By Latheef Farook –
Latheef Farook
Granting conditional bail to Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi by the Kurunegala Magistrate Sampath Hewawasam on Thursday 25th July, restored confidence in the judiciary. The case will be taken up again on August 9.
Dr Shafi was taken into custody around two months ago on allegations of forcible sterilization of mainly Sinhalese women during surgeries, suspected links to terrorist groups and amassing wealth.
A Daily mirror report pointed out that the CID report informed the court that the arrest of Dr. Shafi had been made without having any evidence against him, police reports compiled by the Kurunegala Police have been deliberately backdated with changes and Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera, who has attended every session of the hearing in Kurunegala, has allegedly threatened the inquiring officer of the CID B.S. Thissera.
Contradictory developments, difficulties in proving charges, glaring conflicts of interest and many factual disputes are emerging regarding the narrative surrounding Senior House Officer (SHO) Dr. Seigu Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi from the Teaching Hospital, Kurunegala who was in custody over charges of alleged sterilization, terrorism and acquiring
Protestors lined the street to the Magistrate’s Court before the bail hearing. Before the case began protest was held along the route to the Magistrate’s Court which included a group of Buddhist Monks.
Reporters at the scene said that the demonstration was organized by local Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna leaders and that some of the protestors were employees of the Kurunegala Municipal Council.
Security was tightened around the court as the verdict was given.
The order was given in a packed court room amidst tension and heavy security while court premise was crowded with people. This included Parliamentarian Ven. Athureliye Rathana Thera, self-declared champion of Sinhalese and Buddhism spearheading a destructive hate campaign pitting Sinhalese against Muslims least worried about its disastrous consequences.
Ven. Rathana Thera, a non-entity who doesn’t represent the Sinhalese community, has been carrying out hate campaign inciting Sinhalese against Muslims while emergency regulations were in force and the government turn a blind eye to the damage he has been causing to communal harmony and peace in the country
As a result the government has become party to the ongoing campaign associating the island’s entire Muslim community with violence, demonizing and ostracizing.
The conditional bail order to Dr Shari Sihabdeen was also a set back to the mainstream media, both electronic and print , which unleashed a fierce and vicious campaign selling lies and deception poisoning Sinhalese minds against Muslims with the slogan that Dr Shafi had deliberately sterilized Sinhalese women.
The media dismissed Muslim point of view in general.
The campaign was so intense that Muslims were forced to remain inside their houses in view of the rising tension against them. The ultimate target was poisoning the Sinhalese minds and setting the up Sinhalese against Muslims.
Racist political parties of all shades of opinions hell bent on winning the forthcoming elections by further communalizing the political scene played, and still playing, a decisive role in this shameful and senseless media campaign which has already torn apart communities.
This very well organized and orchestrated campaign to suit the mainstream media’s anti-Muslim campaign in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday Massacre had done immense damage when Dr Shafi was accused of deliberately sterilizing Sinhalese women as part of the conspiracy against Sinhalese community.
Time and again Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith stated that the Muslim community has nothing to do with the Easter Sunday attacks as this was done by international forces using misguided local youths which the government refuses to disclose so far.
Though Muslims has nothing to do with this the government, backed by racist media, from the very inception accused the entire Muslim community of violence, imposed emergency regulations, arbitrarily arrested Muslims, some say more than 2600 of armed forces causing nightmare to families all over the island, turned blind eye when organized mob attacked Muslim owned businesses, houses and even factories, boycotting Muslim businesses and ill treatment of Muslims from hospitals and almost every public places.
The question is how could the Maithri-Ranil government, brought to power with almost 95 percent island’s Muslim votes, turn against the very same Muslims to wipe them out politically, economically, socially, religiously, culturally and every possible other aspect.
For example everyone knows that Ven Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thera is not a man of peace He has been serving a prison sentence .Deviating from the established norms President Sirisena visited him in prison. Few days later he was released despite opposition from legal circles and entertained for tea with his mother.
Since then Gnanasara Thera was not preaching Buddhism. Instead he has undertaken his usual hate campaign inciting Sinhalese against Muslims
President Sirisena released him only to be used as a tool in his ongoing campaign against Muslims knowing very well that his campaign is tearing apart communities at a time when the country is passing through one of the worst period of instability in its history.
However damage was already done. Communities remain divided and suspicious.
Country is not moving ahead.
Of course the Easter Sunday massacre provided a new lease of life to the government which was paralyzed by political and economic crisis, wide spread corruption and continuing the Mahinda Rajapaksa era policy of persecuting Muslims .
Added to this Maithri-Ranil government’s miserable failure to fulfill election promises giving a new lease of life to the same politicians whom they promised to bring to book due to their crime and corruption.
