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  • The crucial role of minority votes in the Presidential Election - 2024
    The crucial role of minority votes in the Presidential Election - 2024 Sri Lanka is approaching one of its most pivotal presidential elections, scheduled for September 21, 2024. This election is a significant event for the nation, marked by economic turmoil, political uncertainty, and a growing desire for systemic change. With 39 candidates vying for the presidency, the contest has narrowed down to three leading figures: incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), the leader of the National People’s Power (NPP); with the fourth-force being Namal Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP). However, the complexity of the race, coupled with a fractured electorate, has raised the possibility that no candidate will secure the necessary 50% +1 of the votes in the first...
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  • Anti-terrorism Bill will be changed
    The highly controversial Antiterrorism Bill is subject to amendments and changes in Parliament and as such no one should have any fear or feeling of threat from the proposed Bill, Justice Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe said. The government is aware of concerns raised by the global and local community on certain provisions contained in the draft of the Anti-terrorism Bill and the Government is ready to alleviate them by discussion, compromise and flexibility, he added. Addressing a news conference at the Information Department auditorium, Minister Rajapakshe said the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) passed in 1979 under President J.R. Jayewardene’s rule as a temporary measure to counter the emerging separatist insurgency. The PTA has been misused and exploited by successive Governments since then for their personal and political...
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  • WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple phones
    WhatsApp users are no longer restricted to using their account on just a single phone. Today, the Meta-owned messaging service is announcing that its multi-device feature — which previously allowed you to access and send messages from additional Android tablets, browsers, or computers alongside your primary phone — is expanding to support additional smartphones. “One WhatsApp account, now across multiple phones” is how the service describes the feature, which it says is rolling out to everyone in the coming weeks.
    Setting up a secondary phone to use with your WhatsApp account happens after doing a fresh install of the app. Except, rather than entering your phone number during setup and logging in as usual, you instead tap a new “link to existing account” option. This will generate a QR...
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  • CBK commends Dr. Shafi’s noble gesture of donating past salary to buy essential medicine
    Falsely accused by racist elements for alleged illegal sterilisation, Kurunegala Teaching Hospital doctor says racism will not take country or organisation forward except make poor people suffer more; calls on all to make Sri Lanka racism-free   Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has commended Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen over his gesture of donating the past salaries amounting to Rs. 2.6 million during his suspension and imprisonment on false charges to buy essential medicines. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

    Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen



    Following...
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  • Dr. Shafi donates arrears of his salary to purchase medicines for hospitals
    Dr. Shihabdeen Mohamed Shafi, the doctor at the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital has decided to donate arrears of his salary amounting over Rs. 2.67 million for the purchase of essential medicines for hospitals.

    Dr. Shafi who was on compulsory leave on charges of performing infertility surgery, has received a cheque of over Rs. 2.67 million salary arrears from the Health Ministry last week.

    The salary arrears include the basic salary, interim allowance, cost of living, and allowance in lieu of pension for the period of compulsory leave imposed on Dr. Sihabdeen.

    Dr. Shafi who was employed at the Kurunegala teaching hospital was arrested on May 25th, 2019, on charges of performing infertility surgery.
    On July 25, 2019, the Kurunegala Magistrate’s Court ordered that the doctor be released on bail.
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  • Govt. used Sinhala-Buddhist shield to its maximum benefit Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera
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  • Health ministry to pay back-wages for Dr. Shafi before July 10
    The Ministry of Health today gave an undertaking before the Court of Appeal that the salary and allowances payable to Dr. Shafi  Shihabdeen will be paid before July 10 this year. The Ministry of Health gave this undertaking pursuant to a writ petition filed by Dr. Shafi  Shihabdeen, who was at the centre of the controversy surrounding the alleged sterilisation of female patients. The Director General of Establishment at the Ministry of Public Services had earlier informed the Court that the basic salary, interim allowance, cost of living and allowance in lieu of pension could be paid to Dr. Shafi Shihabdeen, for the compulsory leave period. Meanwhile, the petitioner expressed willingness to attend the preliminary inquiry before Director of Kurunegala Teaching Hospital Dr. Chandana Kendangamuwa. Taking into consideration the facts,...
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  • Sri Lanka court orders release of lawyer held for two years
    A Sri Lankan court has ordered the release on bail of a lawyer arrested over his alleged links to the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings and held for nearly two years on charges rights groups say lacked credible evidence. Hejaaz Hizbullah was arrested in April 2020 and accused of being linked to the attacks on churches and hotels that left 279 people dead. But after prosecutors failed to provide evidence of his involvement in the attacks, blamed on a local group, he was instead Read More...
  • Hejaaz Hizbullah leaves from remand custody
    Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah today left from remand custody after fulfilling his bail conditions before Puttlalam High Court.

