{"id":214670,"date":"2020-11-17T15:10:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T09:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=214670"},"modified":"2021-02-04T18:30:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T13:00:57","slug":"pta-terrorising-sri-lanka-for-42-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/pta-terrorising-sri-lanka-for-42-years\/","title":{"rendered":"PTA: Terrorising Sri Lanka For 42 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Marisa de Silva<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in prison, I met and spoke with other Tamil PTA prisoners, some who had been there for 10 years, with their files not even taken up yet. I was terrified wondering if the same thing would happen to me\u2026\u201d<\/i>\u00a0~\u00a0<\/span>L.T. Jesmin, one of five men from Horowpothana arrested under false charges in 2019\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

This research was undertaken to highlight the socio-economic impacts faced by the families of those arrested and detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).The PTA has predominately targeted men belonging to ethnic and religious minorities (Tamils and Muslims), and their arrests leave the women and families vulnerable.The women have to bear the brunt of the socio-economic impact of these arrests.<\/p>\n

Women are left to care for the elderly and their children, and generate an income in order to survive. They also have to liaise with lawyers and visit the arrested men. An increase in poverty levels and indebtedness, is an additional consequence of the arbitrary arrest and detention of primary income earners. Thus, this indirectly places an additional burden on the State. Further, as society tends to buy into the government narrative and stigmatise such families as \u201cterrorist families\u201d, these families also face social ostracism and psychological trauma.<\/p>\n

Guilt by Association<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of the Easter Sunday Attacks of 21st<\/sup>April, 2019, hundreds of Muslims were rounded up and arrested under the PTA and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)\u00a0Act\u00a0of 2007. According to lawyers working on PTA cases[1], at least 500 Muslims, between the ages of 18 and 49, were arrested and detained under the PTA, following the attacks. Of those arrested, 98 were from Kattankudy, Batticaloa, the hometown of Zahran. To date, 92 of the 98 detainees from Kattankudy remain in remand custody, with 6 persons having been released on bail. In one particular instance, 65 Muslim youth and men were arrested under one charge. The arbitrary and sweeping use of the PTA follows the pattern of its over-use and abuse against the Tamil community during the three decades of ethnic conflict. It has contributed greatly to further polarizing communities and deepening the divides.<\/p>\n

Whilst it is recognised that those involved in violent terrorist activities must be held accountable under the law, arresting and detaining a number of family members under the PTA, purely based on suspicion is deeply problematic. These blanket arrests deny the presumption of innocence, create an environment of guilt by association, further polarises society, intensifies the spread of Islamophobia and creates a deep resentment among the largely peaceful Muslim community. Arbitrary arrests under the PTA are often \u2018witch hunts\u2019 targeting a minority community or dissidents, or it is a means of collecting evidence. This is a rampant violation of fundamental human rights. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These cases exemplify the urgent need to repeal the PTA, a long-standing call by victim families and local and international activists and rights groups. Furthermore, the sweeping arrests under the PTA and the treatment of detainees expose the deeply ingrained prejudice towards ethnic\/religious minorities, failures of the law enforcement and prison systems, and the need for urgent reform. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Historical Context\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The PTA is a draconian law introduced in 1978 to legitimize the State\u2019s use of brutal force and inhumane \u2018counter terror\u2019 tactics to quash the Tamil insurgency spearheaded by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).Since then the PTA has been used disproportionately against people of Tamil ethnicity, subjecting them to arbitrary arrest, prolonged detention without charges, inhumane detention conditions, torture, forced confessions, post-release harassment and restrictions, including re-arrests. Currently, at least 146 PTA detainees[2] (including 6 women and a 1\u00bd year old infant with a heart ailment), continue to languish in prisons around the country[3].<\/p>\n

As at 2015, the actual number detained under the PTA was unknown, but a list of 182 persons detained under the PTA, and remanded at 11 official remand prisons, was compiled and released by the Department of Prisons. However, the list did not include those being held at detention centres such as Boosa and the Terrorist Investigation Department (TID) in Colombo, and this indicated that the actual number of persons arrested and detained under the PTA at the time, would have been far higher[4].<\/p>\n

Some of the types of cases flagged at that time by the Watchdog Collective[5] included:<\/p>\n

* Persons who had been in remand for 18-19 years without having their cases concluded;<\/p>\n

* Persons in remand for 15 years prior to charges being filed;<\/p>\n

* Persons in detention for 15 months prior to being produced before a Magistrate and being remanded;<\/p>\n

* Persons who were brought for 400-500 court hearings whilst in detention, without seeing a conclusion to the case,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

* An instance of 15 cases filed against one person at 6 courts across 4 districts; and<\/p>\n

* Instances of persons who were released as innocent and discharged from all charges after 5-6 years in detention, only to be subjected to post release harassment, including re-arrest.<\/p>\n

Islamophobia and Media Complicity<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The Easter Sunday attacks triggered yet another wave of Islamophobia which has been on the rise since the end of the war in 2009. This general hostility towards the Muslims, fanned by irresponsible media houses further exacerbated the situation, resulting in the Muslim community being made more vulnerable[6]. The cases of Dr. Shafi who was falsely accused of carrying out mass sterilisations on Sinhala women[7], and the Horowpothana Five (details of these case studies are given below)<\/i>, are clear examples of the media destroying the lives of 6 men and their families, by spewing lies, and peddling on innuendo and hate speech. To date, no media institution has been held accountable for their irresponsible actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to take action against the media. They are the ones that destroyed our lives with their lies. They must be held accountable for their irresponsible reporting, somehow. We want a retraction and apology published on the Lankadeepa cover page, like when they published lies about my husband,\u201d<\/i> said J. Hairulhudha, wife of one of the five men arrested under false charges, in Horowpothana last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many families of detainees spoke of being ostracized in their communities and even their children facing harassment from fellow classmates and teachers. \u201cEverywhere we would go, people would say \u2018here comes the IS[SIS] crowd. Our children would be asked why their father was in jail? And if he was an IS[SIS] terrorist? We had never even heard of who Zahran was until the attacks. Why was this happening to us,\u201d <\/i>many wives and mothers of those arrested following the attacks, lamented.<\/p>\n

Lack of Support and Indebtedness<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Having lost the sole breadwinner, many of the families had to find alternate sources of income. Whilst relatives did their best to support these families, they still had to take out loans or pawn their possessions, to be able to afford lawyer fees, transport costs for prison visits, and pay for food and school expenses for their children. Furthermore, due to the stigma attached to those who were arrested and the heavy surveillance on these families following the attacks, people were reluctant to loan money to these families or support them in any way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was particularly difficult for the families where the women were not accustomed to going out of the house on their own. Such women and their families had no means of fending for themselves. One such case was a wife from Kattankudy, who used to be a seamstress and do piecework for a nearby garment factory.When her husband was around, he would collect the supplies she required and take the finished products to the factory. Now she is unable to do that work because she does not have support to get her the necessary material or collect the pieces from her. It is culturally not acceptable for an unrelated man to come to her house. So now, she is struggling to pay back her loans and make ends meet. None of these families have received any support from the government or any other groups, and in the absence of the sole income earner of their families they are in dire straits\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The following are 10 interviews carried out with family members of 8 Muslim men, a boy and a woman who were arrested in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday Attacks last year. In addition, five men who were arrested in Horowpothana under false charges were released on bail last November. Interviews with two of them are also included below.<\/p>\n

