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Sri Lanka Main articles: Expulsion of Muslims from the Northern province by LTTE, 1915 Ceylonese riots, Mawanella Riots and 2014 anti-Muslim riots in Sri Lanka

The 1990 expulsion of Muslims from Sri Lanka was an act of ethnic cleansing[100][101] carried out by Tamils of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization in October 1990. In order to achieve their goal of creating a mono ethnic Tamil state[102][103] in the North Sri Lanka, the LTTE forcibly expelled the 75,000 strong Muslim population from the Northern Province.[104] The first expulsion was in Chavakacheri, of 1,500 people. After this, Muslims in Kilinochchi and Mannar were forced many to leave their homeland. The turn of Jaffna came on 30 October 1990; when LTTE trucks drove through the streets ordering Muslim families to assemble at Osmania College. There, they were told to exit the city within two hours.

On 4 August 1990, Tamil militants massacred over 147 Muslims in a mosque in Kattankudi.[105][106][107][108] The act took place when around 30 Tamil rebels raided four mosques in the town of Kattankudi, where over 300 people were prostrating during prayers. The LTTE later apologized (during the 2000 peace talks) for this act and asked the Muslims to return, but very few Muslims have taken up the offer.[109]

Religious minorities have been subjected to increased persecution and attacks owing to the widespread mono-ethnic Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism in Sri Lanka.[110][111][112][113] A nationalistic Buddhist group, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), is alleged to have been behind attacks on Mosques and Muslims,[114][115][116][117] as well as having organized a moral unofficial police team to check the activities of Christian missionaries and Muslim influence in daily life.[118][119][120] The BBC reported that "Sri Lanka’s Muslim minority is being targeted by hardline Buddhists. [...] There have also been assaults on churches and Christian pastors but it is the Muslims who are the most concerned.[121] The BBS has received criticism and oppostition from other Buddhist clergy and politicians. Mangala Samaraweera, a Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhist politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2015, has accused the BBS of being "a representation of ‘Taliban’ terrorism’" and of spreading extremism and communal hatred against Muslims.[122][123] Samaraweera has also alleged that the BBS is secretly funded by the Ministry of Defence.[122][123] Anunayake Bellanwila Wimalaratana, deputy incumbent of Bellanwila Rajamaha Viharaya and President of the Bellanwila Community Development Foundation, has stated that "The views of the Bodu Bala Sena are not the views of the entire Sangha community" and that "We don’t use our fists to solve problems, we use our brains".[124] Wataraka Vijitha Thero, a buddhist monk who condemns violence against Muslims and heavily criticized the BBS and the government, has been attacked and tortured for his stances.[125][126][127]

Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism is opposed to Sarvodaya, although they share many of the same influences like Dharmapāla's teachings by example, by having a focus upon Sinhalese culture and ethnicity sanctioning the use of violence in defence of dhamma, while Sarvodaya has emphasized the application of Buddhist values in order to transform society and campaigning for peace.[128]