Former US President Barack Obama and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have reacted to the deadly Sri Lanka blasts in big-name hotels and churches, seemingly avoiding calling the victims targeted during Easter services “Christians”, having instead opted for a more obscure term – “Easter worshippers”.
The bizarre choice of term has ignited social media users, who have replied to the tweets, insisting that saying the word “Christians” in public is not a taboo:
Others pointed out that both Obama and Clinton didn’t hesitate to call victims of last month’s New Zealand mosque attacks “Muslims” when sending their condolences:
Incidentally, Obama and Clinton are not the only people who used the term in relation to the Sri Lanka victims; apparently it has become a widely accepted phrase among US politicians:
Eight blasts devastated St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo, St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo, and Zion Church in Batticaloa, as well as three large hotels – the Cinnamon Grand, Kingsbury, and Shangri-La, with the death toll reaching a blood-chilling 290 on 21 April. It is also estimated that 500 others were injured in the explosions.
READ MORE: Interpol to Deploy Special Team to Sri Lanka to Probe Recent Deadly Bombings
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks yet, the country’s Health Minister Rajutha Senaratne accused the National Thowheed Jamath, an India-based Islamic group, of being behind the blasts.
In a separate development, Telecommunications Minister Harin Fernando tweeted an 11 April internal police memo, warning that the group National Thowheed Jamath was planning to bomb Catholic churches and the Indian High Commission.
The government has imposed a nationwide curfew since there is still a threat of more attacks, even though the police announced that 24 suspects had been detained in connection with the blasts.