How Sterilisation Rumours Fuelled Anti Muslim Violence

Introduction

From 2018 onwards, one of the most dangerous rumours in modern Sri Lankan history claimed that Muslims were secretly trying to reduce the Sinhala Buddhist population by causing infertility. The conspiracy theory alleged that “sterilisation pills” or other fertility-reducing substances were being mixed into food, medicines or medical treatment without people’s knowledge. Although these claims had no scientific basis and were repeatedly disproved, they became a powerful catalyst for anti-Muslim violence, helping to justify mob attacks, political agitation and discrimination.

Rather than representing a case of mass psychogenic illness, this episode is better understood as a rumour-driven moral panic. False demographic fears spread through social media, nationalist networks and sensational media coverage before being reinforced by political rhetoric. The resulting violence demonstrates how fabricated health claims can become tools for communal mobilisation when they resonate with existing anxieties about identity, security and demographic change.

The Ampara restaurant attack

The rumour reached a turning point on 26 February 2018 in the eastern town of Ampara.

A Sinhala customer eating at a Muslim-owned restaurant claimed that a white lump found in a piece of roti or paratha was evidence of a “sterilisation pill”. A video recorded during the confrontation circulated rapidly online. Because the restaurant owner spoke only limited Sinhala, his confused responses were interpreted by the crowd as an admission that sterilising substances had been added deliberately to customers’ food.[csw.org.uk]csw.org.ukCSWGeneral Briefing: Sri LankaMay 1, 2020…Published: May 1, 2020

Within hours, the accusation triggered mob violence. Muslim-owned businesses were attacked, property was destroyed and a nearby mosque was vandalised. Several people were injured before police restored order. The incident quickly became a national story rather than remaining an isolated local dispute.[independent.lk]independent.lkCeylon IndependentMuslim shops attacked in Buddhist-Muslim clash in Sri Lanka's East, security strengthened in Ampara - Ceylon Independent…

Crucially, laboratory analysis soon demonstrated that the supposed “pill” was nothing more than starchy food matter—a lump of flour or dough. The Government Analyst found no evidence whatsoever of any chemical or pharmaceutical substance.[Ceylon Independent]independent.lkCeylon IndependentGovernment Analyst's report says clump of flour, not medicinal pills found in the Ampara eatery food - Ceylon Independe…

Why the infertility claims were implausible

The conspiracy rested on a medically impossible premise.

International health organisations responded unusually quickly because the rumour concerned reproductive medicine. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) jointly stated that there is no medication known to science that can be secretly mixed into food and permanently sterilise a person through ingestion. They described the claim as entirely baseless.[UNFPA Srilanka]srilanka.unfpa.orgSrilanka UNFPA Sri Lanka | UNFPA & WHO: Joint Media StatementUNFPA SrilankaUNFPA Sri Lanka | UNFPA & WHO: Joint Media StatementMarch 7, 2018…Published: March 7, 2018

The rumour nevertheless appealed to deeper demographic fears rather than scientific reasoning. It suggested that Muslims were supposedly attempting to outnumber the Sinhala Buddhist majority through a hidden programme of reproductive sabotage instead of ordinary political or social competition. This transformed ordinary commercial interactions—eating at restaurants, visiting pharmacies or receiving medical care—into imagined threats.

The claim also benefited from its simplicity. Unlike complex medical explanations, the rumour offered an emotionally satisfying narrative that appeared to explain broader anxieties about changing demographics and communal relations.

From restaurants to hospitals

The panic did not end with Ampara.

After the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in April 2019, suspicion shifted towards Muslim medical professionals. The most prominent case involved a Muslim obstetrician, Dr Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi, who was accused in newspaper reports of secretly sterilising thousands of Sinhala Buddhist women during Caesarean operations and of having links to Islamist terrorism.

The allegations generated enormous publicity and intensified anti-Muslim hostility. However, extensive investigations by Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department found no evidence that the doctor had carried out covert sterilisations or that he had terrorist connections. AFP Fact Check later documented that the principal allegations had been disproved by investigators.[AFP Fact Check]factcheck.afp.comAFP Fact CheckSri Lankan authorities found the Muslim surgeon had not performed any sterilisations | Fact CheckJuly 5, 2019…Published: July 5, 2019

The episode illustrated how the same conspiracy theory evolved over time. Instead of alleging contaminated food, it expanded into accusations that Muslim doctors were conducting secret demographic warfare through surgical procedures.

Rumour, nationalism and political mobilisation

The sterilisation conspiracy resonated because it connected with long-standing nationalist narratives portraying Sri Lankan Muslims as an organised demographic threat rather than as an ordinary religious minority.

