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Govt. must heed call of its own ministers to rein in hate mongers
The unrelenting targeting of Muslims during the past couple of years shows no signs of abating as evidenced by the attack on a Muslim place of worship in Grandpass by unruly mobs last week. Muslims have been watching with great concern and bewilderment while they are being made to feel aliens in the land of their birth due to the actions and hate speech of small but vocal groups projecting themselves as saviours of the Sinhala Buddhists.
Police intervene between opposing factions when they confronted each other near the Grandpass Mosque. Pic by Indika Handuwela
But what is even more alarming is the inaction of the law enforcement authorities in bringing to book those who have flagrantly and brazenly broken the law in front of media cameras. Dambulla, Kuliyapitiya, Fashion Bug in Piliyandala, Mahiyangana and now Grandpass are few of the incidents that immediately come to mind. In the face of the plethora of lies, half truths and misrepresentations of their religion and religious practices by these merchants of mischief, the Muslims have exercised a great deal of patience. Yet within the community questions are being raised and anger rising against the Muslim representatives in Government for remaining silent and ostensibly doing nothing in the face of the continuing harassment of the Muslim community.
The incidents at Grandpass last week turned out to be the last straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back. In an enough-is-enough-type statement Muslim Ministers and Deputy Ministers last Sunday came out strongly and expressed their unequivocal and unreserved condemnation of what they described as the “premeditated and planned attack on one of our places of worship.”
In their well drafted statement the Ministers went on to point out the self-evident truth that “the lukewarm and ineffective measures taken by the law enforcement agencies on previous occasions, when Muslim communities and their mosques were deliberately attacked, seemed to have emboldened some extremist groups who seemed determined to create chaos in the country that is still in search of national reconciliation after a prolonged war.”
They went on to point out that “the notion that there are elements in our society who can act with impunity, should be totally eradicated from the public perception that has now taken root in our society.”
In their unprecedented statement the significance of which has been missed by the media and other political analysts, the Muslim Ministers while urging the President and the Government to take decisive action to halt this trend of openly espousing religious hatred towards the Muslim community, have also called upon the Government to set up a credible institutional mechanism that would ensure inter religious harmony. They also point out that “the state has a fundamental duty to ensure that our religious freedom is preserved in this multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation. We do not understand how inflicting violence on a religious minority can be construed as promoting or protecting another faith.”
It is imperative that the Government take serious note of and respond to this collective appeal of Senior Minister A.H.M. Fowzie, Ministers Rauf Hakeem, Rishard Bathiuddin, and Deputy Ministers M.L.M. Hisbullah and Faizer Mustapha. If the Government has the confidence to entrust them with Ministerial positions by the same token their views must be given the consideration they deserve. These are not random politicians who can be accused of being disloyal to the Government or traitors seeking to destabilize the country.
Even though a week has passed since the Grandpass incidents there is no indication that the law enforcement agencies are moving to apprehend the perpetrators and instigators of the attack on the mosque. This has prompted Minister Rishard Bathiuddin to send a DVD containing CCTV footage of the Grandpass incidents to the Inspector General of Police urging him to take action against those responsible for the mayhem unleashed in this crowded area of Colombo as well as against Police inaction.
The increasing unhappiness of the Muslim community at recent happenings is also reflected by a countrywide signature campaign organised by the Sri Lanka Muslim Assembly (SLMA) to urge President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Government to take action to halt the anti-Muslim campaign in the country. This initiative of the SLMA which is representative of a number of national Muslim organisations was inaugurated on the day of Eid ul Fitr (August 9) when Muslims all over the country began placing their signatures to the appeal after Festival prayers.
Disenchantment is growing at the different yardsticks of action or non action of the Law enforcement agencies. After the mosque was attacked in Grandpass no action to arrest the offenders has been taken to date. In contrast when the Bodhu Bala Sena Secretary General at a Public meeting at Kurunegala last Sunday called for the removal of an innocuous “Silence: Mosque ahead” Board installed by the Road Development Authority near the Paragahadeniya Mosque in the Kurunegala District which had been in existence without any objections from anyone, the Mawathagama Police was galvanised into action and with remarkable speed attempted to remove the board within 24 hours of the Bodu Bala Sena’s call. Having failed in their attempt to do so due to the protests of the Muslims of the area, the Mawathagama Police have now made an application to Court for the removal of this board.
The issue of targeting Muslims and Christians and their places of worship is no longer a matter only for the two communities. It has now become a matter of national importance that goes to the root of the National Reconciliation process. After dissipating our national energies in a three decade internal armed conflict all our efforts as a nation should be directed at picking up the pieces and rebuilding the country and restoring the goodwill and harmony that has always existed between the different communities in the country.
It is therefore in the National Interest that we leave no stone unturned to regain Sri Lanka’s proud heritage of peace and harmony. Those who recklessly spread the message of hate and discord and target any section of the Sri Lankan citizenry are doing a great disservice to the country. But the even greater disservice is done by the State and its law enforcement agencies which by their inaction fail to rein in the hate mongers. Such inaction can have disastrous consequences for the country as a whole and more particularly the weaker and marginalised sections of our society who invariably bear the brunt of such governance blunders.
(javidyusuf@gmail.com)
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