Sri Lanka has lodged a protest with the Kuwaiti Government over the disruption of Avurudhu celebrations in the oil-rich state last Friday. The Sri Lanka Embassy had booked the Al Jahra Stadium in Kuwait City for an Avurudhu get-together that was attended by more than 10,000 expatriate workers.
According to a report sent to the Foreign Ministry by Sarath Dissanayake, the Sri Lanka Ambassador in Kuwait City, angry mobs had forced their way into the stadium and broken up the party.
Ambassador Dissanayake said he had obtained prior permission for the event from both Kuwait’s Interior Ministry and officials at the Jahra Stadium.
In a report sent to the External Affairs Ministry, the Ambassador said all Sri Lankans who turned up at the stadium were checked by security officers. No liquor was allowed, and there was no loud music or dancing. The soft background music that was playing was suspended for two hours, between 11 am and 1 pm, the time for Muslim Jumma prayers.
Ambassador Dissanayake said the Kuwaiti nationals who had stormed the stadium had said the celebrations were a violation of their culture. The Kuwaitis left when the police intervened, but later returned to insist the event be stopped. Ambassador Dissanayake then called a halt to the celebrations.
The ambassador declined to comment when the Sunday Times spoke to him on the telephone.
Senior officials at the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLFEB) said the Sri Lanka Embassy in Kuwait should have known better than to schedule the Avurudhu party for a Friday, a day of religious significance for Muslims. “The Ambassador should never have chosen a Friday,” said a senior official who did not wish to be named.
According to the Kuwait Times, Kuwaiti politician and human rights activist Aseel Al-Awadhi had raised the matter in Parliament. The female Member of Parliament had demanded to know whether the Interior Ministry was involved in the disruption of the Lankan festivities, and whether the Ministry had done anything to stop the invading mob.
The move in Parliament prompted the Ministry to issue a statement saying the Ministry had nothing to do with the matter, and that it was the event sponsors who had brought the party to an early close. |
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