There is uncertainty everywhere. The current state of affairs is such that no one knows where the country is heading towards. The irony is that this is the very same country which was regarded as the shining example in the Third World for political and economic stability and communal harmony!
Amarasiri / July 29, 2019
Latheef Farook ,
RE :Conditional Bail To Dr Shafi Shihabdeen: Exposes Mainstream Local Media’s Moral Bankruptcy
“Reporters at the scene said that the demonstration was organized by local Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna leaders and that some of the protestors were employees of the Kurunegala Municipal Council.”
“There is uncertainty everywhere. The current state of affairs is such that no one knows where the country is heading towards. The irony is that this is the very same country which was regarded as the shining example in the Third World for political and economic stability and communal harmony!”
What you are seeing is Para-Sinhala Para-Buddhism and Sinhala=Buddhist racism., against the Muslims.
During 1956 with the Para-Sinhala only Act, it was discrimination against the Para-Tamils, who have the same mt-DNA generics as the Para-Sinhala, per latest genetic studies. SWRD used that. The new Sinhala racists politicians can’t use that any more, as it is stale,.
So the racist politicians are using Para-Sinhala -“Buddhism”, that is an insult to Buddhism and the Buddha, to show the majority of Sinhala Buddhists that they should follow racism, and Para-Sinhala “Buddhism”: and not pristine Buddhism and the Buddha.
The Para-Wahhabi Para “Muslim”, who should be called Satanis, Iblises, per prescient Hadith of Najd, are not much different.
One thing is clear. Para-Sinhala racists have no shame.,
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Rila A. Hady / July 30, 2019
Why not we be a bit more decent in our comments using good words.
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Fahim / July 29, 2019
Only thing that is questionable about the Doctor is how he accumulated so much wealth ( If he has not declared) But then what about so many others(from.all communities) who have and may even have more than Shafi ? The political motivation was badly planned ; I just can not imagine why they tried to use a medical myth as a tool ?
They could have gone straight to his wealth if he had not informed the revenue(Under TID) , but as broadcasted if the money was in official
bank accounts , then its obvious he has declared .
In a way this may help to get everyone(All.communities) to declare their assets and then give all of them Amnesty to pay the taxes due to the Country (Like how Hon.Late Premadsa did )
The government also has a duty to bring down the world’s best gynacologists with recommendation of WHO and clear this suspicion and also about the sterilization pill etc
The anti American and anti.Arab that is been promoted by certain politicians will defineitely have the worse effect on our economy.
now Americans and Arab and other Muslim tourists and investors are fearing to come and if this twisted term wahabi used by politicians who are niether Muslims or have knowledge of the Islamic Jurisprudence it may also effect our Locals working overseas , at the moment (our poor housemaid’s) remittance is the largest .
Entire gulf follows a Islamic School called Hanbali.( which has been twisted as wahabis (to.create a bogeman ) and its not abdul.Wahab , ibnu Abdul.Wahab(son of Wahab) is name is Sheik Muhhamad and was a student of the same school.and he lived and died before Saudi was created.
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Lankan / July 30, 2019
that is Sinhalese justice. one set of justice for them and another for others.. what a joke. I do not what judges are doing. They are cooking justice under political thug’s pans.. what a joke for legal system of our nation. 99% of sinhalese do not like this at all. They are good people but politics make this injustice..
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Ayathuray Rajasingam / July 30, 2019
This is not local Media’s bankruptcy. Extremism happens when a person steps outside the infrastructure of religious ideologies and advocate a complete different way to harm the public or the ideological foundation of a country. Their fundamental theocracy ruled by Sharia Law has the force of rejecting the democratic ideology. Their ultimate motive is to overthrow the existing democratic system either by gradual process or by force. By gradual process means step by step i.e. increasing the number of legal men as it happened during Mahinda’s period by Hakkim (22 Muslim students to the Law College in one region alone) and also outnumbering the Sinhalese students, by reducing the population of other communities and gradual destruction of places of worship of other communities, by diluting unknown substances in food at hotels and even at temples, by exploding bombs at places of worships and at public places, etc. By force includes mass murder like the bombings at places of worships, converting people of other faiths in mass scale, recruiting to international terrorist organizations in mass scale. It has to be determined to what category Dr.Shafi belonged to. But there were photos that revealed Dr.Shafi, Hisbullah, Rishard Badurdeen, Zaharan were in close contact with each other. In addition, there was one Cader as Deputy Registrar of Persons who had issued number of Identity Cards and he is jail. It is sheer stupidity for politicians to deny the role of Muslim politicians in this Easter Sunday carnage. In the circumstances, everything should be taken into consideration together to determine whether there was a plot to over throw the lawful government of Sri Lanka. When the Easter Sunday carnage occurred immediately without anyone’s expectation, what is the guarantee if these Muslim politicians declare Eastern Province as a separate Muslim State all of a sudden and two Muslim countries recognize it.
