On May 23 Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, known for its nationalist stance, publis...
KURUNEGALA, Sri Lanka - On May 23 Sri Lankan newspaper Divaina, known for its nationalist stance, published a front page article alleging a Muslim doctor had secretly sterilized 4,000 Sinhala Buddhist women after caesarean deliveries.
Allegations a Muslim doctor might be forcibly sterilizing Buddhists are particularly incendiary on an island where hardliners within the Buddhist majority have accused Muslims of seeking to use a higher birth rate to spread their influence. Shafi is a prominent physician in the province’s Buddhist heartland of Kurunegala, a district with a high concentration of army personnel and the constituency of nationalist ex-President Mahinda Rajapaksa, now the leader of the opposition.
In an interview, Imara described her husband as a devout Muslim and caring physician. He has not been a member of a militant group, she said. More than 600 women have lodged statements about Shafi, that hospital authorities refer to as “complaints,” since the accusations were made public. Several told Reuters they simply wanted to be checked.