Family – *Fatima (mother), 53,Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee – *Infas (son), 21
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Kegalle Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Went to Nuwara Eliya for Bayan organized by NTJ
\nOccupation \u2013 Sales Representative, Hardware Store
\nMarital Status \u2013 Single
\nDependents \u2013 Single parent mother, tailor
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

*Fatima\u2019s husband abandoned the family after the birth of their third child. She later sold her house to educate *Infas, and they\u2019ve been living in rented premises ever since. As her older two sons are married, it was *Infas, the youngest, who was taking care of his mother and 75-year-old grandmother. *Infas earned Rs. 30,000 a month, and would give his mother Rs. 25,000 to run the house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Infas had joined some friends who offered him a free trip to Nuwara Eliya, to listen to a Bayan (sermon). He was not told anything more than that. However, he had told his mother that he was going with some friends for a party, and had left on Friday evening. When he returned on Saturday night, he told his mother where he\u2019d been and about the Bayan (sermon), and said that he had felt \u201cbetrayed by NTJ\u201d[8]. \u201cThat alone should prove that he\u2019s not a terrorist,\u201d his mother said. He went to a regular mosque. It was not even a NTJ one”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was the second day of Ramadan (May 9th<\/sup> 2019), my son and I were resting at the back of the house. \u201cHe told me he would go and buy samosas for breakfast once he woke up.\u201d Later that day, two vehicles with Police and CID officers came to our house and had asked for *Infas. The police said they had to take him in for questioning. I said he hasn\u2019t done anything wrong. \u201cThey took his phone also and checked it, and later returned the phone but, not my son,\u201d said *Fatima. He was first detained at the Kattankudy police and later transferred to the Batticaloa prison. \u201cThey took him from our house, but they wrote on the charge sheet that he was in hiding. When they read out the charge sheet, I asked them why they were lying, but, they still didn\u2019t change the statement,\u201d she said. When *Infas was produced before the Magistrate for the first time also, I raised this same issue, and the judge also asked as to why it had been stated that *Infas was in hiding if he had been arrested from his home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that he has been transferred to Kegalle, which is a predominantly Sinhala speaking area, \u201cwe can\u2019t go there by public transport, so about 15 families whose children are also being held in Kegalle, all contribute towards hiring a van with a Sinhala speaking driver, and travel together. Once I add the cost of some food for him, to my travel cost, it costs me at least Rs. 5000 per visit. We try and visit them once every two weeks at least. The travel back and forth takes up the entire day, and I get to speak to him for about 20 minutes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInitially he told me that they were packed like sardines, where everyone had to sleep on their sides. He said they couldn\u2019t sleep or pray properly, and that it was very dirty. Now he says the conditions have improved. He keeps telling me whenever we meet, \u2018you brought me up not to even hit anyone out of anger, to never be violent. Now look at what has happened to me.\u2019 If he had done something wrong, I can understand, but why is he paying the price for something he hasn\u2019t done? I believe God will help my son because he knows he\u2019s innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n

We asked her what she needs to get by and she said she is in need of a sewing machine so she can sew pieces for the many garment factories in the area, as it\u2019s something that she can do from home, and will generate some income for them to live on till *Infas is released. The machine costs Rs. 40,000 and she cannot afford to buy it.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Renoza (wife), 39, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee – *Riyaz (husband), 43
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Monaragala Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Went to Nuwara Eliya for Bayan organized by NTJ
\nOccupation \u2013 Technician, CTB
\nMarital Status \u2013 Married \u2013 3 daughters (07, 12 & 14).
\nDependents \u2013 Wife and 3 children
\nTravel Allowance \u2013 Rs. 2600 from ICRC every 45 days (received once as at 11<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Jan. 2020)<\/b><\/p>\n

A neighbour, Rauf (from the NTJ), had asked *Riyaz and another friend, Zubair to attend a 3-day Bayan in Nuwara Eliya, but, Zubair and *Riyaz had returned within one day as they had not liked what was being said there. *Riyaz prays at a regular mosque, not at a NTJ controlled mosque.*Riyaz worked as a technician for the CTB, and after his arrest, his wife was given a one off payment of Rs. 37,000 (Employees Provident Fund and Employee Trust Fund). Thereafter, they have had to find ways to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n

*Riyaz was arrested from his home on the 3rd<\/sup> day of Ramadan (10th<\/sup> May 2019). The police had gone looking for him at the bus depot and then come to his home. *Renoza had asked them why he was being taken, and that he\u2019s not even a member of the NTJ. They had said it was because he had gone for the Bayan in Nuwara Eliya. (The police referred to the Bayan as a training.) *Renoza was 5 months pregnant at the time of *Riyaz\u2019s arrest. She had the baby in September but, the baby had passed away shortly after birth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately after my husband\u2019s arrest, all my neighbours came over and told me that he was innocent and he should not have been arrested. They would come every evening during Ramadan and comfort me, and told me to be strong. My brothers don\u2019t come home to see me due to the heavy surveillance I am under, and as they belong to different mosques, there is also some tension between our families.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, *Renoza lives with her children, in the same compound as her mother and sister. She\u2019 is dependent solely on her in-laws, which she is very unhappy about, as her husband had always provided for them. \u201cWhenever I visit him, my husband always asks me how we\u2019re managing,\u201d she said. He shares his cell with two others, so *Renoza now knows them. The families travel together to visit their family members in detention. They travel for half a day and are only permitted to speak to their detained family members for 20 minutes. During the Christmas holidays, she was able to take her children to see their father twice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though my husband is brought to the Batticaloa Magistrate every 14 days, we are not permitted to see or speak to them, nor are we permitted inside of the courtroom. Families of all other detainees can enter the court, but they don\u2019t allow families of those arrested following the Easter Sunday Attacks. The police have told us that they were following the judge\u2019s orders. We can only try and catch a glimpse of them in the bus or as they walk to and from the courts, and we try and communicate with them using sign language.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFridays are particularly difficult for me, as my husband used to take the children to the beach every Friday.\u00a0 <\/span>They especially miss their father on Fridays,\u201d she lamented. \u201cI used to give tuition classes from home, but, since his arrest and the death of my baby, I haven\u2019t been in the frame of mind to teach. Also, I have had no time as I have had to run around attending to my husband\u2019s case and taking care of the children. Once my cut (from the Caesarian operation) is healed, I hope to start teaching again,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Renoza is also considering sewing pieces for garment factories, which will pay her a paltry Rs. 15 per maxi dress (Long dress) and Rs. 5 per skirt.A maxi sells for about Rs. 700 (and deducting about Rs. 300 for the material and Rs.15 for the labour),a huge profit, is made on each garment, of which the women sewing the pieces see very little.<\/p>\n

