history of inciting inter-communal violence, including the deadly antiMuslim pogrom in 2018 mentioned above and previously in 2014. Gnanasara also rejected the Dalai Lama as a global spiritual leader, criticizing him for being influenced by “Islamic extremists.” The Sri Lankan government has repeatedly denied him a visa due to Chinese pressure. Within months of taking office, Rajapaksa intensified state hostility towards Muslim communities, using Covid-19 lockdowns and village quarantines to harass them. In 2020, the government exacerbated tensions by banning Muslims from burying anyone suspected of dying from the disease and enforced cremation.192 The last few years in Sri Lanka have been marked by unprecedented popular uprisings against authoritarian Rajapakse rule – a political family that emerged in the early 2000s and led the Sri Lankan armed forces to a so-called “military victory” against Tamil separatists in 2009 – and the status quo, in opposition to the economic crisis, political corruption, nepotism and the culture of impunity. Many see the economic crisis as being directly related to the Rajapakses and their political allies, due to the years of flagrant corruption and extortion by the family.193 These movements reached a climactic victory in 2022, when they successfully ousted Rajapakse from the Presidency.194 However, they were then met with brutal and violent state crackdown with the involvement of the military.195 The increasing military involvement in government operations, such as in state repression of protests or in carrying out the government’s so-called ‘anti-drug program’,196 shows a tacit return to power for the military, and acts as a mark of continuing Rajapakse family rule via a proxy. The proxy of the Rajapakses is the current president, Ranil Wickramasinghe and his government cohorts have emerged as important fascist and fundamentalist political actors in the Sri Lankan landscape. 192 UN News. (2022). Hate speech, misinformation and violence in focus for Sri Lanka’s online users. Global Issues. https://www.globalissues.org/news/2022/01/25/29895 193 Senanayake, D. (2023). Where Does Sri Lanka’s Protest Movement Go From Here? The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2023/04/where-does-sri-lankas-protest-movement-go-from-here/ 194 BBC. (2022). Sri Lanka political dynasty ends as Rajapaksa quits. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/worldasia-62160227 195 International Federation for Human Rights. (2023). Anatomy of a crackdown - The repression of Sri Lanka’s aragalaya protest movement. International Federation for Human Rights. https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/sri_lanka802aweb.pdf 196 Financial Times. (2024). UN experts call on SL Govt. to immediately suspend and review ‘Yukthiya’ anti-drug operation. Financial Times. https://www.ft.lk/front-page/UN-experts-call-on-SL-Govt-to-immediately-suspend-and-reviewYukthiya-anti-drug-operation/44-757676 55