By Latheef Farook –
Latheef Farook
The government has appointed a committee to consider reforms to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act though there are many burning issues which needs immediate attention.
This new committee was appointed despite the fact that an earlier committee chaired by former Supreme Court Judge Saleem Marsoof has been involved in deliberating amendments for last 7 years. The delay being due to the controversial and sensitive nature of the issues involved and the need to consider very carefully any changes to shariat law which is divine law, and cannot be deviated at any costs.
According to cabinet co-spokesman Gayantha Karunathilaka “some provisions in the Muslim Law, including the minimum age of marriage, were not in conformity to the norms stipulated in international conventions, which Sri Lanka was holding membership, and thus it has become necessary to amend those provisions.
It is difficult to understand on what basis he compared divine Sharia laws to the norms of manmade international conventions enacted to suit western imperial powers’ agendas.
Justifying the move, Law and Order Minister Sagala Ratnayake who knows nothing about Sharia law, told media briefing that “the country had to obey the international conventions to get the GSP+. Amending of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act is also a part of international protocol, which is a requirement to obtain GSP +”.
Earlier Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapaksa proposed to appoint a cabinet Sub-committee to make proposals regarding suitable amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act.
This new committee was formed following Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe’s recent visit to Belgium where he discussed the island’s efforts to regain the GSP+ facility with the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. In response the European Union, EU, demanded Sri Lanka amends the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act to grant GSP+.
Importance attached by EU to this demand is such that a four-member delegation from the European Parliament visited Sri Lanka and the Maldives from October 31 to November 3 to assess the ground situation as a precursor for a successful GSP Plus application
Now the question is what is the need for EU to demand changes in Islamic Sharia law? In fact GSP+ facility was cancelled due to the short sighted policies of Mahinda Rajapaksa racist regime which antagonized the EU without realizing the serious impact on the island’s economy.
GSP+ facility and Sharia law are two entirely different subjects.
For example the GSP, Generalized System of Preferences, is a preferential tariff system which provides for a formal system of exemption from the more general rules of the World Trade Organization- WTO. It’s a system of exemption from the most favored nation principle (MFN) that obliges WTO member countries to treat the imports of all other WTO member countries no worse than they treat the imports of their “most favored” trading partner. In essence, MFN requires WTO member countries to treat imports coming from all other WTO member countries equally, that is, by imposing equal tariffs on them, etc.
GSP exempts WTO member countries from MFN for the purpose of lowering tariffs for the least developed countries, without also lowering tariffs for rich countries.
On the other hand Muslim Marriage and Divorce law is based on the teachings of Holy Quran which is the divine law clearly specifying every aspect of marriage and divorce.
Muslim Marriage and Divorce law, revealed 1430 years ago, provides the right for a woman to choose her husband and to divorce in the event of incompatibility or other factors which prevent them from living in harmony together. Long before today’s man made laws even thought of women’s rights, Islam has given all rights including on how divorced woman should be treated.
Islam also has given women the right to property and evidence though being maligned, distorted and demonized today by United States, British, European, Russian and Israeli war mongers joined by anti-Muslim RSS racist regime in New Delhi.
Customs, traditions and culture of Muslims differ from country to country and society to society, yet Sharia laws were observed by all Muslims alike. Here in Sri Lankan child marriage is not a major issue as most Muslim girls marry in their late teens or early twenties.
Under such circumstance European Union demanding Sri Lanka to reform Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act to provide GSP + can only be described as ridiculous.
Sri Lanka’s foreign policy under this government has been blindly following US led western war mongers anti Muslim agendas dismissing the feelings of the island’s Muslims who played a crucial role in bringing this government to power.
Muslims suspect this as part of the overall global anti Muslim campaign unleashed by US led Europe which destroyed Muslim countries in the Middle East and turned them into killing fields and graveyards. They not only destroyed modern Muslim countries but also massacred millions of innocent Muslims who lived peacefully with all prosperity in their homes besides throwing millions of Muslims into refugee camps to suffer in abject poverty.
This is the very same Europe demanding Sri Lanka to change Sharia law to grant GSP+.
This is the reason why the government’s committee to temper with the Muslim marriage and divorce act is viewed with suspicion and likely to provoke Muslims. Already there were demonstrations near mosques in Colombo and other places after Friday noon prayers calling the government to dissolve this committee.