    He was incarcerated for 22 months for allegedly committing offences come under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.Last Monday (07), the Court of Appeal ordered to release Hizbullah on bail pursuant to a revision application filed on behalf him.Hizbullah was ordered to be released on a cash bail of Rs.100,000 with two sureties of Rs.500,000 by Puttlalam High Court Judge Kumari Abeyratne. He was further ordered to report to the DIG office of Puttalam Police Division every second and fourth Sunday of every month.An indictment under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Act has now been served on Hejaaz Hizbullah. According to the indictment, Hizbullah...
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  • හිජාස් ගෙදර යයි

    (නිමන්ති රණසිංහ සහ හිරාන් ප්‍රියංකර ජයසිංහ) ත්‍රස්තවාදය වැළැක්වීමේ පනත සහ සිවිල් හා දේශපාලන අයිතීන් පිළිබද ජාත්‍යන්තර සම්මුති පනත ප්‍රකාරව චෝදනා ලැබ වසර දෙකකට ආසන්න කාලයක් රක්ෂිත බන්ධනාගාර ගත කර සිටි නිතීඥ හිජාස් හිස්බුල්ලා මහතා අභියාචනාධිකරණ නියෝගය ප්‍රකාරව ඇප මත මුදාහැරීමට පුත්තලම මහාධිකරණය අද (09)...
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Why Did Not The Muslims Attack?

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By Mass L. Usuf

Mass Usuf

Very unexpectedly a close Sinhalese friend of mine asked me why did not the Muslims retaliate when they were attacked? I was perplexed. Firstly, because he is a Sinhalese and, secondly, the thought of attacking people never occurs in the mind of a practising Muslim. Out of curiosity, I asked him “What do you mean by retaliate?” He said, “You all should have attacked business premises of the Sinhalese people in areas where you all are in majority.” Now, I became curious, since this is a Sinhalese speaking about attacking the Sinhalese. I asked him “What the hell is wrong with you and why are you talking like this?” He replied, “I am disgusted with these fellows. Believe me, after university I have never stepped into a temple.” Him mentioning ‘temple’ reminded me of our youthhood. I humorously reminded him how both of us used to hang around in the temple compound to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend. I said “Machan api bodhi pooja atha gaanawa mathakada, hebai esdeka wena kohedo neda.” He replied, “Those days are now gone. I really feel sorry for our growing up kids”

The question as to why the Muslims did not retaliate by attacking Sinhala houses or business premises requires an explanation. I have to distinguish here between a practising Muslim and a non-practising Muslim. The majority are generally, practising Muslims. In fact, the only religion in the world which has the largest number of practising followers is Islam. Anyway, we have our quota of black sheep like in any other community. A realistic comparison would be the Sinhalese racists who perpetrated the recent violence. They do not represent the majority of the respectable Sinhalese people. In fact, their criminal behaviour has embarrassed many Sinhalese people who feel ashamed.

