By Latheef Farook –

Latheef Farook

Malicious campaign pushing discriminated and frustrated Muslims to wall

Few weeks ago Ven Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thero, known for inciting Sinhalese and unleashing violence against Muslims, said he would dissolve his organisation Bodu Bala Sena as it has achieved its target of setting up a Sinhala Buddhist government without minority support.

Following the election of the present government to power on 15 November 2019, he was rather quiet. Now that the parliamentary election is forthcoming, he has started his campaign once again pitting the Sinhalese against Muslims.There were reports that during the presidential elections in November 2019 Buddhist monks and temples were used to demonize Muslims to win Sinhala votes assuring security.

As part of this campaign to win Sinhala votes, he attempted to brand as extremist, several main stream Muslim Organisations and institutions numbering a colossal 42 including the prestigious Jaamia Naleemia Academy at Beruwala, the radiating centre of scholarly knowledge! A case of the ‘black pot’ calling the ‘silver kettle’, Black! This comes at a time when the island’s Muslim community remains deeply wounded following a decade of unchecked anti-Muslim propaganda and violence.

It is common knowledge that during the ethnic war Muslims also suffered only because they refused to  support the LTTE can for the division of the country. The entire Muslim population in the North and North East were kicked out within hours by the LTTE .Their belongings were looted and they ended up in refugee camps only with Rs 150. In the East, Muslims were massacred in mosques, their lands grabbed and livelihood deprived by the LTTE.

Once the war ended in May 2009, Muslims resumed their normal life.

However their hopes were shattered when there began a wave of well-planned violent attacks. This campaign, began with the destruction of a 400 year old Muslim shrine in Anuradhapura, followed by attacks on Dambulla and other mosques. There were attacks on Muslim owned businesses, allegations that doctors were trying to sterilize women in government hospitals, pressurising Muslim children to kneel down and worship teachers, demonstrations carrying photos of pigs with Allah’s name on it, arson attacks on Muslim owned textile and other outlets and shops, and a sinister campaign against Muslim women covering faces and wearing hijab. Attackers were widely known to be supported by Norwegian indoctrinated anti-Muslim monks and their side kicks.

In many public meetings monks openly incited Sinhalese against Muslims and asked Sinhalese to boycott Muslim businesses. In Kurunegala, those who purchased from Muslims shops were attacked with rotten eggs. Of course these were the ugly works of a few extremists turned violent extremists.

The government’s indifference and the indulgence of the police from taking offenders to task, drove terror into Muslims who spent sleepless nights.

The situation was so precarious that Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thero, a lecturer at Kelaniya University told that; “political and social problems need to be solved amicably through dialogue which as monks we have repeatedly failed from time of the independence. Now we are again on the eve of another round of violence. I fear any time a ‘black July’ will repeat and this time it is against Muslims”.

These hooligans are suspected to have been trained by Israel’s intelligence agent Mossad and funded by Israel through Norway and their mission in New Delhi as part of its on-going global agenda against Islam and Muslims.

Time and again I wrote about the dangers of opening up the country to Israel and India’s RSS fascists. Most Sri Lankan are not aware that Israel is a cruel entity planted by British and French imperial powers in the Middle-East and later joined by the US and former Soviet Union. The tribal aims of the RSS and its deceptive front Bharathiya Janatha Party are to persecute the Muslim population in India and turn India into a Hindu raj.

Israel and RSS operate together to destabilize the region. When Sri Lanka opened the doors to these forces the two, as expected are working to split the unity of the Sinhalese and Muslims.

Muslims expected their parliamentarians to raise their problem. They refused fearing it would jeopardize their positions and perks. It was TNA parliamentarians R Sampanthan and Sumanthiran raised the agony the Muslim community.

In the midst, presidential election was called for 5 December 2015. Presidential candidate Maithripala Sirisena promising to ensure Muslims’ safety, most Muslims voted for him. However dashing all hopes anti-Muslim violence continued under Maithri Ranil government with senseless attacks on Muslims in Gintota followed by Digana, Akurana and Amparai.

These attacks climaxed in the Easter Sunday massacre involving a few Muslim lunatics carefully screened and selected, funded by the plotters to put blame on the entire Muslim community, demonize and unleash violence against them. Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has blamed foreign hands behind the Easter Sunday attacks executed  by a handful of radicalized Muslim youths.

