National Shoora Council tells President ruling party has no mandate to enact new anti-terror law

• Insists Govt. must persist with repealing present terror act
• Alleges terror laws were used only against minorities
• Claims new anti-terror law will propagate negative image, discourage tourism, investments, and economic recovery

The National Shoora Council (NSC) has urged President Anura Kumara Disanayake to honour the election pledge and repeal the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act (PTA) without replacing it with a new anti-terrorism law, as no such mandate was sought from the people in the ruling party’s manifesto.

The NSC has also pointed out in its letter to President Disanayake that over a dozen new laws had been enacted during the last 25 years, with wider powers being vested in the Executive and the Police. The Muslim civil society has also said that 16 years have elapsed since terrorism was wiped out, and that today, there is no sign of any terrorism in the country.

Following are excerpts from the NSC’s letter to President Disanayake.

The NSC is a consultative body of premier Muslim organisations in Sri Lanka with a national reach and includes citizens of repute. The NSC was established in 2013 following a series of Islamophobic attacks on the Muslim community from 2012 onwards and which led to several devastating anti-Muslim riots in the country.

The National People’s Power (NPP) pledged in its recent Presidential and General Election manifestos to repeal the PTA unequivocally, but it did not declare in the manifesto or in its election campaigns that any other new law would replace the PTA. If the pledge were to replace the PTA with another law, the NPP would have said so clearly. ‘Repeal of PTA’ was the pledge, while ‘replacement of the PTA’ was never even talked about or placed before the people.

You are well aware that the abuse of the PTA by the county’s then Executive from 1979 onwards contributed significantly to the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, as well as to the growth of violence and terrorism in the island nation. Sri Lanka got pushed into a costly war that lasted for over 30 years. The PTA, instead of eliminating violence, multiplied terrorism and economically bankrupted the nation while enriching the arms-producing countries.

You are also no doubt aware that after the war ended in May 2009, the PTA was not used to restrain the majoritarian hate campaigns that were unleashed from 2012 onwards, initially against the Christians, and soon thereafter, on the Muslims. The Muslim community endured several violent attacks on their businesses, Mosques, and homes from 2014 onwards. Over 25 Mosques were attacked in 2018 alone, months before the Easter attacks. The Parliamentary Select Committee and the Presidential Commission on Easter attacks blamed the actions of seven majoritarian extremist organisations as also having led to the Easter attacks of 21 April 2019.

The point we make is that the then Executive abused the PTA, directing it only against the minorities, particularly against the patriotic Muslim community of Sri Lanka, who stood against the division of the country, opposed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) terrorism, and were soon ejected from the North by the LTTE, whilst thousands in the East were killed and their lands grabbed.

It is in this context that we urge the NPP to honour its promise to the nation to repeal the PTA and not to replace the PTA by another law, as there are over a dozen new laws enacted within the last 25 years with wide powers vested in the Executive and the Police. It is 16 years since terrorism in Sri Lanka was wiped out. There is no sign of terrorism anymore. The Anti-Terrorism Bill will send a negative message and image of Sri Lanka worldwide. It will discourage tourism, investments, and economic recovery.

We urge the NPP not to fall into external traps that seek to replace the PTA’s draconian provisions with a new anti-terror law as indeed, today, there is not the slightest threat of terrorism anywhere in the country. The objectives of these external elements appear to be to propagate to the world that Sri Lanka is still a country subject to terrorism, debilitating its economic resurgence, and keeping Sri Lanka subservient to powerful nations to better facilitate forthcoming regional conflicts in the Indian Ocean.

The ‘Anti-Terrorism Bill’ Committee, appointed by the Justice and National Integration Minister to draft a non-mandated replacement to the PTA, is packed regrettably with 90% Government officials and does not have a diversity of independent members reflecting the spirit of the Constitution, justice, or national integration.