Zanzibar’s religious tensions threaten unity, economy
Acid attacks on tourists and local religious leaders an indication of simmering discontent among disaffected youth
Zanzibar and its palm-fringed beaches appear idyllic, but rising religious tensions marked by brutal killings and acid attacks are threatening the tourist industry upon which the east African archipelago depends.
After years of peaceful religious coexistence on the majority Muslim island, in August two British teenage girls who had been teaching in a school were doused in acid and severely burnt.
Attackers on a motorcycle reportedly threw the acid in their faces, prompting Zanzibari officials – who described the attack as “a shame on the people of Zanzibar” – to offer a sizeable reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects.
But little progress has been made, and the girls’ frustrated families have complained of a lack of urgency in the case.
The incident was not isolated.
In the narrow and winding ancient streets of Stone Town, the Unesco-listed historical centre of the capital of the semi-autonomous Tanzanian archipelago, attackers have also thrown acid into the faces of religious leaders, both Christian and Muslim.