A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, June 17, 2017
Sinhalese & Muslim Civil Societies Join Hands To Deal with Growing Hate Crimes
Leading
Sinhala and Muslim civil society organizations have got together to
educate mainstream Sinhalese of the threat posed to the country by the ongoing racist attacks on Mosques and Muslim owned business establishments.
This
is the only way to save the country from further disasters and to take
concrete measure to stop the rising tide of racist attacks on Muslims.
The initiatives towards this end were jointly taken by the
National Movement for Social Justice, NMSJ, and conveners of Puravasi
Balaya which included Gamini Veyangoda, Janaranjana, Saman Ratnapriya
and Dharmasiri Bandaranike together with National Shoora Council,
(NSC), an umbrella organization representing eighteen leading national
Muslim organizations.
Professor, Sarath Wijesooriya, Convener of NMSJ said “the main
purpose of the timely initiative is to keep the people, especially
the Sinhalese community, informed of the damage, the ongoing
racist campaigns could cause to the image of Buddhism, the Sinhala
people and the country projecting them to the world as violent and
lawless.
He
said the country which is facing numerous burning issues in many fronts
cannot allow a campaign which divides communities and brings only
disaster to all in the country.
The
two sides met two weeks ago and decided on a work program under which
they decided to launch an overall campaign to inform the people that
this anti-Muslim campaign launched by few individuals do not represent
the views of mainstream Sinhalese community which is keen on living in
peace and harmony and sort out issues within communities in the largest
interest of all.
To
begin with they decided to hold a press conference distancing the
mainstream Sinhalese community from these racist elements and
highlighting the need for the Sinhalese community to be vigilant about
these racist activities.
As
part of this program they met on Sunday 11 June 2017 the Inspector
General of Police Pujith Jayasundara and emphasized the need for
immediate and visible steps to enforce the law and deal with the racist
elements effectively. Issues concerning Muslim communities were
discussed in detail and the IGP has assured effective action within the
framework of law.
This
week, June 14, the two sides met President Maithripala Sirisena at his
office and put forward concerns of the Muslim community and the need
to enforce rule of law in the country to stop attacks on mosques and
Muslim owned business establishments. The participants also pointed out
that these attacks have all the potentials to lead to a July 83 type
pogrom which the country not only do not want but also cannot afford.
The Muslim team, led by NSC Chairman Tariq Mahmud, also informed President Sirisena that “we are not here interested in taking Galagoda Atte Gnanasara into
custody. That is a matter for the country’s law enforcement agencies
and the judiciary. All what we want is when we wake up and go about in
the morning we should be able to move freely as we had always lived and
we are entitled to. Safety of our mosques and business and other
properties need to be ensured and that is the responsibility of the
State. That is why we are here. Though racist elements were trying to
provoke Muslims with their attacks on mosques and business
establishments, our community had maintained remarkable restraint in the
face of insults to Allah and the religion, only to ensure their age-old
ties with the Sinhalese continues unabated.”
Meanwhile
there is a growing feeling among informed circles in the Muslim
community that racist elements such as the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in
the government, who once spearheaded anti-Muslim campaign and
caused immense hardships to Muslims, of influencing and confusing
President Sirisena from taking firm action against racist elements.
Today
the Muslim community lives in fear and tension all over the island.
They live in small pockets amidst the Sinhalese. The hate campaign is
aimed at poisoning this relationship. The President has so far failed to
take stern measures to bring these racist gangs to book. There is a
general opinion among the Muslims that this indifference on the part of
the authorities, has given the green light for the violent extremists to
go ahead with their lawless activities.
Muslims
pointed out that “though former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is accused
of orchestrating these racist attacks, yet the question is what is
preventing the present government from enforcing rule of law and
maintain law and order?
In
the midst, the two sides welcomed as a timely development the steps
taken by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for directing law
enforcement authorities to initiate immediate action against hate
speech, perpetrators and instigators of violence against religious and
ethnic groups.
Making
a special statement to the media at Temple Trees, the Premier said
Police have been directed to take legal action against those who engage
in communal, ethnic and religious hatred, violence and hate speech. He
said if someone engages in communal, ethnic and religious hatred and
violence and hate speech, measures will be taken to investigate, arrest
and produce the offenders before court.