Protest Opposite The Malay Military Mosque In Kandy
Mass L. Usuf
A protest led by several monks and lay people took place on 05.06.2016 in front of the mosque in Kandy, situated near the Central Market. There were also present members of the Police force. The point of contention was that this mosque is building a minaret which they allege will be taller than the height of Dalada Maligawa. According to some prominent persons, this is an unsubstantiated allegation.
The first question; Is there a law which prohibits any construction up to the height of the Dalada Maligawa? If there is no such law, can Article 9 of the Constitution be invoked with the argument of giving foremost place to Buddhism? It will be an interesting proposition to see how the courts would interpret Article 9 under such circumstances, if invoked. For further consideration will be the relevant Sections of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report (2011) and the mandate of the Permanent Office of National Unity and Reconciliation. All of which dwells on freedom of religion, inter-faith harmony, inter-ethnic harmony etc.
Tomb of Jamindar Tunku Tuan Hussain (d. 1854)--Partially constructed Minaret
This mosque was popularly known in the past as the Malay Military Mosque. This leads us to the question as to who are the Malays? Why was it called the Malay Military Mosque? I do not wish this piece to be given a racially biased misinterpretation. Therefore, at the outset, I declare that my interest is confined only to the area of tracing the history behind this mosque and the Rule of Law.
The Malay Community
The Malays are a small community of people living in Sri Lanka who came to Sri Lanka in the early parts of the first millennium. Tony P. Miskin – Former Senior Lecturer, University of Moratuwa in his documentation titled “Chronological events in the history of Sri Lankan Malays” notes that a Malay king named King Chandrabhanu, is said to have ruled the Jaffna kingdom during part of the period 1235-1275. (Daily News of 14th Nov 1983 – Article by Henry P. Abeysekera, on “Historical Basis for National Unity”). History also amply records the presence of the Malays during the Portuguese, Dutch and the British periods.
