The remote Sri Lankan enclave that produced the mastermind of a massacre
2019-04-27 11:48:27 source：The Washington Post
April 26, 2019
KATTANKUDY, Sri Lanka — To enter this seaside town, visitors pass through a soaring arched gateway bearing messages of welcome and verses in Arabic calligraphy. Beyond it is a city of narrow streets and dozens of mosques, an island of Islamic life in a predominantly Buddhist country.
Like the rest of Sri Lanka, Kattankudy is grappling with anger and grief in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings that killed more than 250 people. But this Muslim enclave is also struggling with the knowledge that it was home to Zahran Hashim, the alleged organizer of the plot who also carried out one of the suicide bombings.
It was here, in the sandy lanes leading from the beach, that Hashim founded National Thowheed Jamaath, an extremist group that brought him into conflict with members of his own family and the larger community — a conflict that ultimately pushed him into hiding, where his views grew more radical and violent.
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