Many families like *Renoza, had originally paid a lawyer Rs. 10,000 each, to prepare their respective files, but he never appeared for them. Therefore, they all had to pay another lawyer, Ratheeb, who had then taken on their cases. The previous lawyer never returned the family\u2019s money to them.<\/p>\n

At the interview it transpired that her monthly expenses, comes to approximately Rs. 50,000, and that includes her children\u2019s schooling expenses which amount to approximately Rs. 12,000 a month. She prioratises her children\u2019s schooling expenses.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Shahira (wife), 31,Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee \u2013*Umar (husband), 38
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Trincomalee Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Suspected of being involved in Aliyar junction clash in 2017
\nOccupation \u2013 Tailor
\nMarital Status \u2013 Married \u2013 2 children (boy \u2013 6 & girl – 10).
\nDependents \u2013 Wife and 2 children
\nTravel Allowance \u2013 Rs. 1250 from ICRC every 45 days (received once as at 11<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Jan. 2020)
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

In 2017, there was a big clash in Kattankudy between Zahran and his followers and another sect of Muslims, at the Aliyar junction. *Umar was arrestedby the Kalmunai Police, on the 13th<\/sup> of May, 2019, but, released shortly after, as it was a case of mistaken identity. Shortly afterwards, he was re-arrested as he was allegedly on a list of those involved in the 2017 clash.<\/p>\n

*Shahira tries to go and visit her husband *Umar,once every two weeks. She is not permitted to give him home-cooked food, only a lunch packet. When the children are free, she takes the children to visit their father. There is a small-meshed screen between visitors and detainees, through which they have to shout to each other as they\u2019re quite a distance apart and there are many people visiting at the same time. \u201cWe are only given 5 minutes to talk,\u201d said *Shahira tearfully. On Christmas day, families were given an open day, where they were permitted to speak to detainees for 15 minutes, whilst being able to sit across the table from one another. \u201cI took the children on open day to see their father but, he was not even able to touch them, or take the picture of our son\u2019s first day of school picture to his hands. I had to hold it up for him to look at,\u201d she cried.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got back home, I told my son not to tell his school friends that his father was in prison, as I didn\u2019t want him to face any problems at school. I told him to say that his father was working in a shop outside of Batticaloa. My son asked me, why I wanted him to lie? I felt so ashamed and hopeless. I don\u2019t know what to do. Zahran has destroyed all our lives. My husband is innocent. Please do something and get him out,\u201d pleaded *Shahira.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since his arrest, over the last 8 months, *Shahira has been selling household and personal items, to survive, as she didn\u2019t want to ask anyone for help. She also sold some of the pieces she had made for garment factories, and her husband had told her to now sell her sewing machine as well to earn some money.<\/p>\n

Her husband would bring the unfinished pieces home and then take the sewn pieces to the factory. As this job of supplying the factory is only done by men in Kattankudy, she\u00a0 <\/span>did not wanted strange men to walk in and out of her house, so she stopped sewing once her husband was arrested. For a short time, a friend\u2019s would bring pieces for her to sew, but, of late, her friend is not responding to her calls, and so she has no way of getting the pieces to sew.<\/p>\n

Soon after the attacks, everyone kept their distance from her and her family, and she had no support. Now things have improved a bit. Her brother-in-law, who lives overseas, tries to support her a little, but she feels bad to keep asking him for help. \u201cMy husband always provided for us. We hear stories of women who are running to and from Quazi courts, due to their husbands not providing for them or ill-treating them. I never thought I would\u00a0 <\/span>be in this plight as my husband always provided for me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She observed at the interview, that she needed a female runner to transport the pieces, between her home and the factory.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Rasheeda (mother), 67, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee \u2013 *Asma (daughter), 36
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Dumbara Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Aiding and abetting terrorism (Wife of NTJ leader, Niyaz)
\nOccupation \u2013 Part time tailor and housewife
\nMarital Status \u2013 Married \u2013 3 children (2 girls \u20137 & 10 & boy – approx. 6 months)
\nDependents \u2013 Mother and 3 children.
\nTravel Allowance \u2013 Rs. 3200 from ICRC every 45 days (received once as at 11<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Jan. 2020)
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Niyaz, *Asma\u2019s husband, had been working in the Middle East since 2017. He returned to Sri Lanka in March 2019, and on the day after the Easter Sunday attacks, packed a bag, took both his and her phones and left the house, without telling *Asma where he was going. *Asma had then told her mother that Niyaz had left home. On the 26th<\/sup> of April, we heard about the suicide explosion in Sainthamaruthu, Ampara, and on the 27th<\/sup> of April, 2019, the Police brought an image of Niyaz, and asked her to come and identify his body, as he had been in the house in Sainthamaruthu. The police had then searched her house and found her medical file and a motorbike, of which they took the registration book and keys and went. After identifying the body, *Asma returned home later that day. On the 28th<\/sup> of April, she was asked to come in for questioning, so she went along with her brother. She also wanted to have her husband\u2019s body released. Once they got to the Ampara mortuary, she was told that the OIC was not there, and for her to stay the night and that the body would be released in the morning. That day, they issued a Detention Order, and transferred her to the Batticaloa prison. She was 5 months pregnant at that time. She gave birth to a baby boy 3 months later whilst in prison and was transferred to Dumbara, 7 days after the baby\u2019s birth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they were at the Batticaloa prison, I would go see my daughter and grandson daily, but now I can barely afford to go visit them once in two weeks. I bought them a fan and a water heater when they were at the Batticaloa prison, but they haven\u2019t\u00a0 <\/span>transferred\u00a0 <\/span>her to Dumbara. I hope another mother is benefitting from it at the Batticaloa prison. My daughter is not used to cold weather, and so has been getting ill often, so she made a special request to the judge to be transferred back to Batticaloa, but he had said that it was not within his jurisdiction. My daughter doesn\u2019t know anything about the NTJ,\u201d lamented Asimya\u2019s mother, *Rasheeda. Also, the police have written in her charge sheet that she was arrested whilst in hiding, even though she went to the station when they called her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to pay Rs. 2000 per seat for the van to Dumbara every 2 weeks. I try and take the children also when I can. In addition, I try and take foodstuff like dried fish and beef, milk powder, sanitary napkins, pampers etc., so it\u2019s quite an expense. NTJ members don\u2019t take dowry, so they were living on rent after marriage. My daughter used to work as a tailor, but her husband stopped her from working after she got married. He was working as a driver in the Middle East and would send her Rs. 40,000\u00a0 <\/span>each month. She would also make clothes during festival time and sell them for some additional income.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy elder granddaughter is very bright and is studying for her year 5 scholarship at the moment. It costs about Rs. 750 a month for her tuition classes, so she told me that she can study at home, and to save her mother the expenses for tuition and put the money towards the expenses related to her mother\u2019s case and prison visits. My heart broke, as all the other children are going for tuition, and she should go too, if she is to get good marks,\u201d said *Asma\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

