Text and pix by Surekha Ratnatunga

The pervasive smell of human blood and the sound of shattering glass still occupy the Masjid-ur-Rahman Mosque in Beruwela on Wednesday  morning. Followers of the Wahabi sect of Islam have just begun sweeping up the debris, but the area for ablutions where two men were killed and nine were severely injured four days earlier remains a gruesome scene. A torched medical clinic and library adjacent to the Mosque has been reduced to charred furniture and clumps of soot.

Muslim sectarian violence between Wahabis and the Sunnis (both have Mosques in the same Beruwela village) erupted after a Wahabi cleric criticized during Friday's midday prayer the Bukhari feast celebrated by Sunnis. Over 50,000 Muslims from across the country attended the 135th Bukhari feast on Thursday night, according the lawyer for the Sunni Sheik Ahmed. The incident was triggered by allegedly inflammatory remarks made by a Moulavi (cleric) against the Sunni group during Friday's Jummma sermon at the Masjid-ur- Rahman Mosque. It had aired over loud speakers.

 According to Sheik Ahmed's lawyer, a group of Sunnis filed a complaint with police and then visited the Masjid-ur-Rahman Mosque Friday afternoon looking for the cleric who delivered the sermon, but he had apparently left town. The violence started when the Sunni group returned to the Mosque early Saturday morning. The mob used knives, rakes and concrete blocks as makeshift murder weapons during  the attack that lasted approximately an hour, according to a Wahabi  leader.

About 130 Sunni devotees surrendered into police custody, apparently to protect their high priest, Sheik Ahmed. Court identification proceedings were due to begin on July 29th in Kalutara, but have been postponed to August 6th.

The Wahabis are a more orthodox branch of Islam. A Wahabi leader condemned the Bukhari feast as social and not religious for allowing  men and women to mingle. He also said the Bukhari feast was a waste of  money.

This is not the first time tensions overflowed between the two Islamic sects. There were clashes in 2002 after the Masjid-ur-Rahman Mosque opened, according to locals in the Beruwela area. Sheik Ahmed's lawyer  claims the Masjid-ur-Rahman Mosque is unlicensed and is built in too close proximity to the Sunni Mosque. Sheik Ahmed's lawyer also says the Sunnis will file a defamation case against the Masjid-ur-Rahman Mosque for its offensive sermon.

The Sunday Times of August 2 will publish a fuller report on the incident in its Op-ed page - watch this space.