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D. P. / July 30, 2019
Ayathuray,
Even though I cannot agree with your details, I think your comment contains a kernel of truth that lies within the ethnic conflict in SL & probably in many countries as well. At the heart of the problem lies the issue of “dominance”: Majority is fearful of losing while the minorities trying to gain. I personally believe that, within the context of democracy & HR, the recent economic & political gains by Muslims has to considered as a welcoming development. However, I also believe that some Muslim leaders & a few misguided youths went too far in following trends in other Muslim dominated countries & thereby sawing seeds of suspicions among other ethnic groups.
Under the such a tense environment, Dr Shafi or someone like him (Rishad) becoming chosen as a “perfect prey” is almost inevitable. Consider the qualification DR Shafi had to be chosen as a perfect prey: 1. He is a Muslim; 2. he as amassed a wealth fairly recently; 3. he is in Rishad’ s party; 4. he is non-GMOA; 5. he is not mingling with hospital director’s social group; 6. he bought a property within a “forbidden zone”. On the opposite side, everybody who participated in the conspiracy shared common interests: They all S/B & strong SLPP supportive. Therefore, at first glance, it was perfect movie script with Muslim as the villain & the S/B as the national hero until the investigation failed to support the script!
Are there evidences for any moral breakdown here? From the ideal standpoint, the answer must be yes but are there any evidences to support that all the institutional structure – formal or informal – ever functioning without any bias? Did SL media always behave without biases & prejudices; did the justice system always functioned fairly; was our politics free from racism? If you know the answer, then it won’t be difficult to see where the roots of “moral Bankruptcy” lies.
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D. P. / July 30, 2019
Contued…
Ayathuray,
Moral Bankruptcy resides in all of us as a part of instincts but certain events force certain individuals to show it off more than others in the name of altruism – race, religion etc. Remember, for example, what happened to Sir John Kothalawala for making a statement on the need to discipline rogue monks. I don’t believe, even for a moment, that SL politics or media is any better today.
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Shafeek / July 31, 2019
Ayathuray Rajasingam:
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“But there were photos that revealed Dr.Shafi, Hisbullah, Rishard Badurdeen, Zaharan were in close contact with each other”
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To keep it short, you seem to have seriously misunderstood the adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Could there be anyone funnier than you, sir?
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“When the Easter Sunday carnage occurred immediately without anyone’s expectation, what is the guarantee if these Muslim politicians declare Eastern Province as a separate Muslim State all of a sudden and two Muslim countries recognize it.”
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So, creating a new state for you is like a Do-It-Yourself process?
But that glib part gave me some idea whether you really know the things that you write in a public forum. Before, you should have done some googling on international laws, Montevideo Convention, UN charter, and the stories of recently recognized countries such a South Sudan. Palestine, despite being recognized by 136 (which is 70% or more) UN member countries, still not a de-facto country or a state, you know?
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Terrence Rodrigo / July 30, 2019
Mr Lathief is using a familiar refrain of crying ‘persecution’ of the innocent at every turn of the law enforcement system, except when somme dubious character like this shafi is bailed out.
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Lathief cites the infamous CID ‘report’ in his grievance. He seems to pretend not to know of the complaints by many about the lack of qualifications of the police who conducted the so-called investigation (the robbery squad!) and the illegal manner in which an Inspector Tissera has influenced witnesses, especially from the Kurunegala hospital. The magistrate himself commented about this CID report at the last hearing.
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Then Lathief offensively denigrates Ven Ratana as a nobody! When are these apologists going to admit that they have a problem much larger than the 1% they keep claiming?
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Are only the blood sucking, blood spilling myth believing minority groups swimming in ill-gotten wealth the only ‘somebodys’ in this country.
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Heaven forbid us.
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Danabalan / July 30, 2019
Typical LTTE suicide-cadre.a terrorist speaking……..
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Idroos Fahmy / July 31, 2019
Terrence Rodrigo,
.
“Are only the blood sucking, blood spilling myth believing minority groups swimming in ill-gotten wealth the only ‘somebodys’ in this country.”
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Why should we deny that 99.9% of people in Sri Lanka are myth believers, including past, present, perhaps future leaders who had/have their personal astrologers within arm’s reach always? Anyway, what’s reality for someone is a myth for other, and vice versa, creating all the issues we have among the myth believers.
