arrested, because joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law. [2] [12] [4]
In the aftermath of the bombings investigations revealed that school textbooks for Islam published by the government also encouraged radicalisation of Muslims. The school books since the 1980s called for the death sentence for those who leave Islam. [13] [14]
--> Proposed NEW version <--
The Sri Lankan government was aware of some foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to spread what justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe called Islamic extremism. In November 2016 he told parliament that 32 Sri Lankan Muslims from "well-educated and elite" families joined the ISIL. [1] On 25 April 2019, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed that the government had known of the Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State and returned to the country – but they couldn't be arrested, because joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law. [2] [3] [4]. For some wider background of Muslims in Sri Lanka read here Islam in Sri Lanka.
Independent sources, including the government-appointed Easter attacks commission and the UN, give strong indications that next to this foreign influence the radicalisation of a section of Sri Lankan Muslims was also fueled by local interracial tensions. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] Those sources also refer to 2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka and 2018 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka.
In the aftermath of the bombings investigations revealed that school textbooks for Islam published by the government also encouraged radicalisation of Muslims. The school books since the 1980s called for the death sentence for those who leave Islam. [10] [11]
--> Below the OLD version <--
(note that the reference list will have some duplicates due to this sandbox model, the mechanism is not fully detecting the duplicates.)
The Sri Lankan government was aware of some foreigners arriving in Sri Lanka to spread what justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe called Islamic extremism. In November 2016 he told parliament that 32 Sri Lankan Muslims from "well-educated and elite" families joined the ISIL. [1] On 25 April 2019, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe revealed that the government had known of the Sri Lankan nationals who had joined Islamic State and returned to the country – but they couldn't be arrested, because joining a foreign terrorist organisation is not against the law. [2] [12] [4]
In the aftermath of the bombings investigations revealed that school textbooks for Islam published by the government also encouraged radicalisation of Muslims. The school books since the 1980s called for the death sentence for those who leave Islam. [13] [14]