News
Who prevents national unity and reconciliation becoming meaningful?
Javid Yusuf, in his column, mentioned (The Sunday Times, 26th Sep 2021) that I have portrayed Muslims in a negative light, in my reply to an SJB parliamentarian’s question in parliament. He has quoted only a small section of my reply to “substantiate” his statement and I wonder how a writer of Javid’s calibre could give a twisted meaning to what I have said in good faith.
All what I have said is in answering a question regarding an immediate terrorist attack, that anyone with “Islamic State ideology” can launch an attack at any time, like what happened in New Zealand where innocent people in a shopping mall were mercilessly stabbed by a Sri Lankan born Muslim youth. The youth from Kattankudi has gone to NZ seeking political asylum. After he was radicalised by the Islamic State, he was charged in courts, released and was to be deported to Sri Lanka when he mounted an attack on innocent New Zealanders. If he had come to our country, that incident could have happened here in Sri Lanka.
It was revealed by the New Zealand authorities and his mother that the young man was brainwashed into the Islamic State ideology by his Middle Eastern neighbours. Such radical and violent men and women believe only Muslims could live in the world and all non-Muslims have to be got rid of. The most dangerous aspect of it is the belief that they would be rewarded in heaven if they kill non-Muslims and attack non-Muslim religious places. If the well-to-do sons of Ibrahim can turn into suicide bombers and kill hundreds of Catholics believing that they could then go to heaven and enjoy with 72 virgins, how easy is to convert an average Muslim youth into that ideology unless we take precautions?
I said, because of the danger of that “Islamic State Ideology” and its followers, the intelligence services have been strengthened and we request the support of the Muslim community and Muslim organisations also to “identify” them for the sake of the security of the country. Those who are in the initial stages of embracing this killer ideology can be sent for rehabilitation. If I have portrayed entire the Muslim community in a negative light as Javid says, would I ever ask for the Muslim community’s support to solve the problem?
Javid, in his article says, “It is an accepted norm in the civilised world including in Sri Lanka that religious founders/teachers are referred to with respect”. But what was Javid’s reaction when Abdul Razak of “Sri Lanka Thowheed Jamath” publicly made a contemptuous statement that Lord Buddha ate human flesh and referring to the Noble Triple Gem, sarcastically asked how could three gems protect the country? Javid did absolutely nothing to at least advise Abdul Razak to refrain from doing so in the future.
When the four Buddha statues were destroyed by Jamaat-e-Islami Muslim youth in Mawanella in December 2018, if Javid was genuinely concerned about religious harmony, he should have condemned the act and started to regulate the religious sects promoting a destructive ideology? Javid should have thought like a Sri Lankan and announced his “solidarity” with the Sinhalese Buddhists whose feelings were hurt by the act. When talking about “religious reconciliation”, is he only concerned with one religion?
I have seen a sickening video showing the brutal manner in which a group of Muslim young men killed a boy in a Muslim country. They chopped off the hands and legs one by one before severing the head of the boy, whose only fault was that he was a Buddhist! Why do they resort to that type of brutal massacre? Who taught them that if they kill non-Muslims they could go to heaven? Where is such things written?
Why did Jamaat-e-Islami’s former national youth organiser Mohammad Shaheed Abdul Haq planned and destroyed the Buddha, Ganesh and Mother Mary statues without any provocation? Why did Zahran and the team of religious fanatics kill hundreds of innocent Catholics who had not done anything wrong to them? As a person responsible for law and order and public security, it is my responsibility to reveal that all the suicide bombers, planners and funders were driven by the Islamic State ideology. I expect good Muslims such as Javid to take the initiative and publicly condemn Islamic State and likeminded ideologies, and tell the public the absurdity and futility of such beliefs. When I say that, how can Javid conclude that I have portrayed all Muslims in a negative light?
The UAE does not tolerate Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Jamaat-e-Islami and other ideologies that divide Muslims. Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is actively promoting moderation, toleration and coexistence. It is in the interest of the country for Sri Lankan Muslim leaders to regulate the religious space by taking decisive action to dismantle the radicalisation pipeline that is still intact.
We have arrested the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday massacre but the ecosystem that produced the terrorists and supporters is still intact. To protect the innocent public, everyone should work with the Government to take action against both the purveyors of exclusivist ideologies that lead to extremism and terrorism. It is very unfortunate that when we expose the dangers of the cascading ideology and call all Muslims to address the menace of religious extremism, it is construed as something said against the entire Muslim community.
During the JVP insurrection, when thousands of Sinhalese youth were arrested and killed indiscriminately, no one challenged the Government. But when Hajjul Akbar who is the leader of Jamaat-e-Islam was arrested, he was released under the pressure of certain Muslim parliamentarians! This Government again arrested him and now he is being indicted. Why is pressure being mounted on the Government for detaining those who radicalised youth to kill, maim and injure hundreds of our citizens and foreign guests on Sri Lankan soil? I ask Javid to come forward without misinterpreting statements made in good faith, and join hands with the Government to eradicate Muslim exclusivism, extremism and terrorism from Sri Lankan soil.
As a country that was war torn for over thirty years and now facing the Islamic State threat amidst a pandemic, it would be deemed most counterproductive to focus our efforts on rectifying misquoted statements. If Javid has even an iota of suspicion regarding my brotherly feeling towards Muslims, he can query from the Muslims in Ampara, including the Maulavis of mosques, as to how I have served them. I believe, as a nation, we must all shed our differences if any, and come together in cohesion to ensure unity, reconciliation and national security.