*Rasheeda herself is suffering from two blocked arteries. All the necessary arrangements have been made for her surgery, at the Jaffna Hospital. She had tried to get back the baby\u2019s pillow that had also been left behind at the Batticaloa prison when her daughter was transferred, but, when she got to the prison, everyone had been masked, and the guards had told her not to enter as she was old, and could catch the virus that had spread throughout the prison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very worried for the health of my daughter and grandson as they\u2019re not used to the cold. Apart from the prison visits, I only get\u00a0 <\/span>a glimpse of them when they are brought to the Batticaloa courts every 14 days,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In the face of such challenges,\u00a0 <\/span>she is looking for support to pay for\u00a0 <\/span>her granddaughter\u2019s monthly tuition of Rs. 750 and additional support for the upkeep of the children, as she is old and sick and has no source of income.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Nadeeha (mother), 59, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee \u2013 *Nihal (son), 18
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Kegalle Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Went to Nuwara Eliya for Bayan organized by NTJ
\nOccupation \u2013 Student<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is regular practice here, especially for youth, to be taken on sightseeing trips, free of charge. Hisbullah took busloads of people, free of charge, while also providing them with food, to go and see the Islamic campus he was building. Often people organize Jamath (exchange retreat programmes) free of charge too. So, it wasn\u2019t considered to be unusual when the boys were asked to join a Bayan in Nuwara Eliya free of charge. They\u2019ve also never been to Nuwara Eliya, so they were typically excited to see a new place,\u201d said *Nadeeha.<\/p>\n

*Nihal had left home on Friday after lunch at around 1pm, and returned home on Sunday early morning. When I asked him what it was like, he just said, there was a bayan, they had been given food and then they slept and returned. \u201cLater we found out that after the bayan, Zahran had come with a sword, and\u00a0 <\/span>threated all the boys not to speak to anybody about what was said in the bayan. So, nobody had spoken,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

On the 09th<\/sup> of May, 2019, the police had come to their home and wanted a picture of Milhan. When they had come, Milhan\u2019s younger brother *Nihal, who was studying and fasting for Ramadan at the back of the house, walked out. The police asked him to bring his ID, and come with them for questioning. The police spoke politely in Tamil, and then took him and went. After a while, *Nihal\u2019s father had gone to the station and asked for him, but they had said he wasn\u2019t there. Thereafter, *Nadeeha went to get her son, and they showed him to her and said that as he was young (18), they wanted to get as much details from him as possible. She told the police that *Nihal was not involved with the NTJ, and so to please release him. They said that they had to question him further, and get more details.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They questioned him non-stop till the\u00a0 <\/span>following afternoon, and then told his mother to bring something for him\u00a0 <\/span>for breakast, and a change of clothes. His mother arrived with the food and clothes at about 2-2.30pm on Friday, to find her son now in a cell in handcuffs. The police then told *Nadeeha that they had to take him to courts and that therefore she couldn\u2019t give him anything. She however, somehow fought with them and gave her son the food and clothes. She then saw about 10 handcuffed men being taken away, two by two, in police jeeps. When she tried to follow them, the police stopped her and told her not to come. Later, she heard that Nihal had been arrested. She only saw him once after he was put in prison.<\/p>\n

*Nihal\u2019s father is 67 years old and also very ill. He is a mechanic. He has currently gone to visit their elder son, Milhan, who is detained on the 4th<\/sup> Floor of the CID headquarters in Colombo. \u201cWe have another son who is 27, and who is physically challenged, and cannot do anything for himself. We need to dress him, bathe and feed him. We also have a daughter who is studying for her Ordinary Level (O\/L) exams. Milhan has been the primary bread-winner for the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen *Nihal was at the Batticaloa prison, he managed to get some coaching on computer and other subjects, as there were some teachers also who\u2019d been arrested. He needs to study for his A\/L exam this year, but the authorities won\u2019t give him access to any books inside the prison. And now, he\u2019s been transferred to Kegalle, where there\u2019s nobody to help tutor him even. My husband tried to take some notes to him, but they had prevented him from giving the notes to him. I will try my luck the next time I go to visit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Nihal\u2019s father is the only income earner at moment, but he too is running around with our sons\u2019 cases, so we have had to borrow money, as we have to make visits to three locations to visit our two sons and daughter-in-law, in Kegalle, Colombo and Trincomalee, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our elder son\u2019s wife, fainted when I went to see her the first time. She kept asking about Milhan. \u201cShe\u2019s very innocent, and doesn\u2019t know anything. She\u2019s still in shock from everything that\u2019s happened. She\u2019s been kept in a separate women\u2019s section. *Nadeeha can sew, but she doesn\u2019t have any time to do so now, she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Nadeeha too has heart problems and has a stone in her gallbladder but, they are unable to operate on her, as she is a heart patient, so she\u2019s in a lot of pain due to the stone. She has scheduled an Angiogram in Jaffna, as she is very sick.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are in dire need of financial support, as both parents are ill, they have two other children to look after, and it is expensive to undertake periodic prison visits to 3 different locations.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Fareeda(wife), 37, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainee \u2013 *Ahmed (husband), 39
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Badulla Prison
\nCharge \u2013 Created web page for a registered Islamic charitable organisation, run by NTJ,in 2015.
\nOccupation \u2013 Computer teacher for 20 years, and owned a computer shop
\nDependents \u2013 Wife and 3 children (Two girls aged 8 & 10 & 1 boy 1.5 years)
\nTravel Allowance \u2013 Rs. 5650 from ICRC every 45 days (received once as at 11<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Jan. 2020)<\/b><\/p>\n

