1/3
2/3
2/3
3/3
Prime Minister D.M. Dayaratne’s order to
demolish a 65 year old mosque in Dambulla and instead build a mosque in another
place strikes at the very root of
religious freedom .It also shocked and hurt the island’s Muslim community. Responding
to the order and expressing the community’s mood Muslim Congress Secretary and parliamentarian
Hassen Ali said the “community will not accept a mosque in another place even
if it was built of gold”.
Hassen Ali had stated that if the places of
religious worship of the minorities are being attacked while the police and
army are idly watching, it implies that they are supporting the marauders and
providing security to them, instead of the law abiding people.
The claim by the Prime Minister Dayaratne that
an order was given to demolish the mosque with the consent of Muslim
politicians insults the prime minister’s office. This was described as “blatant
manufactured lie” and vehemently rejected by Senior Minister A.H.M.Fawzie,
Deputy Minister M.L.A.M Hizbulla, Western Province Governor Alavi Moulana and
Parliamentarian Abdul Cader all of whom pointed out that they never attended such a meeting
in Gampola.
Refuting the Prime Minister’s charges former
deputy mayor of Colombo Azath Salley stated that “it is misleading to say that the
mosque was in existence for two years as it has been there for more than 65
years. We have all the documents to prove that it is a legally constructed
mosque under Waqf Act. Therefore the statement by the Prime Minister claiming
that the unauthorized construction of the mosque has been stopped is totally
false. The land on which the mosque was located was bought by a lady in Jaffna
from Englishmen. From that time, this mosque has been in existence. Later the
adjacent land too had been bought by the mosque authorities in 1995. The mosque
has been in existence and there are no construction works underway now. This
statement by the Prime Minister is misleading the Buddhists in the country. Prime
Minister should not make such irresponsible statements as the Waqf Board comes
under the Prime Minister and he is contradicting his own statement. Besides the
statement by Ven Inamaluwa Sumangla Thera that he will ensure that Muslims will
not have a place to urinate is not only irresponsible but very dangerous too”.
Though the UNP leader Ranil Wickremasinghe
is yet to comment, UNP’s Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa described prime
minister’s order as” law of the jungle and nothing to do with the Buddhism”.
Sajith asked “ how could we develop the
country when the prime minister’s office issues such false statements”?
In
any civilized society one would expect unruly elements who vandalize a mosque while
worshippers were getting ready for Friday Juma prayer to be arrested and
brought before justice. Instead they were rewarded in violation of all canons
of human decency.
Muslims in the area suspect that Sinhalese in Dambulla were not involved in the hooliganism .Instead hired people were brought from outside to vandalize the mosque What they failed to understand is that we are not living in the medieval era today as the world is watching us especially when the country is accused of war crimes against one minority community.
The irony is that this happened less than a
month after most Muslim countries voted against the United States sponsored and
Indian supported United Nations Human Rights Commissions resolution against Sri
Lanka in Geneva and rescued the island’s dignity.
In fact the day the mosque was vandalized
the government started bilateral discussions with Israel, known international pariah, sworn enemy of Muslims and
the architect of the US sponsored global campaign against Muslims
under the guise of fighting a war on terror.
Demolition of the mosque means the end of
Muslim support to the government. Western Province governor Alavi Moulana has
already gone to the extent of hinting that“he would strongly consider vacating
his position if the government goes ahead with the plan to demolish the mosque”.
The manner in which the politicians and so called muftis who
started hob knobbing in politics were insulted and intimated at the meeting
held in Colombo to discuss the Dambulla Mosque is a clear indication of the
mood among the people.
To Muslims all over the world Mosque is
Allah’s House. It is everything to them. They turn to mosque for their prayers.
Moreover Muslims posed no problem or
threat to anyone in Dambulla or anywhere else. They never interfered with the
religious affairs of other communities. Under such circumstance what is the
need to raise this issue. The question is do we need to precipitate such
an unwanted crisis now?
As pointed out by former Chief Justice
Sarath N .Silva Muslims in the island have been the most peaceful community”.
Muslims never failed to rise up to the
occasion to support and protect the country.
For example when two-third majority was
needed to obtain independence in 1948 the Muslim community wholeheartedly
supported the bill which was detrimental to their own interest. It is time all
involved in mosque demolition read late Prime Minister S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike’s passionate
and emotional response and assurance to Muslims which were conveniently
forgotten later.
Ultra nationalists who claim and behave as
if King Vijaya and Kuveni had given them the title deed of sole ownership to
the island and now hand in glove with the Israelis have forgotten the historic
role played by Muslims in preserving the territorial integrity of the country.
For example from the very beginning Muslims opposed tooth and nail the LTTE
claim for a separate state. Had they joined hands with the LTTE then the
country would have been divided decades ago as the island’s armed forces were
not equipped then, as it is today, to meet the challenges posed by the LTTE
backed then openly by India.
Muslims paid a heavy price for this. They
were slaughtered in village after village and even while praying in mosques.
Their paddy lands acquired, businesses closed and their very means of survival
deprived. The entire Jaffna Muslims population was kicked out within two hours
and their belongings and property were looted.
In return Muslims expected some relief
after the military defeat of LTTE. Instead they have been simply dismissed and
sidelined. Though they remain deeply frustrated, yet they only expected some peaceful
solutions to their problems .It was in this atmosphere comes the move to
destroy Dambulla moque.
The country has ended up in Geneva due to
its failure to deal with one community- Tamils. Is this the time to provoke Muslims
without any rhyme or reason especially, when
Zionist Jews, Evangelical Christians together with RSS Hindu extremists have unleashed a
global campaign killing Muslims and destroying Muslim countries? Under such
circumstance who can predict the consequences of short sighted move to demolish
the Dambulla mosque?
In the aftermath of the LTTE defeat all in
the country-Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and others- looked forward to a period
of peace and harmony. However move to demolish Dambulla mosque shows that
reconciliation, peace, harmony and progress are nothing but distant dreams. By; Latheef Farook
Home Sri Lanka Think Tank-UK (Main Link)