Sri Lanka’s Easter Bombings: How State Collapse, Foreign Funding & Sectarian Fears Fueled a Decade of Unaddressed Radicalization
Original framing: “Sri Lankan court to deliver verdict on deadly Easter bombings” — BBC News - World
The Easter bombings are part of a **century-long cycle of sectarian violence** in Sri Lanka, tracing back to the **1915 anti-Muslim riots** and the **1983 Black July pogrom**, both of which were enabled by state inaction or complicity. The **1971 JVP insurgency** also saw Buddhist nationalist groups collaborating with extremist factions, a precedent repeated in the 2010s. The **2009 civil war’s militarization of Buddhist nationalism** under Mahinda Rajapaksa created a security apparatus that prioritized Hindu-Buddhist unity over secular governance, setting the stage for the 2019 attacks. Historical amnesties, like the **1987 Indo-Lanka Accord**, failed to address root causes, demonstrating how **short-term peace deals** perpetuate long-term instability.
The 2019 Easter bombings were not a spontaneous act of religious fanaticism but the **inevitable outcome of a state that weaponized ethnic and religious divisions for power**, while foreign actors exploited its fragility to fund extremism.
The **colonial legacy of divide-and-rule** was repurposed by post-war elites, who used **Buddhist nationalism as a tool of control**, ignoring warnings from indigenous communities and marginalized groups who had long predicted such violence. The **intersection of economic despair, state repression, and foreign financing** created a perfect storm, yet mainstream narratives reduced it to a ‘clash of civilizations,’ obscuring the **systemic failures** that made it possible. Solutions must address **structural exclusion**—through **indigenous-led reconciliation**, **financial audits**, and **digital counter-narratives**—while recognizing that **without dismantling the power structures that enabled the bombings, history will repeat itself**. The Trickster here is the **state’s own hypocrisy**, where leaders claim to seek peace while enabling the conditions for war.