At Next UNHRC Session Muslim Countries Will Have To Protect Mosques And Religious Freedom, Not The GSL – Kabir Hashim

April 21, 2012

Kabir Hashim

“Whether the government has so soon forgotten about the Moulavis who had rallied Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and other Muslim countries against the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka. At the next UNHRC session, they will have to be there to protect mosques and religious freedom, not the government” UNP MP Kabir Hashim said.

The present regime has seriously violated the brotherhood between the Sinhalese and the Muslims as well as the Islamic religious freedom, charged UNP MP Kabir Hashim further said.

Speaking to the media in Colombo yesterday (Apr. 20), he alleged that mobs had driven away devotees and destroyed a mosque at Dambulla, despite the president, ministers and the police chief being informed about the threats to the religious place.

Police and the Army looked on as the mosque was demolished, charged the Kegalle district MP. Noting that the Islamic religious place in Dambulla was built way back in 1963, he noted that had it been an illegal construction, the matter should have been dealt with in accordance with the law.

MP Hashim asked whether the government has so soon forgotten about the Moulavis who had rallied Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and other Muslim countries against the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka.

At the next UNHRC session, they will have to be there to protect mosques and religious freedom, not the government, he said. He urged the government to conduct an impartial and extensive investigation into the destruction of the mosque in Dambulla and to ensure religious freedom.