Rumours had circulated for years alleging that Muslim-owned businesses were using contraceptives or fertility-reducing substances against Sinhala customers. Social media significantly accelerated their spread, allowing dramatic but unverified stories to circulate far faster than official corrections. Researchers and observers have noted that Facebook and messaging platforms enabled local incidents to become national controversies within hours.[CSW]csw.org.ukCSWGeneral Briefing: Sri LankaMay 1, 2020…Published: May 1, 2020

The Ampara incident also demonstrates how misunderstandings could become politically charged. Accounts from investigators and later analyses describe how a language barrier between the customer and restaurant owner helped transform a routine disagreement into what observers believed was a confession, providing apparent “proof” for an existing conspiracy theory.[CSW]csw.org.ukCSWGeneral Briefing: Sri LankaMay 1, 2020…Published: May 1, 2020

Nationalist organisations and some media outlets amplified these narratives by presenting demographic competition as an existential struggle. Once embedded within that framework, ordinary evidence—such as laboratory reports disproving the presence of drugs—struggled to reverse beliefs that had already become emotionally and politically meaningful.

Why the rumour proved so resilient

Several factors helped the conspiracy survive repeated factual refutation.

Lasting significance

The sterilisation rumours became one of the clearest examples in Sri Lanka of a false health claim producing real social harm.

Unlike a panic centred on unexplained illness or supernatural fears, this was a conspiracy theory that transformed fabricated medical claims into justification for communal violence. The violence itself was real, even though the underlying allegation was not.

The episode also illustrates an important feature of modern rumour panics: they rarely depend on complete public belief. Even when many people doubted the claims, repeated circulation through social media, partisan media and political discourse created sufficient uncertainty to legitimise discrimination and violence against an already vulnerable minority.

For historians of collective fear, the Ampara attack and the subsequent sterilisation allegations show how demographic anxieties, misinformation and communal politics can combine to produce a moral panic whose consequences extend far beyond the original rumour.

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Further Reading

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Endnotes

1. Source: csw.org.uk
Title: CSWGeneral Briefing: Sri Lanka
Link:https://www.csw.org.uk/2020/05/01/report/4640/article.htm

Published: May 1, 2020

2. Source: independent.lk
Link:https://www.independent.lk/muslim-shops-attacked-buddhist-muslim-clash-sri-lankas-east-security-strengthened-ampara/

3. Source: Wikipedia
Title: 2018 anti Muslim riots in Sri Lanka
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_anti-Muslim_riots_in_Sri_Lanka

4. Source: independent.lk
Link:https://www.independent.lk/government-analysts-report-says-clump-flour-not-medicinal-pills-found-ampara-eatery-food/

5. Source: srilanka.unfpa.org
Title: Srilanka UNFPA Sri Lanka | UNFPA & WHO: Joint Media Statement
Link:https://srilanka.unfpa.org/en/news/unfpa-who-joint-media-statement

Published: March 7, 2018

6. Source: factcheck.afp.com
Link:https://factcheck.afp.com/sri-lankan-authorities-found-muslim-surgeon-had-not-performed-any-sterilisations

Published: July 5, 2019

7. Source: factcheck.afp.com
Link:https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.B4M99KE

8. Source: factcheck.afp.com
Link:https://factcheck.afp.com/man-circled-photo-parliamentarian-sri-lankas-ruling-party-not-doctor-who-was-falsely-accused

9. Source: factcheck.afp.com
Title: Sri Lanka
Link:https://factcheck.afp.com/AFP-Sri-Lanka

10. Source: ctc.westpoint.edu
Title: terrorism teardrop island understanding easter 2019 attacks sri lanka
Link:https://ctc.westpoint.edu/terrorism-teardrop-island-understanding-easter-2019-attacks-sri-lanka/

11. Source: aljazeera.com
Link:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/3/13/in-sri-lanka-hate-speech-and-impunity-fuel-anti-muslim-violence

12. Source: csw.org.uk
Title: General Briefing: Sri Lanka
Link:https://www.csw.org.uk/2021/03/01/report/5022/article.htm

Additional References

13. Source: srilanka.factcrescendo.com
Title: no evidence to suggest isis agents spreading aids in sri lanka
Link:https://srilanka.factcrescendo.com/english/no-evidence-to-suggest-isis-agents-spreading-aids-in-sri-lanka/

14. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT6sNi6FZGM

15. Source: youtube.com
Title: Sri Lanka declares emergency amid anti-Muslim violence
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI84a9chUfw

16. Source: youtube.com
Title: What is triggering communal violence in Sri Lanka? | Inside Story
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzclGhnbz6o

17. Source: youtube.com
Title: Sri Lanka: Buddhist nationalists exploiting anti-Muslim sentiment
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xn7IDjdYro

18. Source: ecoi.net
Link:https://www.ecoi.net/en/document/2065821.html

19. Source: sundaytimes.lk
Link:https://www.sundaytimes.lk/180311/news/manhunt-intensifies-for-ampara-suspects-after-pill-turns-to-flour-285545.html

20. Source: srilankabrief.org
Link:https://srilankabrief.org/unsubstantiated-claims-muslim-doctor-sterilized-women-raise-tensions-in-sri-lanka/

21. Source: inkl.com
Link:https://www.inkl.com/news/unsubstantiated-claims-muslim-doctor-sterilized-women-raise-tensions-in-sri-lanka

22. Source: globalissues.org
Link:https://www.globalissues.org/amp/news/2022/01/25/29895