Is changing Muslim marriage and divorce act the top priority of the country which is passing through one of its worst political and economic crisis.
The government which came with the slogan of eliminating crime and corruption has become the defender of crime and corruption. People are angry and disillusioned. Under such circumstance need of the hour is to deal with burning issues and not to antagonize the Muslim community to please European war mongers.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, architect of Genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in February 2002, is also hell bent on changing Muslim personal law. Not because he likes Muslims but because he wanted to eliminate Islamic identity of the Indian Muslims.
BJP’s Cow Vigilante thugs subject Indian Muslims to medieval style persecutions. They rape and gang rape, kill and force feed Muslims with cocktails of cow dung and urine with police connivance.
Just five months after Burmese leader Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi took over power Muslim villages in Northern Rakhine State were attacked on October 9 by government security forces. The U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Yanghee Lee, said serious violations, including torture, summary executions, arbitrary arrests and destruction of mosques and homes, threaten the country’s fledgling democracy.
“The big picture is that the government does not seem to have any influence over the military,” said Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy group that focuses on the Rohingya.
On 20 October Aung san Suu Kyi visited New Delhi and signed several agreements with violent anti Muslim BJP government. Thus hostile forces are ganging up and violence against Muslims spreading towards South Asia.
Sri Lankan is not short of racist elements Myanmar’s Wirathu type racist elements. Under such environment, Sri Lankan government needs to reconsider tempering with Muslim Marriage and divorce Act as no one wants to bring EU’s war against Muslims to Sri Lanka.
Red Indian / November 5, 2016
“Please keep your religion to yourself, Like I’m keeping it to myself.
Law and Order, Human rights and women equality is not something you can ‘define’ based on a religion.”
“Stop raping little girls; let them grow and be happy before get married. Don’t breed like pigs”
Well said Arav and Sak.
An additional note: hiding behind the so-called divine law, if elderly men like the writer of this article is allowed to rape young girls we should think back and check our so called big brains;are we humans or pigs? Even animals don’t do it. They wait until their female partners reach the right age for the job? Am I correct?
It is not us who should speak here but the muslim intellectuals and educated muslim women (not those who are in Halloween costumes please)! Where are they when it comes to this issue of raping underage girls? Do they like it too?
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Desert Storm / November 5, 2016
Dear Latheef,
Excellent observation!
FIRST AND FOREMOST WATCH THESE 2 videos to understand the explanation below:
1, How USA is encircling CHINA & INDIA WITH SECRET WEAPONS #Mind Blowing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56LROG8bLlA
2. The Quigley Formula – G. Edward Griffin lecture ( The group that controls the world)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynVqPnMQ2sI
Let us just brush away these Jewish media (CNN/BBC/FOX/CNBC/ABC/Disney etc) mind controlled freak’s Islamophobic verbal assaults to aside and discuss the real underlying cause for all these actions carried out by the SL govt.
I don’t know as to how many of these gooks who are Islamophobic knows about the real issues that’s happening behind our backs.
The South China sea area is brewing with so many conflicts and the area now sits on a big volcano that will erupt at any moment when the CFR Jews (Councils on Foreign Relations) who are the real owners of the US and its full govt control decides to start up the expected World War 3.
The encircling of the China has gone in two directions one in the East Asia and the other in the South Asia. Sri Lanka is under the opposite side of the two opposing groups, meaning with China. Mahinda Rajapakse played the double game with the West and the East (China)at the same time to benefit from the both sides to amass personal wealth in jeopardizing the National Security of the the land ruled by the stupid Sinhala Buddhist elites who are a bunch of criminals, thugs and thieves whose only protection of cover is racism. Now, the Sri Lanka is fully in the realms of China working against the US/British Jewish system which is in alliance with urine consuming Modi’s India.
Now, they are caught in between the fire and the boiling pot. Mahinda Rajapakse devised the plan of Anti-Muslim campaign was to hoodwink the West/Jews to portray himself as a BIG TIME Anti-Muslim guy in the likes of Israeli scumbags, Narendra Modi, Burmese animals and the similar characters in the world scene who are actually in partnership with US/British/French/Israeli evil alliance of the Jewish Bankers’ NWO project in implementing the De-Population of the Muslim habitats. They have done that succesfully.
