Saudi Air Force to participate in Cobra Warrior 25-1 exercise in UK    Saudi Arabia assumes presidency of GlobeE anti-corruption network    GACA chief affirms Saudi support for innovation in civil aviation sector    60 Saudi relief trucks cross Hail en route to Syria    Sanofi is transferring its global expertise in insulin production to Saudi Arabia, aligning with Vision 2030 program    FM Prince Faisal leads Saudi delegation attending AI Action Summit in Paris    Maya Diab joins Arab stars and celebrities in celebrating the Centrepoint Ramadan 2025 collection launch at Riyadh Boulevard    Riyadh Season draws 19 million visitors in 4 months    New Zealand and Cook Islands fall out over China deal    US justice department tells prosecutors to drop NYC mayor's corruption case    Strongest earthquake yet hits Santorini amid seismic crisis    Earth's inner core may have changed shape, say scientists    Schools across Saudi Arabia start celebrating Founding Day in an air of festivity    Oilatum tackles rise in Eczema and Dry Skin in Saudi Arabia    HONOR brings together AI and luxury with PORSCHE DESIGN HONOR Magic7 RSR at LEAP 2025    Eagles win Super Bowl LIX to end the Chiefs' dream of a three-peat    Chinese film stirs national pride, rakes in $1bn in days    Sharifa Al-Sudairi makes historic debut at Asian Winter Games    Ivan Toney's brace secures Al Ahli victory over Al Fateh in Saudi Pro League    Al Nassr reclaims third place with 3-0 victory over Al Fayha as Jhon Durán shines    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



The 'Pearl of the Orient' begins to lose its luster
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 30 - 01 - 2013


TARIQ A. AL-MAEENA

Sri Lanka, nicknamed the "Pearl of the Orient", has begun to lose its luster following the brief spell of harmony that came at the end of a decades-long civil war, a war that claimed countless victims and ravaged the countryside, threatening to split the country into many factions.
The government understood that reconciliation with its minorities including the Tamils and the Muslims was critical to ensuring that peace would prevail and that the island would begin to focus on long neglected progress and development. However, that does not seem to be the case as the messages from elements within the government appear to contradict the policy of reconciliation which does not bode well for the security of the country.
A politician such as Mr. Udaya Gammanpila, a member of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) party of the government, is currently sowing the seeds of discord among the populace with wild claims and charges of minority uprisings. As a member of JHU, a Sinhalese party known for its extremism and dislike of minorities, and who openly advocate that Sri Lankan Tamils should vacate the land and go back to Tamil Nadu in India, and that Muslims should move out and go to Saudi Arabia, this politician is setting into motion a dangerous precedent, one that will eventually backfire and drown the entire island in ethnic carnage.
As Latheef Farook, a respected author and writer who has traveled far and wide, says: “Today the animosity against the Muslim community has been carefully planned and built up with no valid reason, by a small group namely Bodu Bala Sena described as Buddhist Zionists by Dr. Suren Raghavan, a senior research fellow at the Center for Buddhist Studies of University of Oxford and who teaches politics at University of Kent-Canterbury.”
Mr. Farook cautions that as Mr. Gammanpila is "a responsible member of the government, one would expect him to take urgent measures to prevent such a calamity. But there has been no such sign for reasons better known to him. Judging from the freedom with which the mobs, often led by monks, attack mosques and other places under the watchful eyes of police, it appears that they have the blessings of the authorities. So far no one has been taken into custody."
And Farook's claims have been verified by independent sources. During the past year and a half or so, there have been deliberate provocations when militant Buddhists attacked Muslim shrines, mosques and shops. Websites spreading a hate campaign against Muslims have sprung up, sponsored by some of the monks who are supposed to preach Buddha's message of peace and harmony. This was not something totally unexpected as the hardline racists claimed in the past that they would deal with the Muslims after settling their scores with the Tamils.
Under such circumstances, continued and unnecessary attacks on Muslims will spell disaster. The racist attack of a handful of people on Tamils in July 1983 created a powerful Diaspora. It spawned a dreadful civil war and gave rise to terrorism, drawing India into local politics and dividing the communities on the island.

Farook asks: “Who knows what the consequences would be in the event of an attack on Muslims? Is there any need to provoke the island's Muslims who remain the most peaceful of all three major communities and want to live in harmony with both the Sinhalese and the Tamils as pointed out by former Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva?”
“What the chauvinists fail to understand is that Muslims by and large are ignored by the government and betrayed by their politicians, and remain a sidelined community. For example, hardly any Muslim is recruited to the armed forces and police, and one can rarely spot a Muslim employee in government departments and other state institutions. Even the mercantile sector seems to have closed its doors to Muslims who are excluded from Government contracts, tenders and all such activities. Indifference toward Muslims remains open and around 130,000 Muslim refugees from the north continue to languish in refugee camps in appalling conditions three and a half years after the war. The irony is that this is happening three years after the 30-year ethnic war ended. What lessons have we learnt from the past carnage? Absolutely nothing!”
One of the few voices of reason in the government, the Minister of National Languages and Social Integration Vasudeva Nanayakkara cautioned that a war against the Muslim minority is raising its ugly head on the island.
Referring to unprovoked aggression by Buddhist militants, he charged that, “a very dangerous trend has been started by several groups of people. The Muslim minority on the island has been attacked. This is an unjustifiable and un-Buddhist course of action to take.”
Sri Lanka is currently on a road fraught with dangers. Victory in the civil war against the Tamils should not grant Buddhist militants an open license to indulge in ethnic cleansing. Nor should politicians play the race card to win votes. They may win in the short run, but the far-reaching consequences could spell disaster for the "Pearl of the Orient".

— The author can be reached at
Twitter

Print Post Comment


Clic here to read the story from its source.