On the 10th<\/sup> of May, a friend who lives nearby *Ahmed\u2019s shop in town, had called *Fareeda and said that the police were looking for her husband. So *Ahmed went to the shop and opened it for them to search. As *Fareeda\u2019s sister- in- law lived near his office, she had informed *Fareeda that there were many military and police outside the shop. So *Fareeda and her brother had immediately come to the shop too. Thereafter, a van and a jeep full of military personnel had come to their home and searched everything, including their garbage. An officer named \u201cChamara\u201d had handed over a form written in Sinhala to *Fareeda, who had signed it even though she didn\u2019t know what it was, as she was scared. Subsequently, she had found out that it had been an arrest warrant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then they took him and his computer away. The police had come back to pick up the computer charger, and told her that they were at the last part of the investigation now. When she went to the police station, the police had told her that he was not there. They said that they would finish questioning him and then return him. She received no further news of him that day, and then they contacted her the next day (Saturday), and asked her to bring her children and something for breakfast, and come to the see *Ahmed. \u201cWhen I met my husband, he told me to only tell the police what I knew\u00a0 <\/span>and not to say anything more, as he had been asked the same question multiple times over,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Ahmedhad created a web page for a charitable organisation run by the NTJ mosque, in 2015. Zahran\u2019s brother, who lived nearby had asked *Ahmed to create the web page. \u201cThey are still a balance payment of Rs. 6000 pending for the job, that they haven\u2019t paid my husband,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to have our daughter only after trying for about 4 years, so my husband was very fond of her, and so she keeps asking when her father is coming home. It\u2019s very sad and frustrating for me to have to answer my children\u2019s questions daily. It has put a huge strain on me,\u201d said *Fareeda.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter wrote a letter in Sinhalese asking to visit her father, and so we were allowed to visit him for 15 minutes in Badulla. When I took our children to see their father, they didn\u2019t even allow him to touch our infant child. They also didn\u2019t permit me to hand over a letter written by my daughter to her father. It was a heartbreaking letter. In Batticaloa we had to speak through a glass, but, at least in Badulla we can see him directly. We travel for 15 hours, leaving home at 5.30am and returning home at midnight, to see him for 15 minutes. She tries to go visit him every 15 days, sometimes with the children, sometimes alone. Even though it\u2019s an exhausting journey, at least we get to see him, so that\u2019s enough. The Badulla prison has much better conditions than the Batticaloa one, but, it\u2019s so much harder for us to access. I want to get him out somehow! The main problem is that 65 people have been taken under this one charge, so it\u2019s very hard to get him cleared,\u201d said *Fareeda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Fareeda too has studied IT and English and used to give tuition classes in 5 subjects, to about 20 children, at home, but has stopped now, as she has to run around handling issues relating to her husband\u2019s case and as she\u2019s mentally not able to manage everything on her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has been good to me, as everyone knows that my husband is innocent. He went to a regular mosque. He used to be in charge of the monthly zakat collection on behalf of the mosque federation, to be donated to the poor. This year, only his name was not there in the bulletin,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the first day of school, my daughter wanted to take a picture with her father, but, as he wasn\u2019t there, he held a picture of her father in her hand and asked me to take a picture. It was heart breaking, said *Fareeda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She hopes to start tuition again as soon as she feels up\u00a0 <\/span>to it, and she also has a sewing machine, if she can get some work.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 *Husna (mother & wife), 37, North Western Province, Sri Lanka
\nDetainees \u2013 *Mujeeb (son), 16 &*Hakeem (husband), 40
\nCurrently Detained \u2013 Keppetipola Probation Centre & 4<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Floor, CID office, Colombo
\nCharge \u2013 Went to Nuwara Eliya for Bayan organized by NTJ & alleged involvement in destruction of Buddhist statue in Mawanella in 2018.
\nOccupation \u2013 Student &Mawlawi
\nMarital Status \u2013 NA
\nDependents \u2013 two children (Son aged 12 and daughter aged 3.8 months)
\nLawyer \u2013 Ratheef
\nICRC \u2013 Rs. 2920 x 45 days (husband) & Rs. 4500 x 45 days (son) \u2013 Travel allowance for visits<\/b><\/p>\n

*Hakeem was working in Qatar at a legal office for 10 years, until he returned to Sri Lanka in 2017. Thereafter, he lived with his wife and children in Kekunagolla, and preached on and off at local mosques as he was a Mawlawi. He was opposed to NTJ and Zahran, his wife said. In December 2018, he took his son with him to Nuwara Eliya for a Bayan<\/i> (sermon). <\/i>*Mujeeb had only gone\u00a0 <\/span>on\u00a0 <\/span>a trip to Nuwara Eliya, not necessarily for the Bayan. <\/i>Following their return from Nuwara Eliya, he fell out with his wife\u2019s father over a land dispute, and having left their home, returned to his hometown in Kattankudy, Batticaloa in January 2019. Thereafter, he hadn\u2019t picked up any of his wife\u2019s calls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 24th<\/sup> of April, 2019, officers from the Katupotha police came to *Husna\u2019s home, to inform her that her husband had been arrested in Dambulla on his way to Kattankudy, the day before, on suspicion of being involved in the Easter Sunday attacks. They had then asked that she come with them to the Police station to give a statement. They had asked her, when her husband returned from abroad, if he visited other countries, if suspicious people stayed in the hostel rooms (upstairs) that they gave out on rent etc.,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Two months following his arrest, *Husna took her children to visit her husband at the 4th<\/sup> Floor, SIU II office in Colombo, as her children were asking for their father. When she got there, she asked her husband why he was arrested and why he did this. He told her that he wasn\u2019t involved. She asked why he hadn\u2019t picked up her calls or come to see them. He said that he couldn\u2019t live with her father, and so couldn\u2019t live near him. She was only able to speak to him for about five minutes.<\/p>\n

On the morning of 16th<\/sup> of August, 2019, the Katupotha Police came once again to their house, and ask *Mujeeb to come with them to Ampara for questioning by the CDB branch. *Mujeeb was accompanied by one of his father\u2019s relations in Kattankudy. First, *Mujeeb was taken to a vacant house in Ampara for questioning. He was\u00a0 <\/span>told there to say that he had undergone 4 months training with the NTJ, that then they would release him. So, he had done as he was told as he had been afraid. He had begged the police not to take any photographs or videos of him, as he was still schooling (O\/Ls), and hadn\u2019t wanted to ruin his academic future. Despite his pleas however, his image had appeared in the media in the days that followed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After they took *Mujeeb for questioning, *Husna waited by the roadside for him to return. She then tried his phone, but it was switched off. Having waited till about 4pm in the evening, she had left for Ampara, to check on her son. When she found her son, he cried, and when she asked why he\u2019d been taken, he\u2019d said it was because of the Nuwara Eliya trip. He told me that he thought that they were trying to get his father in trouble, through *Mujeeb\u2019s testimony. *Hakeem\u2019s charge is regarding his alleged involvement in destroying a Buddhist statue in Mawanella in December 2018. However, this is a false charge, as he was in Mecca at the time, said *Husna. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was a very conscientious student. He was studying for his O\/L\u2019s last year when he was taken from our home, and even though he was being detained at the Probation Centre in Keppetipola, and he had his admission form, they didn\u2019t permit him to sit for his exams. I have his official attendance sheets attested by his school Principal, proving he had a near perfect attendance at school, so there\u2019s no way he could have attended a 4 month-long training,\u201d said *Husna.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also not permitted to visit my son. Even prisoners are permitted visitors. I don\u2019t understand why they\u2019re not letting me see my son. I was able to go see my son once for about 15 minutes at the Probation Centre, since he was detained. But, thereafter, the judge has denied granting the Probation officer permission to grant me access to him. The judge went on to question the Probation officer as to why he permitted the mother to visit the son once, without her having approved the visit. I only get to have a\u00a0 <\/span>glimpse of him every 14 days when he\u2019s brought to Ampara for his hearings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She had even complained to the HRC, who had instructed her to get a letter from the GS and go and visit her son. However, the local Probation officer told her that she couldn\u2019t visit her son unless the judge approved the visit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne time when he saw me, he signed and asked for food.\u00a0 <\/span>I was heartbroken , because my son was always well fed at home, and he would laugh and play with his siblings and cousins, and was a very happy boy. He now looked thin and haggard, and was feeling very low. The last time I saw him on the 11th<\/sup> of February, this year, I was able to give him some clothes and biscuits. I was also able to speak to him from outside the cell for about 5 minutes. He cried and told me that he couldn\u2019t stay like this any longer and for me to please get him out,\u201d lamented *Husna.<\/p>\n

