The burned wall of Masjidul Lafir Jummah Mosque is seen in Digana, Sri...READ ON
The burned wall of Masjidul Lafir Jummah Mosque is seen in Digana, Sri Lanka, March 2018. The attacks there were carried out by Buddhist mobs, leaving many homes and shops destroyed and one young man dead.
A man looks out of a burned out window at Masjidul Lafir Jummah Mosque in...READ ON
A man looks out of a burned out window at Masjidul Lafir Jummah Mosque in Digana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
The walls of destroyed homes in Digana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
The wreckage of the Hilmy family furniture store at Eighth Mile Post,...READ ON
The wreckage of the Hilmy family furniture store at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
Zainab Hilmy stands for a portrait in the wreckage of her family's...READ ON
Zainab Hilmy stands for a portrait in the wreckage of her family's furniture store at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
Zainab Hilmy's father (center) stands in the wreckage of his...READ ON
Zainab Hilmy's father (center) stands in the wreckage of his family's furniture store at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
A wrecked store front at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
Workers repaint a ruined building at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
Zainab Hilmy's niece, Aaliyah Dilshan, holds a digital copy of her...READ ON
Zainab Hilmy's niece, Aaliyah Dilshan, holds a digital copy of her account of the night the furniture store was destroyed, at her home at Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
A young boy waits at a bus stop in front of a destroyed vegetable shop in...READ ON
A young boy waits at a bus stop in front of a destroyed vegetable shop in Eighth Mile Post, Akurana, Sri Lanka, March 2018.
On March 7, 2018, a strike of Buddhist-Muslim violence hit the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka, and some of the villages in the surrounding area. There had been no prior history of such acts or discrimination, but on that fateful day a Buddhist mob of over three-hundred quickly grew with the help of social media and burned out the Masjidul Lafir Jummah Mosque and several other homes in Kandy, resulting in the death of one young man. Approximately twenty kilometers away, the furniture store of Jezeer Mohamed Hilmy was also burned down by a Buddhist mob, among them were people he counted as friends, neighbors and those he had lent money to. The store was everything to him and his family. His daughter Zainab, who had just finished her studies to become a lawyer, returned home to help look after her parents. Jezeer was at his home some distance from the store when the attack happened, but his extended family lives just a few hundred feet down the road and witnessed his store go up in flames. Their youngest daughter, Aaliyah, who was only eight years old at the time, asked her mother, "Are they going to come and burn us also?" Thankfully there have been no follow up attacks, but the family lives in fear of repercussions, having no idea why the attack happened all of a sudden. Now, their only course of action is to wait for government reimbursement so they can try to rebuild their lives.
Andre Malerba is an award winning freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer in Bangkok, Thailand, covering Southeast Asia and the larger region.