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Why do you say ill-gotten whenever wealth is with minority? Or, do you know anything in our constitution (that I don’t know) that makes it impossible for a minority member to accumulate wealth legal way? Anyway, in this Dr’s case why not leave the matter for professionals & the authorities to find the truth & leave them alone to do their job? When are people like you going to see a successful guy as “Successful Sri Lankan”, not as “Successful Muslim” or “Successful Tamil” or “Successful Sinhalese”?
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Jealousy & crab mentality has cost us more than enough for decades. Does it hurt for people like you to grow up? If not, our debts are certain to grow many fold, much faster be warned!
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rbh / July 30, 2019
Under the heading GMOA, SLMC, Health Ministry; The Triple Gems Of Sri Lankan Health Care it is described in his subject 29 July 2019- CT
Healthcare sector is filled with hatred that has been brewing because of the cowardly practices of the GMOA and Unions creating more and more cycles of hatred that has manifested in to more and more frequent violence and abuse in hospitals. Poor people are mistreated, yelled at and lied to in a daily basis-Evil companions bring more hurt than profit. than to help himself.The Health center will be schooled by other countries.
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Wimpy Kid / July 30, 2019
Media should be more responsible.
What can we do
DONT ‘READ and LISTEN to BULL SHIT
Is there a reliable source of information in Sri Lanka?
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John / July 30, 2019
These cunning Muslims know the law inside out and law loopholes. So, the prosecution can be very difficult for any ‘average’ lawyer because Safi type of crimes are uncharted territory for lawyers in Sri Lanka.
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Does this man look like a sincere doctor? There are Muslim gangsters in Maradana who look like him. Notice his two dark marks on his forehead that every Muslim extremist has.
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Investigation must be started from:
his A/Ls, whether someone else sat for him, instead.
His enormous wealth because normally, a doctor has no time and interest to accumulate wealth outside their medical profession.
His association with his boss Badudeene the main ‘suspected’ facilitator of Easter day terrorism.
1000+ victims…
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In the Western countries, there are so many stories about doctors, nurses, care workers, etc abusing their patients. It takes several incidents to notice that something sinister going on.
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It’s obvious that Yahapalana retards are trying to cover up all Muslim terrorism and their other crimes because of the upcoming elections.
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Muhandiram / July 30, 2019
John
What a lot of CRAP. You are out-performing even Gnanasaara.
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Gaus / July 30, 2019
John, the fake.
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Suren / July 30, 2019
This fake canard was brought to the fore by the shit – without facts checking – news papers of Island news paper group. The authorities should prosecute, all of them – owners, editors and journalists – for creating trouble among the communities and destroying the peace in the country which are criminal offences, and deserve and warrant extreme and severe punishment.
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justice / July 30, 2019
Dr. Shafie has performed Caesarians, with approval from his immediate supervising Consultant Doctor, who has until now not been interrogated.
If he had amassed wealth, Inland Revenue should have given evidence.
So far no patient has complained in courts against him.
The magistrate is at fault. He should be dealt with.
All this is anti Muslim hysteria.
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patriot / July 30, 2019
Parahiru and borudera
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Muhandiram / July 30, 2019
Fahim
“Only thing that is questionable about the Doctor is how he accumulated so much wealth ( If he has not declared)”
What has the Police got to do with any one’s wealth? Under what Law are the Police empowered to ARREST, DETAIN and investigate a person who is alleged to be possessing “Unaccounted wealth”?
Even more Ridiculous is the Police calling for Complaints from women who are supposed to have been “Sterilised” by Dr. Shafi. Where on earth do the Police Arrest and Detain a person first and then call for Complaints against him?
“They could have gone straight to his wealth if he had not informed the revenue( TID).”
TID or Inland Revenue?
There must be Laws under which Dr. Shafi can take Legal Action against ALL those who Not Only ABUSED the Law but also made life Hell for him and his family for two Long months. Here is hoping that Dr. Shafi does that Not only to Clear his name but also send a Strong Message to All who dare to ABUSE the Law so that No one Else is made to Suffer in the future the way Dr, Shafi and his family suffered.
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Gaus / July 30, 2019
Many Sri Lankans think and act wisely. The so called TV media has been working for the agenda of certain politicians. Even bikkus are working for them. But there is a powerful social media where the truth and lie are exposed.
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Douglas / July 30, 2019
Mr. Farook: Before blaming others for the predicament now faced by the Muslim community, take a good look at the behavior and activities of the “LEADERS” who speak and stand for you. So goes with all other communities too. If you look at the present day “LEADERS” and how they behave and act, that could best be described as a huge “DOG FIGHT” biting each other to GRAB a piece of “MEAT:” the People . The solution: Chase away all these “LEADERS” and GRANT FREEDOM to the FLOCK and let SANITY (Common Sense) prevail.
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Nosey Parker / July 31, 2019
Doctor Goebells is at it again .
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