Stop Telling Blatant Lies: Muslim Council Writes To GL, Champika And IGP

June 27, 2014

The Muslim Council of Sri Lanka has today written to the Minister of Minister of External Affairs GL Peris, the Minister of Technology & Research Patali Champika Ranawaka and the Inspector General of police regarding the stamens made by them regarding the riots in Aluthgama.

We publish below the letters in full;

Letter to Minister of Minister of External Affairs GL Peris

June 27th 2014

Hon. G. L. Peris

Minister of External Affairs, Republic Building,
Colombo 1.

Honorable Sir,

We wish to bring to your kind attention the blatant misinformation disseminated by Sri Lanka’s permanent mission in Geneva, Switzerland, with regard to the recent unfortunate incidents in the South Western part of the country. It is unfortunate that the suffering and destruction caused to the Muslim population have been disregarded and the gravity of the situation has been distorted for political purposes.

We wish to place on record that fabricated charges were leveled against the Muslim youth who were part of the conflict with the driver of a Buddhist monk which resulted in the entire Muslim community coming under attack by Buddhist mobs, incited by the inflammatory hate speech of Venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara Thero. To this day, the police have not taken any action to question the Venerable Thero and take him in to custody for the death of three persons, injury to hundreds, destruction of homes and livelihood of thousands of Muslims which caused the loss of hundreds of millions of rupees due to unchecked arson, looting and theft.

The report presented by Ms. Manisha Gunasekera, Deputy Permanent Representative gives figures of casualties that are ridiculous to say the least. She, like the Inspector General of Police is implying that the Muslims were the cause of the violence as they have cast the first stone when the procession was allowed to go through a Muslim village. We have video evidence to the contrary, which we could present to you if you wish.

Muslim civil society and religious leadership handed over a letter on the morning of 15th June to the IGP and the Senior DIG Mr. Anura Senanayake clearly stating that the meeting called by the Bodu Bala Sena and Sihala Ravaya to teach a lesson to the “Marakalayas” as per attached Facebook poster could ignite violence against Muslims. Assurances were given that law and order would be maintained, but the police failed to protect the lives and property of the Muslim population.

It appears that the statement made in Geneva is very similar to the anti Muslim statements made for local consumption by certain vested interests. This complicity while it cannot be overlooked would only further erode the negative opinion among the international community of our failure to address minority issues and human rights.

We do not understand the reasons for accusing the Muslim community for the incident in an international forum when what one would have expected is an assurance that such ugly incidents would be prevented and action taken to hold the offenders accountable for their deeds. It seems that the Geneva statement has missed out on a golden opportunity to state our position against violence and hate campaigns in Sri Lanka.

Thanking you, Yours sincerely,

Hilmy Ahamed  -Vice President                                                  Read More