Ranil wants Govt. to apologise to Muslims

Thursday, 28 February 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

United National Party Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday called for an official apology to Sri Lankan Muslims from the Government saying the community had been deeply hurt by the recent incident in Kuliyapitiya and other parts of the country.

Addressing a rare media briefing yesterday, Wickremesinghe said that anti-Muslim sentiment in the country was making the Muslim Community feel deeply insecure and fearful for their safety and the Government has thus far not done enough to address the issue.

“In Kuliyapitiya while demonstrators displayed the image of a pig with the word Allah inscribed upon it, what were the police doing? Why is the Government not taking action against those law enforcement officials,” Wickremesinghe queried.

According to Wickremesinghe, the Muslims themselves were divided on the Halal Certification issue.

“But this Halal issue cannot be used to attack the Muslim community,” he charged.

The UNP Leader said it was strange that the Government was not attempting to bring the Bodu Bala Sena group that was agitating for the Halal ban and Muslim groups together to discuss the issue and put an end to the hysteria.

“We don’t know yet whether there are certain government affiliated nationalist groups involved in these incidents against the Muslim enterprises and places of worship in Sri Lanka,” the UNP Leader charged.

Wickremesinghe said he had appointed a six member committee from the UNP led by Parliamentarian Kabir Hashim to present a report to him in three weeks regarding the recent incidents against the Muslim community.

“We will force the Government to act once we have the facts,” he said.

Also speaking at the media briefing, Mayor of Colombo A.J.M. Muzammil said that it still remains to be seen what the stand of Muslim Ministers within the Government would be on the issue. “The Government has a responsibility to protect every citizen and every religion,” he said.

UNP Western Provincial Councillor Mujibur Rahuman charged that Halal would not be the end of the issue between the Sinhalese and the Muslims.

“The Bodu Bala Sena has a greater agenda,” he warned saying that there were banners that had come up in Kurunegala urging people to stop buying from Muslim shops.

Rahuman said that the Government was hoping to use the Muslims as the next ‘billa’ at an election, and charged that there was a Government hand in the anti-Muslim sentiment sweeping the country. The Bodu Bala Sena and affiliate groups had political power and cover, he said.

He said that the Bodu Bala Sena was constantly praising the President at their meetings, while the All Ceylon Jamaiythul Ulamma which was currently in charge of the Halal certification also worked closely with the Government until recently.

“So why can’t the President just call both groups to sit down and resolve this issue once and for all?” he queried.

Hashim, Muzammil, MP M.H. Haleem Western Provincial Councillors Rahuman and Mohamed Fairooz, and Wayamba Provincial Councillor A.L.M.Nazir