By Latheef Farook –

Latheef Farook

Return of Rajapaksa era racist politics: Island is fast becoming playground for world powers

Disgusted with Rajapaksa regime’s senseless persecution, the island’s Muslims as a whole voted for Maithri-Ranil team in the hope they meant their election promises to end racist attacks and usher in an era of peace.

People trusted and expected the two to fulfil their pledges and deal with Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagoda atte Gnanasara Thero for his crimes against Muslims. However Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakhse said that “Ven Gnanasara Thero will not be taken to custody”.

Adding insult to injury President Sirisena invited Ven. Gnanasara Thero to attend a meeting of religious heads and elevated this man of violence to level of respectability?  By these actions the President and Minister Rajapakshe left the Muslims wondering whether they could expect justice from this government.

Today government remains indifferent to attacks on Muslims by BBS led racists who have raised their ugly heads once again to such an extent that many suspects they get the government to implement their designs on Muslims. This week he has once again insulted Allah with police protection in Polonnaruwa.

As a result Muslims who also played crucial role to bring this government to power ask whether they voted for this government to power to continue racist attacks on them. Harassing Muslims have become order of the day .The state machinery is suspected to be hand in glove with them.

For example racist elements tried to prevent Muslim refugees evicted by LTTE from returning to their lands in Musali and adjacent areas. Implementing their agenda the government gazetted Muslim villages adjacent to Wilpattu National Park on Friday 24 march 2017, as part of the nearly 100,000 acre lands, declaring as “conservative forest” with immediate effect.

This was done, in such hurry that it was signed during president Sirisena’s official visit to Russia despite Muslims submitting documentary evidence to their lands.

Racists also turned their attention to Amparai district where they erected a Buddha statue at Maayakkalli hilltop on 27 October 2016 adjacent to Tamil-Muslim area of Maanikkamadu in Rakkamam district.This only serves to provoke Sinhalese against Muslims.

Now Ven. Gnanasara Thero and his gang grabbed a plot of Muslim owned land adjacent to this statue by force and started clearing to build a vihara to protect the Buddha statute.

This land is owned by a Muslim, Palliyan Zainudeen, and the justice under the government is such that he cannot go to his own land. They point out that usually in all such cases first the statue comes, then comes the vihare followed by military post, colonizing the area with Sinhalese brought from outside and set up government offices to legitimize these illegal colonization .The question is what lesson these trouble creators learnt from the racist politics which caused the 30 year destructive war?.

This in fact is the Rajapaksa program of Sinhalisation of Tamil-Muslim lands under which 86 places in the east were gazette on 10 October 2014 as archaeological sites.

Rejecting moves to build a vihara, Digavapi Parivara Chaitya Raja Maha Vihara Chief Priest Pottivala Sandananda Thero said “there is no need for a vihara in Manikkamadu”.

Meanwhile the government’s foreign policy aligning itself with US, UK, Europe, Israel and India has been equally hostile to the island’s Muslims as these countries carry out a global war of genocide on Muslims.

According to reports this week former US Secretary of State John Kerry  has disclosed that the US  invested $585 million in promoting democracy across the globe in 2015 and supported important democratic gains in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Burma”. The fear is that US-European-Israel anti Muslim campaign may be extended to Sri Lanka targeting Muslims.

Perhaps it was as part of this shift in foreign policy that President Sirisena visited during his visit to Germany the holocaust museum-a Zionist myth to win world sympathy to commit genocides on Palestinians and drive them out to establish the racist entity of Israel which has been the cause of all wars, destruction and killings in the Middle East.

Certainly it is not an honour that even poorest of poor countries provide Israel in view of its   crime records.

Added to this British war criminal former Prime Minister Tony Blair who committed genocide on Iraqi people was invited with his family by the government as guests. He met President Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and addressed Lakshman Kadirgamar Conference Centre. What an honour to a war criminal – insult to Lakshman Kadirgamar.

On the other hand Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, with his heart rooted deep in US.UK and Israel, has always been on the side of US-Israeli led invasion and destruction of Muslims countries. For example he, as prime minister, refused to condemn the March 2003 US invasion of Iraq. When some Muslim parliamentarians tried to condemn they were reported to have told by him to leave the government and do so.

The Maithri-Ranil government has rolled red carpet to Israel and they may justify this by saying that “Arab dictators, installed in power by US, Britain and France and do not represent their people, also recognized Israel so why not we”. People throughout the Middle East reject Israel although dictators sold their souls to Israel to safeguard their power.

Most people in the island are not aware that Israel, the architect of the ongoing Jewish ruled US –led bombing, destroying Muslim countries and slaughtering Muslims under the guise of fighting the myth- “war on terrorism” has its own global agenda against Islam and Muslims. Implementing this agenda is their top priority and why should Sri Lanka be an exception? This is the reason why Muslims fear that BBS, suspected to have been funded by Israel through Norway, has once again started its anti-Muslim campaign which is bound to destabilize the country.

This is the reason why Muslims fear the government’s Counter Terrorism Act as it could be used against them as part of US-European-Israeli global campaign. Many Muslims consider this act, especially after the LTTE war ended, as the US-Israeli conspiracy aimed at them.

This comes when people from all communities are deeply disappointed with the government’s failure to fulfil its promises .The island is facing political instability and economy crisis. Our foreign policy is being shaped by US and Israel while the economy controlled by World Bank and International Monetary Fund- two institutions known for destabilizing third world economies.

Ever since assuming office both President and Prime Minister went on official tours to countries all over signing bilateral agreements. However the country was not flooded with foreign investments. Even today bulk of the foreign exchange, around seven billion dollars, come from Sri Lankans working in the Middle East especially Gulf countries without which the island’s economy may collapse.

Did the president or prime minister ever thought of visiting any of these countries despite Muslim countries’ open support to Sri Lankan at all difficult times and in all international forums?

Today the island has become playground for powerful and even destructive forces such as United States, Britain, Russia, Israel, India and China with their own agendas influencing the country’s foreign policy. As a result, the question is, whether we are free and independent as we were once.

Now the question is where is the country heading towards?