The Mahinda Rajapakse’s betrayal on the West is so damaging that the Jews came hard on the the SL state to punish the country with switching off GSP and other mere pittance they show off as something a great benefit for the Sri Lankan populace. The Jews also came up with their the bogus UN resolution (that did nothing to investigate his human rights violations) to punish SL for its US/West backed war on Tamils to depopulate the north for the Western Jew’s future intervention to usurp the land including the Trinco harbour area.
Behind the scene threats would have come from the Jews/CFR gangsters and the Sinhala political prostitutes would have succumbed to the pressure of IMF/World bank Jewish system to replace Mahinda with a fake Good Governance Zombies who are nothing but the same bunch of criminals changing hands in public to show that it was democratic process that brought them to power and which is not. That;s why the Mahinda gangs have silently gave up the power and handed it over to their own comrades (corrupt political order) to fool the world and the native people.
The transition was smooth but it was a mere show. Maithripala is nothing but a continuation of the same Mahinda system (like the Zionist system that runs the west) to set things showing differently but technically it was the same SINHALA ONLY – SINHALA APARTHIED ZIONIST system that is ruling even now.
One example is how they treated the crimes of the previous regime. No action taken against anyone of them. Nothing happens and all of the criminals are in the safe hands of the Muppet they call Maithripala Sirisena. Look at the Sinhala Zionist campaign against the minorities…. its still going on strongly especially against the nearly 100 years old Anti-Muslim campaigns of the Sinhala Racist order that has a deep state within the system.
The voting against the Muslims against the third most Islamic holiest site is just one of those Sinhala Only – Jew appeasing tactic to please the masters from taking any action against the SL state for their collaboration with the Chinese Geo Political reality is one of them.
During Mahinda’s rule the WAR ON ISLAM by the Sinhala Buddhist Zionist elites was an open war. Now, after the new govt., the WAR ON ISLAM has taken a underground role where it slowly but effectively enforcing one by one.
The govt., still not doing anything to arrest the Sinhala Racist elements and the Muppet Maithripala is simply playing into their hands by declaring and enforcing the very same thing the racists wants. Like the fake SiriPada false flag incident. Maithipala is giving them a lot oxygen by not condemning any of their acts.
Soon, the system will collapse leaving the country totally in the hands of the evil Jews as soon as the World War 3 preceding battles begins from the many parts of the world. Because, the money flow that keeps the racists running will come to a complete halt. There won’t be Jewish IMF/World Bank existing afterwards. You will see bombs and missiles raining on the city and other parts involving China, US, Russia, India……. it will be a big hell hole afterwards.
When we see all these things and take the essentials and applied to figure out as to whats going on, one can come to the conclusion that Sri Lanka as a sovereign state is FINISHED and heading towards a NO-RETURN disaster that was made possible by the Anagarika Dharmapala Evil Philosophy followers….not knowing that Anagarika was a pseudo Buddhist who transformed the Sinhala political elites into a blood thirsty psychopaths who steal the country and foment violence against anyone who stands against their evil pathways taught and trained by the EVIL ZIONIST JEWS OF THE WEST.
ALL LEADS TO NOTHING but the NEW WORLD ORDER as planned by the powerful Jews who owns the World Power (Temporarily) at present.
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Desert Storm / November 6, 2016
This one is from the “Anonymous” clip which is very relevant today as the Islamophobia going haywire with the Jewish machination to destroy the last strong religion standing in heir way- The New World Order…..
I quote….
” REMEMBER….
It didn;t start with gas chambers…
It started with POLITICIANS dividing the people US Vs THEM.
It started started with INTOLERANCE and HATE SPEECH,
and when people STOP CARING, Became DESENSITIZED, MINDLESSLY OBEDIENT,
and TURNED A BLIND EYE”…..
This is what going on even in the Sri Lankan socio-political order backed by the evil SINHALA ONLY order that has its tentacles all over the state going about robbing, thieving and mass murdering innocent people throughout a century, with the obedience the goon squads renedering to the evil thoughts and philosophy of psicopaths in the likes of Anagarika Dharmapala ( A Satanist hiding behind Buddhism to promote the Jewish supremacist ideas learnt from the Crypto Jews -Olcott and Blavatsky).
….that evil teaching is still spilling the bloods of innocent people for decades…..
