A peaceful protest by Australian Sri Lankan Muslims is planned for Thursday, 26 June, outside the Federal Parliament House and the Sri Lankan embassy in Canberra.<\/p>\n
The rally, with around 400 expected to attend from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra, will be at the Sri Lankan High Commission from 10.30-12.00, and outside the Parliament House between 1.00 and 4.00pm.<\/p>\n
The rally will be calling for peace and justice for Muslims in Sri Lanka, and for the Australian government to condemn the attacks.<\/p>\n
The rally follows the shocking attack by Buddhist nationalist extremists on Muslims in three cities in the south-west of Sri Lanka that left four dead and over 100 wounded. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands have been forced to flee.<\/p>\n
The attacks led by the extremist Buddhist group, Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), have been condemned by the US, Canada and EU. But, so far, there has been no comment from the Australian government.<\/p>\n
The protesters are asking the Australian government to join the international voices and condemn the attacks on the Sri Lanka Muslims and to call on the Sri Lankan government to take decisive action against the sectarian group that is reportedly close to the ruling Rajapaksa regime.<\/p>\n
The attacks have become more notorious recently following the call by the editor of the Sri Lankan \u201cDaily News\u201d for the arrest of the Al Jazeera journalist who broke a Sri Lankan media blackout and reported the sectarian attacks.<\/p>\n