To Be Rich and Kill and Be Killed in Sri Lanka
Investigators at the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on Easter Sunday. Photo Credit: Chamila Karunarathne/Associated Press
It was Easter Sunday in Columbo, Sri Lanka. The paths of the children of two super-rich families were about to cross.
One family with four young children was having breakfast in the luxury Shangri-La hotel. Walking toward the hotel was the adult son from another family.
The families were the Povlsens from Denmark and the Ibrahims from Sri Lanka.
One was a billionaire in dollars. The other was a billionaire in rupees. One built a fortune through jeans, turtlenecks and all kinds of hip clothing. The other built a fortune through white pepper, black pepper and all kinds of spices.
Both families were well-known and admired. They were part of successful, close-knit family businesses in their countries.
In an instant, explosives blew three of Povlsen children to pieces. One Ibrahim son committed suicide to trigger the restaurant explosion.
Suicide bombers have been behind the recent series of devastating attacks around Sri Lanka. The attacks by Islamist extremists killed 250 people . Sri Lanka remains in shock.
Two sons of the Ibrahim family killed themselves in the attack. They killed the most people as they could. Why did they do this?
Behind the attack was an obscure Islamist group. The group had no history of serious violence.
The man behind the explosions is a Muslim zealot named Zaharan Hashim. Mr. Zaharan preached hateful messages against non-Muslims.
He engaged one of the Ibrahim brothers at a time of tension between between Buddhists and Muslims. Buddhists are the majority in Sri Lanka. Muslims make up about 10 percent of the population.
Buddhist monks had just led riots that killed several Muslims. Police officials said Mr. Hashim had tapped into this conflict. He encouraged young men in the area to deface Buddhist statues.
Police learned that a son of the Ibrahim family was one of the suicide bombers. They went to his mansion. His wife greeted them at the door. In front of her three children, the wife blew herself up. She killed three police officers and all the children. The children were ages 5, 4 and nine months.
Observers are wondering how this could happen. Why did the killers choose to kill Christians on Easter Sunday? It is not poverty. It is the belief that a martyr’s death will bring some reward. And it is the mistaken belief that their acts will change the future of the world.
Such people can come from any background. Recent history shows that money and education are not automatic barriers to suicidal behavior.
Source: The New York Times April 27, 2019