Sri Lanka investigates troops over ‘humiliation’ of Muslims

Social media posts show soldiers forcing Muslims to kneel on the street as punishment for flouting COVID lockdown rules.

Sri Lanka’s military has launched an investigation after social media posts showed soldiers forcing minority Muslims to kneel on the streets as a punishment for flouting lockdown rules. Armed soldiers ordered Muslim civilians to hold their hands in the air while kneeling on a road in the town of Eravur, about 300km (190 miles) east of the capital Colombo, AFP news agency reported on Sunday. Residents said they considered the order degrading and humiliating, while officials acknowledged that troops had no power to mete out such punishments.