Moratuwa Niqab: Unveiling The Facts
Khalid Muhaimin
Niqab Is Not A Controversy But A Ban On It Is A Controversy
While Sri Lanka is struggling to come out from the remnants of its brutal ethnic-conflict, its ethnic harmony after the war is slowly fading away and likely to slip into jeopardy. Once the war is over, the government should have taken serious measures to reconcile the differences between ethnicities within her country. But in contrary to this, government had turned mute over this matter while remaining silence over the emergence of Buddhist Extremist Group which is posing a critical threat to the basic fabric of the ethnic communities and their harmony. This status quo causing racism all over the country specially on the minorities- particularly Muslim minority which has become more vulnerable to racism in Sri Lanka in recent years. It is very sad to see Islam and Muslim are being targeted all over the country and their religious and cultural values are questioned and ridiculed by these elements.
In line of these events, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka duly created by and under the Act No 16 of 1978, has banned the Muslim female students from wearing Niqab, a type of Muslim veil that conceals the whole face, other than the eyes. This ban has come in the dawn of CHOGM 2013 and a time where the government is under immense pressure by the international community for its alleged war crimes and Human right abuses. These extremist elements are creating Islamophobia. This racist syndrome is widespread all over the country nowadays.
University of Moratuwa is the country’s leading technological higher education institute excelling both locally and globally-as they claim. But it is something strange to see these intellectuals are also victimized by the above mentioned syndrome. On December 02, 2013 the Vice-Chancellor of University of Moratuwa, Prof. Ananda Jayawardana was interviewed by the BBC. While I was listening to his interview I realized that how an intellectual mind was duped to believe an unnecessary issue.
Nevertheless, this ban on veil is seriously violating the provisions of the constitution. Chapter III of the 1978 constitution titled as Fundamental Rights provide various fundamental rights for the citizens. Equality before law, Freedom of expression and Freedom of Religion and conscience are some of the provisions among others are in clear violation by this ban. This senseless decision is massively divisive and will only lead to an environment in which the rights of many will be disproportionately suppressed. These fundamental rights are at stake here and this sets out an extremely dangerous precedent not only for the Muslim community but for members of all faith backgrounds. Read More
