{"id":73840,"date":"2013-02-15T12:59:28","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T12:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=73840"},"modified":"2013-02-23T01:03:30","modified_gmt":"2013-02-23T01:03:30","slug":"csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colombo Telegraph<\/a><\/span> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Civil Society statement on \u00a0Anti Muslim Rhetoric and Attacks;<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent months there has been an increased outpouring of virulent anti-Muslim sentiment by persons claiming to speak for all Sinhala Buddhists. Organized groups led by Buddhist monks have held public meetings, distributed pamphlets,\u00a0and made press statements.\u00a0\u00a0 Articles in mainstream\u00a0Sinhala and English newspapers have propagated ethnic and religious hatred. In addition, there have been hate campaigns via SMS, email, and face book.\u00a0The consequences of this rhetoric were most apparent in the Dambulla Mosque incident where a group led by a Buddhist Monk threatened the mosque with destructionon the 20<\/span>th<\/sup>\u00a0of April 2012. More recently there have been attacks against Muslim businesses. On 24<\/span>th<\/sup> January this year, for instance, a \u201cdemonstration\u201d in Kuliyapitiya was orchestrated; it seems, for the sole purpose of insulting and inciting a reaction from Muslims.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The attacks on Muslims have been directed at everything: the certificationof food products as halal<\/em>; the practice of hijab<\/em>, abhaya<\/em>\u00a0and nikab<\/em>\u00a0among Muslim women; the beard worn by Muslim men; the azaan<\/em>\u00a0or call for prayer from the mosques; the Muslims\u2019 practice of closing businesses for Friday prayers; the prevalence of certain sectarian differences among Muslims;and the ongoing debate regarding methods of slaughter for the consumption of meat. The hate rhetoric invokes the violence in certain Muslim identified countries, action of the Saudi Arabian regime, and jihadi<\/em> terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The rhetoric is formulated as a concern about \u201cIslamic Extremism\u201d and its threat to Sinhala Buddhism.The content of this anti-Muslim rhetoric of hate is informed by globally prevalent stereotypes regarding Muslims that have proliferated as a consequence of the American led \u201cWar on Terror.\u201d<\/p>\n

Muslims\u2019 distinctive dress and heightened religious and ethnic identity arethe outcome of worldwide Islamic reform. Some of the hate seems to be directed at these changes within Muslim communities. However the rhetoric also reflects an absence of knowledge regarding the actual lived experiences of most Muslims in Sri Lanka. Most of the hate rhetoric calls upon local Muslims to defend the actions of their co-religionists elsewhere in the world. These positions attempt to interpret Sri Lanka’s Buddhist heritage in a highly restricted manner with the purpose of denying individuals from other\u00a0ethnic\u00a0or religious communities their rights as equal citizens guaranteed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This hate campaign has intensified over the last few months and the Government of Sri Lanka has done nothing substantial to condemn or to make clear that inciting hatred against minority communities will not be tolerated. The press reported recently that the President called on these groups to refrain from inciting hate; and the President\u2019s Independence Day address criticized such incitement. This is \u00a0indeed a good sign, but more is needed. At a minimum the government should investigate accusations of hate speech\/writing and prosecute when necessary.<\/p>\n

It is disturbing that this kind of misinformed display of hate has been tolerated for this long in our society. Even a few years ago these sorts of sentiments would have been unacceptable and would have been easily identified as fringe positions that have no real support within the larger community.\u00a0 Where are the moderate voices among our social political and religious leadership? Where is the saner counsel and why has it not prevailed? It is time that those of us who are disturbed at this turn of events make our voices heard. It is time that we rallied and stated our position against these sentiments before it is too late.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka is currently recovering from a brutal war \u00a0and entering an extremely crucial time in its history. \u00a0Today we are confronting a host of difficult issues regarding the nature of our state and society:maintaining the structures to ensure good governance, relations between majority and minority communities, and the challenges of poverty and development.<\/p>\n

The fundamental questions that we need to address for the much needed reconstitution of our fractured polityare being eclipsed by the easier processes of demonizing a readily available ethnic\/ religious \u201cother\u201d. What is of course \u00a0disturbing about this phenomenon is that it is all too familiar from another time in our history. \u00a0The demonizing of Tamils occurred in a similar manner.It should not be forgotten that it is a combination of the fear mongering and\u00a0<\/strong>violence of July 1983 and the unleashing of state terror that escalated the Tamil struggle into one of the most costly wars of our history. \u00a0We are still to address the wounds of those years of conflict let alone recover from them; this preoccupation with yet another form of otherness is a symptom of this neglect.<\/p>\n