Muslim community has nothing to do with this carnage. The authorities were informed of the bombings by several Muslim organizations and individuals providing names of the individuals involved. It was the then government that failed to act. Muslims paid the price. Innocent Muslims are continuing to be harassed and some persecuted.

Not only hospital security but even shops and super markets forced Muslim women to remove face covers and traditional shawls besides other atrocities. Security forces entered Mosques with their boots on marching in with snifer dogs.

If we are to go by  Professor Rajan Hoole’s book “Sri Lanka’s Easter Tragedy-WHEN THE DEEP STATE GETS OUT OF ITS DEPTH” the ultimate target is to demonize and deprive Muslims of their rights and turn them into a state of stateless people as the government did  in 1948 to estate workers of Indian origin in Sri Lanka.

And now comes the multi-faceted anti-Muslim campaign using Gnanasara Thero to demonize and terrorize Muslims. Recently he described Naleemiya Institute as preaching extremism and described great respected Islamic scholar Yousuf Qarlawi as preaching hatred.

These allegations were deliberate distortions aimed at poisoning Sinhalese minds. A statement issued by the Egyptian diplomatic mission in Colombo also described Yousef Qarlawi as a heat preacher and Islamic Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

This is the Zionist language spoken by the diplomatic mission of the regime in Egypt in Colombo, a regime which was installed in power, after toppling the first ever democratically elected government of President Muhammed Morsi .President Morsi’s government was forcibly crushed and toppled by the present Egyptian dictator. He was detained in solitary confinement under miserable conditions in prison where the peoples’ president died while the military might was used all throughout to subjugate the heroic people of Egypt who threw out earlier on Hosni Mubarak, another in the long line of Egyptian dictators, surviving on the US-Israeli military axis.

One should not forget the Israelis openly admitted that they got their shameless Saudi, Abu Dhabi and Kuwaiti stooges to spend eleven billion dollars to create artificial shortages of food and fuel to justify a military coup, killing thousands of innocent Morsi’s supporters, some inside mosques, to topple Morsi’s democratic government.

Thus one cannot expect any good word for Qarlawi or Hassanul Banna’s Muslim Brotherhood from plotters and killers and their diplomatic missions.

Meanwhile the current wave of anti-Muslim campaign to win Sinhala votes is certainly not in the interest of the country.

The island’s Muslim community, was described by former Chief Justice Sarah N Silva as the most peaceful of the three communities. Reiterating this former Chief of Staff, Admiral R. Wijeguneratne  said  during the meeting of Cabinet of ministers to discuss the arson attacks on the Muslim community in Teldeniya, Kandy and  Ampara by organised gang of Sinhalese extremists that the Muslims did not deserve to be treated in such a manner that” we are “alive today because of brave Muslim officers”.

Corrupt Muslim politicians and sell out self-declared religious leaders do not represent the Muslim community. Sandwiched between these two forces and the ongoing anti-Muslim campaign Muslim community remains helpless and voiceless.

They are very angry at racist politics and their media associating violence with Islam and Muslims. The refusal to allow Muslim corona victims a decent burial, despatching a high powered task force to Pottuvil where Muslims lands were forcefully surveyed in the presence of the armed forces have caused deep concern among Muslims.

Thus marginalising a community as a whole is not a healthy sign for the future of a nation which is multi-racial, multi religious, multi lingual and multi-cultural. Country is in deep economic trouble. Ethnic and racist politics will convert the country into a fools’ paradise!

It is also worthy to note that fighting against injustice and insults is an obligation on all Muslims. Under such circumstance continuing malicious campaign demonising them is certainly not going to serve the country.

Despite all the death, destruction and sufferings during the past few decades due to racist politics, average Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and all others wanted to live in peace and harmony as did for centuries.

Sri Lanka was a shining example for political and economic stability, communal harmony and peace during the time of independence in 1948. Unfortunately racist politics turned the island today into one of the most mismanaged countries facing political instability, collapsing economy and communities divided to the detriment of all.

The irony is this happens at a time when the corona virus which has devastated the world is also playing havoc with downturn in economy, people losing jobs, salary cuts and many such issues which have all the ingredients to devastate the deeply debt ridden country.

Isn’t it time to resist this re-introduced anti-Muslim campaign?