By Latheef Farook –

Latheef Farook

The unfortunate attacks on a Buddhist statue in Mawanella was not something unexpected. Such an incident, likely to trigger violence against Muslims, was expected in view of the presence of global anti-Muslim forces in the island.

In an article in October 2018, I predicted such incidents may happen in view of the government policy of opening the country to global evil forces which have unleashed unprecedented violence demonizing Islam, invading and destroying Muslim countries and killing millions of Muslims.

In that article I explained how global anti-Muslim forces which destroyed ten Muslim countries, killed millions of Muslims and driven out around seven million Muslims  to refugee camps to live in appalling conditions, are here. This include United States, Britain, France, Russia, Israel and India and China, persecuting Muslims in their own countries, besides their Saudi and Abu Dhabi collaborators.

These forces especially Israel and India’s RSS, parent body of ruling BJP, are entertained in Sri Lanka by ministers known for their hostility towards Muslims. So much so there were reports of VHP mercenaries opening an office in Vavuniya while some Tamil mercenaries went on demonstration in Batticaloa with Israeli flags shouting pro-Israeli slogans provoking Muslims.

Former Federal Party member Maravanpulavu Sachithananthan who calls himself Sri Lanka Shiv Sena chief together with Batticaloa TNA Parliamentarian Yogeswaran began a campaign in Jaffna against cow slaughter. Sensing the threat to Tamil-Muslim relations sensible Tamils crushed this movement at inception.

Presence of these forces is recipe for disaster as they are busy cultivating politicians, media, intellectuals and others brain washing them against Muslims. 

However the island’s sinking Muslim community, betrayed by their politicians and so called preachers, remains clueless. This is dangerous especially with a government which remains   indifferent towards Muslims as demonstrated in its failure to prevent violence against Muslims in Gintota, Amparai, Digana, Akurana and numerous other places.

Muslims are sandwiched between these forces and their politicians and religious body, All Ceylon Jamiathul Ulema, ACJU, which is   incapable of understanding the potential threats to the community and accused of widespread corruption.

There are 21 Muslim parliamentarians and they are contented with their positions and perks. They remain   indifferent to community’s burning issues. Unlike Muslim politicians, Tamil politicians decline posts but support governments which help solve Tamil issues.  

It was under such political atmosphere came the shocking Mawanella incident. 

In the midst the electronic media started highlighting a year old incident involving some South Eastern University Engineering faculty students who had climbed Kiralagala stupa. These students, according to many, climbed the stupa as there was no sign saying that this was an archaeological or religious site and they never meant to insult Buddhist sentiments. The question is why raise this year old incident now in the wake of Mawanella incident? Perhaps to provoke Sinhalese against Muslims! 

According to electronic media, Minister Champika Ranawaka has emphasized that these students should be dealt with seriously. However he has failed to do the same to those in custody for their organized violence against Muslims in Digana and Akurana which caused death and destruction to Muslims.  

In the midst come reports of weapons being buried in a secret location in Puttalam area and at the residence of the father of one of the Muslims reported to have been involved in the Mawanella incident.

Under the circumstance it is in the interest of communal harmony to inform the public of really what happened. This would help prevent racist elements from exploiting the incident to implement their agendas.

Already a team of Muslims have met and urged relevant authorities  to disclose the details. Meanwhile it appears, timely steps taken by Minister Kabir Hashim, helped to contain the situation.

According to reports some of the Muslims accused of involvement  in the Mawanella incident were attached to All Ceylon Jamaathe Islami, a movement founded by the great Islamic scholar Sayyid Abdul A’la Mawdudi, to impart knowledge on Islam to create an  intellectual society.  There were reports saying they were sacked due to their difference of opinion.  

According to reports the father of one of these boys  was also taken to custody after police discovered weapons at his house. People in the area dismiss the allegations and question how come these weapons came there. 

People from the area also dismiss the possibility of these youths attacking the Buddhist statue as they are very well aware of the seriousness, its impact on Sinhalese community and repercussions. They point out that these boys were such peaceful people that one cannot even think of them committing such a crime.

Meanwhile there were reports of these boys, supposed to be belonging to a wider network, being brainwashed to commit such crimes. The question is who brainwashed them and how did they get into this trap.    

People in the area, confused and frightened, suspect that this could be a planned conspiracy to trigger communal violence especially in the context of the recent statement by Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya saying that “racism is on the rise”.

There are plenty of mercenaries here to implement evil agendas and trigger violence against Muslims. This is an era which has seen religious, moral and all other human values disappear in the face of money.

This is the reason why many knowledgeable Muslims and non-Muslims alike, including Buddhist monks, demand that complete details about the Mawanella incident be told to public. They also fear that the chaotic political scene in the country may be exploited by politicians.

Muslim community in general remains   in disarray unable to understand hostile forces and their conspiracies.

Realising the seriousness of the situation some preachers appealed to Muslims to unite and return to Allah’s Islam and Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) sayings, from which they have deviated .Though a small minority the Muslim community in the island remain divided into various groups all claiming to follow  Islam though their paths deviated from the basic Islamic principles.

For example well know preacher Shaikh Agar Muhammad of Naleemiya Islamic Academy urged Muslims to unite. In trying to tell some home truths he explained the ridiculous state of affairs of the community and the need for radical reforms to put the housed in order.

Added to this another preacher Yusuf Mufti said that the community has abandoned Islam and deviated from the teachings of Islam. He too insisted on the need for Muslims to return to Islam to regain their lost respect and peace. They need to become Muslims in deeds and words.

Meanwhile racist politics of mainstream United National Party and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and selfish Muslim politics gave birth to so call Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, SLMC, which came with the slogan of “Islam and Unity”. Islam disappeared at the inception and the slogan of unity is shamefully displayed in the more than half a dozen splinter groups which were created by Sinhala leaderships to suit their agendas. 

Today SLMC and its splinter groups exploit Islam to promote their political agendas at the expense of the community.  

The Muslim civil society remain confused, clueless, weak and aimless. They turn for leadership to ACJU which, by and large, has lost the respect and confidence of large majority of educated elements in the community.  

Reiterating this view a Buddhist monk recently accused ACJU of failing to guide the community. This is a severe indictment on the  ACJU which  needs to be thoroughly reorganized with scholars respected by the community. They need to be proactive and serve the community in keeping with the need of the hour and in keeping with the teachings of proper Islam and not  petro dollar Islam.

However such appeals fail to fall in the deaf ears of ACJU as well as the civil society. Yet there is some silver line as youths all over the island started taking initiatives to improve the overall condition of the younger generation with education and other facilities.

Many in the community remember when Muslims were attacked in Gintota, Amparai, Digana and Akurana and other isolated places both President Sirisena and the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe failed to protect them. According to local dailies police gave a free hand to mob despite prior knowledge of such attacks. STF entered mosque at Kumbukkandurai with shoes, dragged out imam and muezzin and thrashed them before a Buddhist monk saved them while a doctor at Teldeniya hospital refused to treat a Muslim wounded in racist attacks.

However, despite all such atrocities, neither Muslim politicians nor the ACJU failed to get together to seek means to protect the community from any future carnage. Perhaps they are waiting for another attack on Muslims to wake up and issue statements.

The government is aware that elections are coming and thus do not want to upset Muslims. However no one knows what is in store for Muslims after elections especially in the context of the presence global anti-Muslim conspirators.