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Nuwan Perera / November 16, 2016
Look who is talking, aren’t you the ones that marry dogs and donkeys. I think you need to sort that out before you come to change other communities. How but the widow forced to jump into the burning fire while the dead husband’s body is burnt. This is if you are an indian
If you are buddhist where were you when these women cried for their rights to wear the hijab. They were harassed and molested in public. How come now you are so worried about their rights. The likes of BBS are just dogs running behind their master for a piece of meat. You are ruining it for everyone and should by put down like a mad dog
And the white man I have no words for you. You have more broken families, single parents, incest breeding, child abuse and bastard children than flies on smelly shit.
Capitalist Ideology should be replaced and it will be replaced.
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ajith / November 5, 2016
Where were the divine law before Saudi plant them in Sri Lanka.
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Pandikutty / November 5, 2016
Aney I love to be tortured stoned and whipped, so exciting please give keep Sharia
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Mallaiyuran / November 5, 2016
Hey Pandikutty,
it is interesting to watch these guys dragging EU into this. It seems to be a tactics to get Muslims countries support to block the UNHRC’s initiations in War Crime inquiry. This is how they are planning to go ask Muslims countries to go against EU in Lankawe’s matters.
I wrote here that asking to fix MMDA will end up the loophole which provoked of that freedom talk will be fixed. Champika who plough the Colombo roads with his car has called to curb women entry into Universities and government services. I do not have the statistics. But I believe it is Sinhala women should have been caught in this. You may remember the 1950s’ of calls of the Sinhala Buddhists’ that Tamils were favored of Colonist and they were occupying the 75% of the government’s jobs? Champika has warned 75% of the jobs are taken by women and if it continues it is going to 90%. It seems the Sinhala Buddhist Men are fully occupied on their job in the Rapist Army and when they finish their job in their field of North-East and go back home, government jobs are taken over by Sinhala Women. So it is their women are taking care of the families while they are fully occupied in the North-East Fields with their urgent job. It is 100 % sure Sinhala women will be voting for Champika to become prime minister, just like Muslim women asking to be stone thrown them, but it will be a challenging job for him to introduce “The Sinhala Only” to take away the jobs from Sinhala women and introduce the “Standardization” to stop Sinhala women to entering the universities. The Modaya Sinhala Buddhist Rapist Army men took the education and government jobs from Tamils but did not know what to do with it. So now the headache of creating a solution of how to conduct the Operation Humanitarian Liberation of Sinhala Buddhist Modaya Men from the Sinhala women is on the new “DS and SWRD” combined Champika.
The problem is Old Royals and SLFP who were deep entrenched in destroying the Tamils for the last two decades saw the diaspora who left the country from 1983 has been able to start a new life in the countries they reached. Lankawe remained not developed by entrenched into the utmost Bhakti to Sinhala Buddhism. While they were too deep in practicing Sinhala Buddhism from 1956 with Sinhala Only, they had fallen asleep the Wahhabism penetrating into the country with the SA’s investment in the East. There were no calls for Sharia in 1959 but MMDA was only a special provision to Muslims marriage. Sharia is not just about marriage. There were no Halal provisions those days. Sinhala Buddhist are y are calling they are Buddhist and against “Pasu Wathai”. There are badly dependent on exporting Halal to Middle East. Just because a silly woman throws a cloth on a performer on the stage, the country’s leader called for Thirukkai Vaal whipping as the Sinhala Buddhism is ruling the country. But they export women to Middle East to keep their families running.
That time they brought MMDA only to strengthen the Sinhala only. Now it is so much of stories of how the Wahhabism creeped into the country. They invented the Middle East Slavery and exported women to keep the Rapist Army not disturbed and be fully occupied in its jobs in the North-East. Those women came back from Middle East came with the call of throwing stone to them for the sins they committed. Now you can find as many Muslim women crowd as you want to have a thousand rallies to calling them to be stoned. This is called divine of in need of money. Their life need to go. You can throw them with stones as per their call but you still have to let them to go to Middle East and do the slavery to keep their families’ stomach calm.