The judge had said at the last hearing that they were waiting\u00a0 <\/span>for instructions from the AG\u2019s Department with regard to *Mujeeb\u2019s release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of income, *Husna\u2019s in-laws give her a little allowance whenever she comes to Ampara every 14 days. In addition, since the attacks, she has undertaken some tailoring from home, so she\u2019s able to make around Rs. 7000 a month. She doesn\u2019t have boarders any longer, so that income is no more. Some of her neighbours also give her rice and some rations when they can. \u201cWhen we have food, we eat. If not, we don\u2019t,\u201d she said. She needs about Rs. 25,000 a month for the children\u2019s schooling and to run the house. Currently, she doesn\u2019t also have money to send her son for tuition. She used to be part of a group that made stockinette flowers to export but after the attacks that too had stopped. She is not hopeful she can re-start that project as everyone looks at them differently now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy son got chickenpox as a newborn baby, and barely survived. He was kept in the ICU and he was the only child that survived in his ward. The doctor told us to be very careful with him thereafter. When he was seven, he used to get fits too. He had got fever whilst in detention last December, and the ICRC had to medicate him, as it had affected his heart as well. As his mother, I\u2019m very upset, as I can\u2019t take care of him myself,\u201d she said sadly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlease get my son out somehow. I can\u2019t even visit him. I don\u2019t even know why. It\u2019s very difficult for me to keep travelling to Ampara. He too has to travel overnight, with a stopover in Monaragala, to come to courts every 14 days. He wants to do his O\/L exams and continue with his schooling. He\u2019s still very upset that his face was publicized in the news. He\u2019s very sad and thinking too much all the time. Please, I want to have him home in time for Ramadan,\u201d said *Husna.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Family \u2013 M. Naseeba (29)
\nArrestee \u2013 N. Zakariya (40), Hijrapuram, Kebitigollewa
\nCurrently \u2013 Out on bail (since 19<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Nov. 2019)
\nCharge \u2013 Accused of having received funds to his account from Zahran.
\nDependents \u2013 Three children (girls aged 10 & 7 & son aged 3)
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

On the morning of 25th<\/sup> May, 2019, the Horowpothana police came and took Zakariya from their home. Her uncle accompanied him to the station and returned saying that the police had said he would have to be there for 3 days. Naseeba then went to the station with her children to see him. Thereafter, the Kebithigollawa Magistrate said that he had to be kept for a further 7 days, and thereafter their detention kept getting extended every 14 days. They were kept in this manner for 7 entire months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the police came to our house, they accused me of having cooked for Zaharan. We know you\u2019re Tawhid Jama’ath. We know you worked for Zaharan. I told them that I had never seen him in my life. They didn\u2019t believe me and insisted on searching my house. The STF also came to the house and searched it four times over. They of course didn\u2019t find anything, she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAll Muslims believe in Tawhid, as it means that God is one. That he is indivisible. It\u2019s got nothing to do with terrorism. It\u2019s just that NTJ happened to have Tawhid as part of their organisation\u2019s name. If you\u2019re going to arrest all Tawhid Muslims, you\u2019ll have to arrest all of us,\u201d Zakariya explained with a laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father stayed with me and the kids for the first 3 months, but thereafter he had to return to his home, so we stayed alone. I would visit daily with food for my husband at the Anuradhapura prison, except for Sundays which was a holiday. I would often take my youngest child only with me for company, and also because it was too expensive to take all 3 everywhere. As it would take 3 buses to get to the prison by public transport, it was cheaper and easier to pay for the fuel, and go with a neighbour by motorbike, as it was 55kms one way from our home to the prison. After all this trouble, we would only be able to see my husband through a glass or small net screen, for about 5 minutes. If we got the glass screen, we couldn\u2019t talk to each other, and if we got the small net screen, we couldn\u2019t see each other. And he couldn\u2019t even hold our children. When the children saw their father, they would start crying and ask to stay back with him. It was very depressing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For any trip to the hospital, it would cost us Rs. 500 (one way) to the Kebithigollawa Hospital. My father and neighbours would help out as much as they could. I would wake up early, cook food, go visit my husband, return home and make food for the next day. In addition, I had to look after the children and see to their needs as well, all on my own. As soon as the children would wake up, they would ask for their father, and I didn\u2019t know what to keep telling them,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy children\u2019s friends would ask her why her father was in prison? And they would come back home and ask me who ISIS was. Our eldest was always first in class, but, after her father was arrested, she was very upset and couldn\u2019t study properly. Another child refused to keep going to school because her teacher had hit her saying her father\u2019s in prison. So now she\u2019s studying at a school in my father\u2019s village. My other child told me that he would grow up and join the police so he could arrest ISIS people, because his father was arrested for no reason because of them. I lost 12kgs in 7 months. I cooked but didn\u2019t feel like eating,\u201d she recalled sadly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, although Zakariya is home, he missed last year\u2019s harvest season, so he now has to wait for the next one. He is also ill, and cannot work much, so it\u2019s an additional problem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She expressed the need for a sewing machine to earn an additional income.<\/p>\n