At a time when we need to foreground our common humanity rather than the differences spawned by a long and difficult war, we must not permit thebaser elements of our society to be our only voices. This post war period presents an opportunity to embrace the richness of our diverse cultural identities. Sri Lanka belongs to all her people\u2014Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim (Moor and Malay), Burgher; minorities and the, majority. It is this diverse mix of cultures that has enriched Sri Lankan art and architecture, culture, food, politics and history for many centuries.We, the Sri Lankan people should not allow a xenophobic minority to define who we are.<\/p>\n

Endorsements for the Statement.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. All Ceylon Fisher Peoples Trade Union<\/li>\n
  2. Centre for Human Rights and Development<\/li>\n
  3. Center for Social Concerns, Jaela<\/li>\n
  4. Center for Women and Development<\/li>\n
  5. Center for Policy Alternatives<\/li>\n
  6. Centre for Women\u2019s Research<\/li>\n
  7. Ceylon Teachers Union<\/li>\n
  8. Ceylon Federation of Labour<\/li>\n
  9. Child Vision, Puttalam<\/li>\n
  10. Council for Social Democracy<\/li>\n
  11. Commercial and Industrial Workers Union<\/li>\n
  12. Federation of University Teachers\u2019 Associations (FUTA)<\/li>\n
  13. Food, Beverages and Tobacco Industries Union<\/li>\n
  14. Free Trade Zones and General Services Employees Union<\/li>\n
  15. Future in Our Hands Development Fund, Badulla<\/li>\n
  16. Government Printers Union<\/li>\n
  17. Health Services Trade Union Alliance<\/li>\n
  18. IMADR Asia Committee<\/li>\n
  19. Independent Port Employees Union<\/li>\n
  20. Insurance Employees Union<\/li>\n
  21. International Center for Ethnic Studies<\/li>\n
  22. Islamic Welfare Organization, Samanthurai<\/li>\n
  23. Justice for Victims<\/li>\n
  24. Kantha Shakthi<\/li>\n
  25. Kinniya Vision<\/li>\n
  26. Law and Society Trust<\/li>\n
  27. Lawyers Collective<\/li>\n
  28. Lawyers for Democracy<\/li>\n
  29. Meepura News<\/li>\n
  30. Mothers and Daughters of Lanka<\/li>\n
  31. Mosque Federation Ampara District<\/li>\n
  32. Muslim Woman Development Trust, Puttalam<\/li>\n
  33. Muslim Women\u2019s Research and Action Forum<\/li>\n
  34. National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO)<\/li>\n
  35. National Free Trade Union.<\/li>\n
  36. National Peace Council<\/li>\n
  37. People Help Foundation, Mannar<\/li>\n
  38. People\u2019s Forum \u2013 Mutur<\/li>\n
  39. Progress Union<\/li>\n
  40. Red Flag Women\u2019s Movement, Kandy<\/li>\n
  41. Research and Action Forum for Social Development, Puttalam<\/li>\n
  42. Rights Now Collective for Democracy<\/li>\n
  43. Rural Development Foundation, Puttalam<\/li>\n
  44. Sainthamarathu Welfare Organization<\/li>\n
  45. Secretariat for Muslims<\/li>\n
  46. Social Scientists\u2019 Association<\/li>\n
  47. South Asian Free Media Association Sri Lanka Chapter<\/li>\n
  48. Sri Lanka Development Journalists\u2019 Forum<\/li>\n
  49. Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum<\/li>\n
  50. Suriya Women’s Development Center Batticaloa<\/li>\n
  51. United Federation of Labour<\/li>\n
  52. United Health Services Union<\/li>\n
  53. University Teachers for Democracy and Dialogue<\/li>\n
  54. Uva Shakti Foundation, Badulla<\/li>\n
  55. Uva Wellassa Govi Kantha Organization, Buttala<\/li>\n
  56. Vikalpani Women\u2019s Alliance,\u00a0 Malabe<\/li>\n
  57. Women and Media Collective<\/li>\n
  58. Women Development Center, Badulla<\/li>\n
  59. Women Development Social Federation, Pottuvil<\/li>\n
  60. Women Resource Centre, Kurunegala<\/li>\n
  61. Women\u2019s Education and Research Center<\/li>\n
  62. Women’s Coalition for Disaster Management \u2013Batticaloa<\/li>\n
  63. Young Asia Television<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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

    […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":73844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2187,1,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-most-popular","category-news","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nCSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-15T12:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-23T01:03:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"435\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"325\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/\",\"name\":\"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-15T12:59:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-23T01:03:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg\",\"width\":\"435\",\"height\":\"325\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2013-02-15T12:59:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-02-23T01:03:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":435,"height":325,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/","name":"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg","datePublished":"2013-02-15T12:59:28+00:00","dateModified":"2013-02-23T01:03:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg","width":"435","height":"325"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/csos-condemns-anti-muslim-rhetoric-and-attacks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"CSOs Condemns Anti Muslim Rhetoric And Attacks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Kuliyapitiya-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73840"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74675,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73840\/revisions\/74675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}