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Govt. expresses concern over rise in Islamic extremism in East
View(s):By Damith Wickramasekera
The Government has received intelligence reports of attempts to propagate extremist ideologies within the Muslim population in the Eastern Province, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said.
He said the reports were based on information received by both the State Intelligence Service (SIS) and military intelligence.
Mr. Wijepala said surveillance of certain places of religious activity had found that children in particular were being indoctrinated in extremist ideologies.
He said these extremist ideologies were contrary to the teachings of Islam.
“Most of such activity has been reported from the Kalmunai area, and SIS and military intelligence units have both increased monitoring these activities.
We will not allow the spread of extremism and racism in the country again. We will take measures to nip such issues in the bud,” he said.
Meanwhile, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told Parliament on Friday that six arrests were made after intelligence reports were received with regards to possible attacks in the Arugam Bay area against tourists in October last year.
He said the Government had acted in a professional manner in dealing with the intelligence information and would do so in the future as well.
In October, the US Embassy issued a travel advisory saying it had received credible information warning of an attack targeting popular tourist locations in the Arugam Bay area and imposed a travel restriction on Embassy personnel for Arugam Bay.
However, the warning a few weeks later was withdrawn after the Government made the arrests and said the area was safe for tourists to visit.
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