No room for any injustice to any community in Sri Lanka, President assures

Monday, 21 April 2014 00:47 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday said that there is no room for any community to suppress another community on the grounds of religion or ethnicity and assured that no injustice will be done to any ethnicity. Speaking at the opening of the new bridge across Batticaloa lagoon connecting Batticaloa and Ampara, the President said certain foreign elements were trying to create problems between communities and religions and destroy national harmony by spreading false rumours.

He said that no race has the right to suppress another and it is the responsibility of everyone to work towards the betterment of the country. The Government is committed to safeguard the rights and privileges of all religious groups in Sri Lanka and to secure the freedom of worship in the country, the President further said. In a message to mark Easter today, the President said the day had a special significance for Sri Lanka’s Christians, as the country came closer to overcoming the forces of terror and bringing peace and understanding to all communities that call Sri Lanka home. “The spirit of love that pervades Christian teaching should help create trust and understanding among our people,” the President said in his message. “It should also extend to all other living beings that share this earth with us, as well as the gifts of nature on which all of us depend for a wholesome life,” he said. The Government has come under severe criticism by international as well as local civil society organisations for allowing Buddhist extremist groups to intimidate Muslims and Christians in the country.

Jamiyyathul Ulama to meet President, Chief Prelates to discuss suppression of Muslim community

A Muslim religious body in Sri Lanka plans to meet with the President and the Chief Prelates (Mahanayake Theras) in order to discuss the suppression faced by the Muslim community. The All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), which is a Muslim religious body of Islamic theologians in Sri Lanka, has said that it hopes to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter, Most Venerable Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thero. ACJU’s Media Unit Head, Moulavi, Aslam Zubair has said the body had made the decision to bring to the notice of the President and the Mahanayake, the suppression faced by the Muslim community at the hands of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS). Zubair has told the media that the actions of the BBS have hurt the Muslims in the country and that the BBS had also made horrendous remarks against the Holy Quran by misinterpreting its commands and has spitefully commented on its versus out of context. He has added that the Muslims were hopeful that the President and the Mahanayake Theras would be able to intervene and prevent the problems faced by the Muslim community.

The rising religious intolerance from extremist Buddhist monks-led organisations in Sri Lanka has raised alarms among the moderate public and if authorities fail to take adequate measures to curtail the violence the actions of these extremist groups would have serious consequences, civil society leaders have warned.