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COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, November 6, 2004: Life in the Muslim stronghold of Katthankudy in eastern Sri Lanka was brought to a standstill for five days recently as the orthodox Jamiat- ul-Ulema indulged in violent protests against a “Sufi” group, which was allegedly spreading “Hindu” ideas. The followers of the Jamiat-ul-Ulema demolished the Rahmaniya and Ibrahimiya madrasas (theological schools) in Katthankudy, alleging that these schools, run by the Sufi preacher AJ Abdur Rauf Mowlavi, were spreading Hindu ideas and rituals among the Muslims, especially the young. What happens in Katthankudy is critical for Muslim society and politics in Sri Lanka because it is the only completely Muslim town in Sri Lanka. Set in the eastern district of Batticaloa, it is believed to have the largest number of mosques per square kilometer in the world. There are 65 mosques in this small town. In the last ten years, under the influence of the Saudi Arabian Wahabi sect, Katthankudy has become an exceptionally orthodox place in Sri Lanka where practically every woman, no matter of what age group, is shrouded from head to foot. There is also some Pakistani influence with shops and streets named after Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Since the late 1970s, the entrenched Jamiat-ul-Ulema group has been viewing with alarm the activities of the charismatic Abdur Rauf Mowlavi and his band of Sufis. Rauf Mowlavi’s followers say that Sufism is an accepted creed in Islam. The attackers, who are orthodox Wahabis, cannot claim to be the sole arbiters of what is Islamic and what is not. The Wahabis have no right to impose their hegemony on them, they insist. At any rate, Wahabis came to Katthankudy only 10 years ago.

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