Family \u2013 J. Hairulhudha (29)
\nArrestee \u2013 L.T. Jesmin (33), Hijrapuram, Kebitigollewa
\nCurrently \u2013 Out on bail (since 19<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Nov. 2019)
\nCharge \u2013 Accused of having received funds to his account from Zahran.
\nDependents \u2013 Two children (son aged 5 & daughter aged 2)\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the 25th <\/sup>of May, 2019, there was a loud banging on our door. The children were woken up from their sleep, and they took my husband away for questioning. They initially said he\u2019d be returned in three days, and later said seven days. And then they kept extending this time period. I only have my father, so I went with the children to stay with him in Horowpothana. It was two hours (one way) to the Anuradhapura prison from there, so it was very difficult for me to travel to and fro. I would go to the prison daily with food for my husband. It would be around 8pm when I got home, so my children would already be asleep. The children also couldn\u2019t go to school properly. On the day of their school concert, they were asking for their father, and it was very difficult for me to cope. I was like a mad person during those days. I would forget to put salt or onions when I was cooking,\u201d she lamented.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had to pay the lawyer Rs. 10,000 every 14 days when the case was heard\u00a0 <\/span>in the courts. It was very difficult because I had only my income to manage all the expenses. I would earn Rs. 35,000 a month, from which I had to pay Rs. 20,000 for the lawyer, Rs. 10,000 as loan repayment installment to the School Society, and Rs. 2000 as Society membership fee. Now everyone I took loans from is asking for me to pay them back, so I am still paying back the loans each month. My family helped me out with food and Rs. 2000 a day I needed to go visit my husband daily. I had to take so much leave, now I have no leave left for the year\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Although her husband is home now, he\u2019s still unable to work until the case is complete, and can\u2019t do any hard labour because he had heart surgery done after the accident. \u201cMy husband can\u2019t work in the village, because everyone is against us. Even the front house neighbours, who we know were part of those framing us. When the STF was searching our house, the front house people had told other neighbours, \u2018we have taught them a good lesson\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband met with a bad accident about 10 years ago, and was severely injured, so he required a commode, but we couldn\u2019t even afford to install one. We don\u2019t even have electricity because we can\u2019t afford to get the wiring done, and the government won\u2019t install it for us. All our crops got destroyed last year. We could only afford to put roof sheets for half of our roof only. So, half has roofing sheets and half tiles. When it rains most of the house gets flooded. We don\u2019t have a proper roof but people are saying we had Koti<\/i> 100 (Rs. 1 billion) hidden in our roof pipes. What a joke. We found out who Zaharan was only after the attacks,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy neighbours used to make fun of me and say my husband was ISIS. For seven months I didn\u2019t go anywhere because everyone would say \u2018ISIS kattiyaenawa. Okkollamathrasthawadeen,\u2019<\/i> (here come the ISIS crowd. They are all terrorists). I would only go to work and return home. Many refused to lend me any money also, saying we were ISIS. It was mentally very traumatic,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As her father is alone, if something happens to him, she has to take care of him as well, because her other siblings don\u2019t give much support. Even when her husband was arrested, she had to see to everything for her father, so it was very hard. \u201cWhen I took the children to the courts on his hearing dates, and the children would see the prison bus come, they would shout saying that their \u201cfather\u2019s bus\u201d had come. They had asked the Police to speak to their father once, but the police had scolded them and pushed them away, saying that they were ISIS. Now we know everyone and everything to do with the police and courts and we know about the PTA and ICCPR etc., Before we didn\u2019t know anything,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to take action against the media. They are the ones that destroyed our lives with their lies. They must be held accountable for their irresponsible reporting, somehow. We want a retraction and apology published on the Lankadeepa cover page, like when they published lies about my husband,\u201d she said angrily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Family \u2013 A.S.S. Ayesha (36)
\nArrestee \u2013 M.B. *Hakeem (44), Horowpothana
\nCurrently \u2013 Out on bail (since 19<\/b>th<\/sup><\/b> Nov. 2019)
\nCharge \u2013 Accused of having received funds to his account from Zahran.
\nDependents \u2013 Five children (sons aged 9, 4 \u00bd & 3 & daughters aged 11 & 6)\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband was the first of the five to be taken by the police. They came with guns at about 5.05am on the 25th<\/sup> of May, 2019. The police asked why our children were crying, and that they would return my husband after taking a statement. The STF came and searched\u00a0 <\/span>our? house, and took all our IDs and bank books. The TID later asked the STF to return everything to us. They handcuffed him and took him to his work place at the District Secretariat office, humiliating him in front of all his colleagues, to check his work space. Thereafter, they brought him back home in handcuffs in front of his children, to search his house. I immediately called Naseeba to check what was going on, and only then found out that 4 others, including Zakariya had been taken,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a teacher at an interior school in Horowpothana. I would cook, go to school, teach, go to prison to visit my husband with food, and return home. I was late to school every day, as I had to cook food to take for my husband and see to many things before leaving for work. My children\u2019s friends made fun of them and bullied them asking if their father was in ISIS. They were very scared and were very upset with their father. Our eldest is very bright, but she got so upset over her father\u2019s arrest, that she stopped going for classes, and didn\u2019t pass her scholarship exam last year. When I start thinking about those days, I want to howl and cry,\u201d she recalled.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The midwife who used to weigh children at Ayesha\u2019s house every month, stopped coming after *Hakeem was arrested. *Hakeem was given a letter from his office at the DS stating compulsory leave. They didn\u2019t interdict him. Therefore, he was able to return to work as soon as he was released on bail. Some of his colleagues had told *Hakeem that he had Koti<\/i>100 and didn\u2019t even tell them about it, and many started avoiding him. \u201cSo, he speaks to those who speak to him. What else is he to do,\u201d asks Ayesha.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest problem right now is paying back all the loans I had to take during that time. I make Rs. 40,000, from which Rs. 20,000 gets cut for the loans alone, leaving not much for the running of the house and the children\u2019s expenses. And the other main thing is I want the media to clear my husband\u2019s name because they are the ones that ruined our lives with their lies,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Detainee \u2013 N. Zakariya (40), Hijrapuram, Kebitigollewa
\nCurrently \u2013 Out on bail
\nCharge \u2013 Accused of having received funds to his account from Zahran.
\nMarital Status \u2013 Married
\nDependents \u2013 Three children (girls aged 10 & 7 & son aged 3)\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