Under the basic rights invoked in the constitution, no woman can have a pact signed with any man to throw with stones for any reason. She even cannot call a doctor to carry out a mercy killing. A woman can love a man and dedicate her to his dictations. A woman can belief a religion and dedicate her for that belief’s dictations. Even to go further, a woman can believe in a religion and submit her to a man the religion calling her for to submit to honor that Bhakti. But her individual sovereignty cannot be pledged and is not sacrificed to any of those loves, Bhaktis and pacts.
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AshyD / November 5, 2016
THERE IS NOTHING CALLED “DIVINE LAW”
From where did the writer Latheef Farook get this stupid notion that “Shariah Law” is Divine.
Then according to his twisted notion, what is said in the Bible should also be divine law, and what Lord Buddha preached and is in his Dhamma, should be the law that the Buddhists all over the world should follow and not any other law.
We could go a little further and even construe Mao Tse Tung’s teachings as the law of China, and what Mahathma Gandhi followed as the law of India and so on and so forth.
What a chaotic world this would be, and Mr.Latheef Farook will be a very happy man. but would he be?
But take this into consideration, “Shariah Law” has not done any good for Saudi Arabia the birth place of Islam. Saudi’s are corrupt and their Human Rights record is dismal, 1400 years of Islam has still not done them any good as the average Saudi is uncultured and as they were during that same era.
Does Mr.Latheef Farook want us to follow “Shariah law” and the Saudi’s and create a country like that here.
No Thank you.
Sri Lanka must have one law, and that is the law of the land with equality guaranteed for every citizen.
If anyone wants to follow “Shariah Law”, “Bible Law”, Dhamma Law”, or any other law it is his right, but it should not be imposed on anyone else, like the incident that took place at the mosque in Puttalam, for which the culprits were remanded and rightly so.
The law of the country will not recognize it as it would be the individual’s prerogative.
Even after 130,000 years of human civilization our capacity for reasoning has not changed and improved for the better hence the conflicts and chaos we see around the world.
Humans are unable to sit down and iron out our differences that is due mainly to the size of our head and what is inside which we call the brain.
The cause of all this is because the estimated 36 billion neurons in the human brain has not increased and will not do so for sure till we evolve with heads bigger than our torsos, hence we are still enslaved in religious beliefs that are millennia outdated.
If we stop believing in a “SO CALLED AFTERLIFE” and follow the law of the land we live in, the human race would live a very peaceful and uncomplicated life.
Governments must not mix religion and government because when they do so, it is chaos they would be reaping for the people they represent and nothing else.
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ahmed / November 5, 2016
[Edited out]
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Nabil / November 5, 2016
Dear Latheef
Let’s keep politics and religion out of the debate. Marrying off little girls in their adolescence years to be WITHOUT their consent should be considered child rape!
I hope readers understand that child marriage was a cultural practice and has nothing to do with religion. Even the Kandyan Marriage law recognized 12 years as marriageable age. Thankfully this practice is no more among the Kandyans.
A majority of Muslims don’t practice child marriage. It is unheard of among urban Muslims. However its is practiced among all impoverished communities as parents see girls as a burden and unrecorded child marriage is an easy way out!
A minuscule of Muslims may want to hang on to a practice that has been discarded. I want my little girl to grow up and be an independent citizen who can shoulder to shoulder among men, be able to live the life wants! If it means she chooses not to marry so be it.
I strongly object to this practice and urge the authorities to do away with any law that allows consent by a guardian whatever the girl’s age.
As a Muslim I object to advocating child marriage in my name!
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Ghf / November 5, 2016
All of Middle East is cursed because of your religion
Wait till they run out of oil money in few tread to see anerchy
As you have no feelings about other people
All of you will kill each other . Shay a bunch of
Low life .
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colin / November 5, 2016
With the LG elections around the corner woukdnt this be sweet music for the JO and MR who are now trying to woo back the Muslims after Aluthgama.MR recent statement to the Muslims recently is an indication They may tell this minority community “When we come into power(provided they do) we will restore back whatever is withdrawn from the MMDA. The Govt should be wary of this as they have a sizeable minority support.
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srinath.gunaratne / November 8, 2016
It is a damn shame that human rights hav to be imposed to a nation as trade concession! even that with great difficulty!
A place where literacy rate is 85%!
That explains the whole picture! Sinhala Tamil Muslim, Long way to evolve into human beings.
Especially for Buddhists, Buddhism has not done a thing! the most liberal teachings.
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