Be Just Even To The Enemy

Self-defence is a religious obligation in Islam. Also, retaliating when attacked or repulsing an attack form part of this obligation. However, this obligation is restricted by several conditions. According to Islamic teachings, it is strictly prohibited for a Muslim to harm another innocent person for no reason. It is, also, strictly prohibited for a Muslim to wantonly take the life of another human being, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. Therefore, in response to the attack on Muslims in Digana, one cannot attack an innocent Sinhalese person in the streets of another part of Sri Lanka. Just because that person happens to be a Sinhalese. In the same manner, a Muslim cannot burn a house or a shop of an innocent Sinhalese person elsewhere. He would be committing a grave sin according to the teachings of Islam. Even at times like this Islam teaches equity and justice to be applied to all including the enemy. This partly explains why there were no such reprisals. The Quran states:

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allah and be just witnesses and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Well Acquainted with what you do.”   (Chapter 5 Verse 8).

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor,…” (Chapter 4 Verse 135).

‘Islam’ Means ‘Peace’

Islam also enjoins the Muslims to respect the law of the country in which they live so long as it does not violate the teachings of Islam. On that basis, Muslims as citizens of this country would expect the law enforcement authorities to establish law and order, prevent violence against persons and property and provide protection to the public. The requirement of taking the law into one’s hand does not arise under these circumstances.

The meaning of the word ‘Islam’ is ‘Peace’. Islam teaches several moral and ethical values which guides human beings towards living in society with peace and tolerance. Muslims believe that Allah is the Most Merciful; that Allah is the Most Forgiving; That Allah is the Pardoner of sins. Therefore, a good Muslim is never revengeful, is never unforgiving or is never unpardoning. On the contrary, a Muslim goes on the premise that when Allah, the Almighty is the Most Forgiving and the Most Merciful why should not I be merciful and forgiving towards another human being. After all, according to Islam it is our belief that Allah is the Creator of all mankind which obviously includes the Sinhalese people too.

“O mankind, worship your Lord who created you and those who lived before you, so that you may become righteous.” (Chapter 2 Verse 21)

Patience An Exalted Quality

A practising Muslim always strives to be patient to the best possible extent in any given situation. This also constitutes the part of the Islamic ethics which exalts the conduct of patience in a Muslim. The behaviour of the Muslim is what it is because of the act of forgiveness, mercy and the practise of patience at times of trials and tribulations. The Quran states:

“We shall test you through fear, hunger, loss of life, property, and crops. Give glad news to the people who have patience.”   (Chapter 2 Verse 155)

There is a misconception amongst the Sinhalese racists who always alleges especially, in the social media that the Muslims act innocent and harmless when they are weak but will not hesitate to kill someone if they are in power. Therefore, the Muslims cannot be trusted. This is an utterly false statement and by this these racists are deceiving the Sinhalese people. They want to sow the seed of hatred in the minds of people and to this end would not stop at anything good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral. Shameless creatures, aren’t they?

Boastful Cowards

A distinction has to be drawn between being a coward and being an individual who practises patience. It is not an act of bravery but absolute cowardism to come in organised groups, armed with weapons and then attack innocent men, helpless women and traumatised children. Not only that, to solicit the support and complicity of the Police and the Special Task Force, to set alight closed shops, places of religious worship and houses of people who have not done any wrong to anyone. The lack of conscientiousness in these sick people is further amplified by their claim of heroism or boast as seen in Venerable Gnanasara Thero recent statement for example.

On the other hand, a person practising patience should not be misunderstood as being cunning or pretentious or as being a coward. The Muslims have shown great maturity on the face of the puerile behaviour of the ‘grown up’ racists and some self-deluded racist politicians, who think that they are smarter. The Muslims would not want to exacerbate a given situation by acting on their own. These are some of the virtues and values that restrains the practising Muslims from retaliating. As peace loving and law-abiding citizens, I think the Muslims are a great asset to this island, as part of a community showcasing multi-cultural, multi religious and multi ethnic diversity in unity.

“O you who believe! have patience, help each other with patience, establish good relations with one another, and have fear of God so that you may be successful..”   (Chapter 3 Verse 200)


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