On the 24th<\/sup> of May, 2019, the Horowpothana police came to Zakariya\u2019s house and took him in for questioning. He was at the station from 2-8pm without being questioned, and then at around 8.30pm, was told that he could return home and that they\u2019d call him back if needed. It was during Ramadan and he hadn\u2019t been given anything for breakfast , so he had just had water and waited till he returned home later that night. The next morning, nearby shopkeepers were saying that 5 people were going to be arrested from their village that day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At about 5.30am on that day (25th<\/sup>), the Horowpothana police came once again to Zakariya\u2019s house and taken him in. Four others, L.T. Jesmin, M.B. *Hakeem, S.A. Irfan and S.A. Kalifatullah were also arrested on the same day. Three days later, they were produced before the Medical Officer. The Horowpothana police handcuffed *Hakeem when he was at home in front of his family, then took him to his workplace at the DS office, where he was displayed before all his colleagues, and thereafter only taken to the police station. They had then taken him back to his home to search it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The police had shown them a news article that appeared in the Lankadeepa regarding Zaharan having allegedly deposited 100 Koti<\/i> (one billion SLR) money into their accounts, and asked for an explanation from them. When they had denied getting any money, the Police had told them that they would be released if they would testify against two others named Niyaz and Abu Bakhar, also from the village. They had refused as they didn\u2019t want to lie and frame others. Further, they all categorically state that they had never met or spoken to Zaharan, and that they had only properly heard about him after the attacks. \u201cWe have asked authorities to cite even one sermon where any of us have ever preached anything that can be interpreted as being terrorist. We have not built a thing using Saudi money. Everything we\u2019ve built has been fundraised locally. We have only one mosque here. Basheer and the others have 3,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLeave alone Koti <\/i>100, if we had at least 5 lakhs with which to complete our house, it would have been a big thing. One of us don\u2019t even own a bank account. Another, doesn\u2019t even have enough money to build a proper toilet or roofing sheets to cover the entire ceiling,\u201d they said laughingly.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, the five of them were detained at the Anuradhapura prison, with four of them being transferred to the Wariyapola prison after 14 days. Initially the five of them had been charged under a separate number, but thereafter they were put under the same number as Niyaz and Abu Bakhar so it was then more difficult to get them out, even though the police had no evidence against them. The Kebitigollewa police confirmed that there was no evidence against them, and that they were being framed due to a personal vendetta against them by Basheer and his group. He had asked the group why are they (Basheer and them), so angry with you all? He also added that Zahran had never visited this area.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Initially when they were being detained, and as it was Ramadan time, they had not even been provided with food to break-fast. However, later when they all found out the truth and that there were not terrorists, everyone had felt sorry for them and treated them well. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zakariya said that they were framed due to personal vendettas against them by some in the community. The vendettas are due to their political affiliations and interpretation and practice of Islam, as well as some family feuds. \u201cWe know for sure we were framed, also because on the day of our arrests, the entire village knew 5 people were going to be arrested from here. How did they know this, unless it was some of them who had framed us,\u201d said Zakariya.<\/p>\n

Basheer, one of the men the group believes was responsible for framing them, has a daughter who is married to Zakariya\u2019s brother. His brother had taken a loan of Rs. 200,000 from Basheer to buy a lorry and as he was unable to pay him back, so Zakariya had sold his cows and returned the money to Basheer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFurther, another of Basheer\u2019s men, Nawaz\u2019s wife runs a Montessori in the area, and as we also run one, and it\u2019s doing well, Nawaz and them were also quite jealous. Therefore, they took advantage of the attacks, to frame us and get rid of us, said Zakariya.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are JVP supporters, and we are strong believers in the importance of education, especially as we didn\u2019t have many opportunities when we were growing up. We also practice a less rigid and more practical interpretation of Islam, which some groups here are against,\u201d he said. *Hakeem and others in this sect have been preaching in Tamil in addition to Arabic since 2000, and therefore have been considered anti-Islamic by these groups. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with speaking in a language people understand? And what\u2019s the point of preaching in Arabic if nobody can understand what you\u2019re saying,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSome of the points of contention between our two sects, include our interpretation of the Quran\u2019s teachings, such as, Muslims being permitted to donate blood outside the community to save a life, we don\u2019t accept dowries, it\u2019s not compulsory to wear the cap or ankle length, white attire to go for prayers etc.,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, on the 19th<\/sup> of November, they were given bail and released from the ICCPR charge. However, the PTA charge is still ongoing. The police visit out homes regularly, and the CID has told us that we can\u2019t go to pray at our mosque. It has been closed since the attacks last year. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have to face a lot of stigma, because people till say \u2018here come the Koti <\/i>100 group,\u2019 and even our children have got harassed saying that their fathers are terrorists. None of us can go back to work or go overseas until this case is over. Crimes OIC Jayawardena told us that he knew we were innocent, and that we were taken on intelligence received from the Western province,\u201d said Zakariya.<\/p>\n

The Colombo TID had told them that investigations are now complete, and that their files have been handed over to the AG Department. They need to issue an order from there to dismiss our case. Until then, the case will continue to be dragged on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Detainee \u2013 L.T. Jesmin (33), Hijrapuram, Kebitigollewa
\nCurrently \u2013 Out on bail
\nCharge \u2013 Accused of having received funds to his account from Zahran.
\nMarital Status \u2013 Married
\nDependents \u2013 Two children (son aged 5 & daughter aged 2)<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI used to give tuition classes at home, but, after my release, nobody sent their children because they were scared that I was linked to ISIS. Our house doesn\u2019t have any proper doors or windows. We\u2019ve taken loans to build the house, and we now have no idea how to pay everything off,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were betrayed by our front house neighbours. I\u2019ve been back more than 2.5 months (at the time of writing) now, and they\u2019ve not even once asked how we\u2019re keeping. If they have a clear conscience, they shouldn\u2019t have a problem coming and talking to us no,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in prison, I met and spoke with other Tamil PTA prisoners, some who had been there for 10 years, and their files\u00a0 <\/span>had not even been taken up yet. I was terrified wondering if the same thing would happen to me. All through my time in prison, my only thoughts were of my children, and if they were safe. Now that I\u2019m back, I never leave my family alone, because I\u2019m not sure what my neighbours might do, because we don\u2019t even have any proper doors or windows.”His wife said with irony, \u2018mekathamai Koti<\/i> 100 gedara\u2019 (this is the billion- rupee house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cOur own people betrayed us,\u201d said Jesmin sadly.<\/p>\n

[1] From Colombo and the Eastern Province<\/p>\n

[2] As per the cases handled by Centre for Human Rights and Development (CHRD)<\/p>\n

[3] Anuradhapura 21, Batticaloa 04, Jaffna 01, New Magazine Prison 100, Welikada 05, Colombo Remand Prison (CRP) 08, Mahara 03, Welisara 01, Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) 03<\/p>\n

[4] Watchdog Collective, PTA detainees \u2013 Ignored under \u201cYahapalanaya?\u201d – https:\/\/groundviews.org\/2015\/09\/05\/pta-detainees-ignored-under-yahapalanaya\/<\/p>\n

[5] Ibid.<\/p>\n

[6] The media held to be most complicit in fanning racial tensions and expressing anti-Muslim bias include:\u00a0 <\/span>Derana, Hiru, Divaina and Lankadeepa<\/p>\n

[7] Sunday Observer, \u201cThe media has killed us\u201d : Kurunegala doctor\u2019s wife speaks out – http:\/\/www.sundayobserver.lk\/2019\/06\/16\/news-features\/%E2%80%9C-media-has-killed-us%E2%80%9D-kurunegala-doctor%E2%80%99s-wife-speaks-out<\/a><\/p>\n

[8] National Thowheeth Jama’ath\u00a0(NTJ)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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