8-year-old Aaliyah Dilshan shares her experience of the Digana anti-Muslim riots

It was a very calm morning, I got up went to the hall and saw my mummy doing her work on her laptop, daddy was playing with my brothers. I had my breakfast and had a wash, my mummy took her break and kept my baby brother in his high chair and me and my other brother on the couch. My mummy was going to feed us. My grandma was in the out side- kitchen. Just then there was a noise like people FIGHTING.

My mummy thought that it was my father watching a video but when she asked him he said that he was not watching a video so she ran out and when she came back inside she was crying. I was really puzzled but then I went and saw outside and started to cry to because there were people running here and there and BURNING MY TOWN DOWN. So when I came in, my mummy went and prayed to god and I was crying that they might BURN OUR HOUSE DOWN. My grandpa told me , my brothers , my mummy and my daddy to go to the house up where my grandma’s sister’s house was but I was so scared that I did not want to go anywhere I THOUGT THAT I WOULD NOT LIVE A HOUR. My grandpa and my daddy called 119 and the police. By the time they came the whole town was burnt even my uncle’s shop.  They only managed to call the fire fighters and when they came they fogot [sic] to bring the water so by the time they brought it the shop was burnt. People think it was a petral bom [sic]. And back in the house people were calling and I was scared and was crying. In an hour the whole of 8TH mile post was burnt. And because shops were burnt the power went of [sic]. My daddy said that the police told him that if the power was on the fire could get bigger and spread so it was out till night.

 And when it came back my fright was a tiny bit better so because of that my mummy told me that me that I could sleep with her for the rest of the week.

Because I was so frightened that I could not sleep alone.

Comment Here

Guidelines to be Followed

#MinorMatters welcomes blog posts and articles that are original and thought provoking, written in a tone that is clear, respectful and engaging. All contributions will be curated prior to publication and contributors will be expected to adhere to the following guidelines as minimum standards for submission.

Accuracy

Only present as fact and/or information content that can be independently verified or content that is appropriately sourced from a reputed third party.

Fairness and thoroughness

Acknowledge that there may be multiple sides to any given issue and present your readers with information that is complete, comprehensive and contextual.

Privacy

We will not publish content that infringes a group or individual’s right to privacy, except in exceptional circumstances where there is a clear and valid public interest in doing so.

Transparency and accountability

Disclose your sources, deal openly with your readers and be accountable for what you submit.

Language

Be considerate of your readers. Do not use language that is obscene or explicit or racist. Do not employ threats, personal attacks or insults.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in each blog post belong solely to theirauthor and do not necessarily reflect the policies or position of #MinorMatters. Comments on the blog are the sole responsibility of their writers. #MinorMatters reserves the right to withhold publication of blog posts and comments that do not meet the website’s standards and requirements.