Sufi, Wahabi clashes rock Kattankudy

By Asif Fuard

Kattankudy town in the Batticaloa district is still a ghost town with shops and public institutions remaining closed and roads empty as tension gripped the town following mob violence.

Police say the two factions responsible for the clashes are “Sufis” and “Wahhabis”- two rival Muslim religious groups.

The problems began last Saturday, when a group of women who had broken fast were on their way to a Sufi mosque for congregational prayers. When they arrived at the mosque they had been accosted by a group of young men belonging to the Wahabis who had started mocking them.

One of the women had retorted and an ensuing heated argument had ended with the woman being manhandled.Some Sufi followers who witnessed this scene had in turn attacked the Wahabi youth.

This saw attacks and counter attacks by both Wahabis and Sufi followers on houses and property.
The simmering violence took a turn for the worse when a group armed with rifles and claiming to be Jihadists hit the streets of Kattankudy, firing into the air and torched houses. Frightened Sufi followers had fled their homes and sought refuge in mosques.

With local police being unable to control the mounting violence, police from Batticaloa, Kalmunai and Ampara had been deployed. The curfew that was imposed on the day of the clashes was reimposed for four consecutive days. However in spite of the curfew, clashes continued on a lower intensity.

According to police there were seven reported cases of property being torched,two cases of houses being damaged, and eight cases of motorbikes being torched. However, unofficial reports say more than 40 houses were damaged displacing several hundreds of Muslims.

Meanwhile Batticaloa District’s DIG Lasantha De Silva had asked both parties to meet on Sunday to reach a compromise.

Despite the absence of the Sufi group leader Rauf Moulavi, 22 members of the Sufi group met with 10 members of the Jammiyathul Ulema the recognized body of Islamic scholars.

The members of the Jamayathul Ulema who represent the Kattankudy Grand Mosque put forward 10 conditions that affect the religious belief and practices of the Sufis.

Some those included abiding by the rules and regulations of the Kattankudy Jammiyathul Ulema Council, stopping the radio broadcast and publishing the newspaper run by the Sufis and giving compensation to the houses damaged.

However the Sufis declined to accept the terms and conditions setout by the Wahabi scholars as they said it breached Article 10 of the Constitution which states; every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to adopt a religion or belief of ones own choice. The negotiations ended abruptly with no party reaching consensus.

Meanwhile the DIG told The Sunday Times the deployment of additional troops and negotiations initiated by the police had helped to bring the situation under control.

“We have strengthened the number of police officers in Kattankudy and we are also imposing curfew regularly to avoid further clashes. I have also appointed three special investigation teams to probe into the Kattankudy clashes and prevent such clashes occurring in the future,” he said.

Clashes in Kattankudy between the Sufis and the Wahabis occur on a regular basis due to the conflict of beliefs between both schools of religious thought.

In October 2004 similar clashes occurred in Kattankudy after a book was published by a Sufi leader which was considered controversial and un-Islamic by the Jammiyathul Ulema which represent the Wahhabi school of thought.Over 200 houses of Sufi followers were brunt down in the melee that followed.

The author of the book M.S.M. Abdullah alias ‘Payilvaan’ founded the Sufi group Tharikathul Mufliheen - 35 years ago. The book, written in Tamil and published in 1989 was criticised by the Jammiyathul Ulema – for containing remarks derogatory of Islam.

The Jammiyathul Ulema later declared a ‘Fatwa’ (a religious decree) against Payilvaan and after a court dispute that dragged on for years the Jammiyathul Ulema reachd a settlement.

Many wealthy Muslim businessmen and farmers in the East coast are followers of Abdur Rauf Moulavi and 'Payilvaan' who are the two main Sufi clerics in the area.

Abdur Rauf Moulavi's critics say that his teachings have been borrowed from Hinduism and are the work of Muslims of Tamil Nadu origin, settled in Kattankudy. The Wahhabi scholars claim that Rauf Moulavi’s teachings are new innovations and contradict the teaching of the Quran and Hadees which are fundamentals of Islam.

Meanwhile a special Muslim delegation left Colombo to Kattankudy on Friday to ease the tension especially during this holy month of Ramadan