A year ago, the United States’ President, Barack Obama, announced that his country’s most wanted man had been killed in Abottabad, Pakistan. That the killing occurred on May 1, the day on which Labour Day is marked, is significant too, because Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda movement, shook Corporate America or the so-called one per cent that own 42 percent of the US national wealth.
Bin Laden’s terror group took on the US at a time when the superpower arrogance was at its peak. The US bombed and invaded countries at will and arm-twisted developing countries to promote the interest of Corporate America, so much so, some even longed for the return of the Cold War, a period during which the Soviet Union checked the US moves to dominate the world.
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Anti-terrorism Bill will be changedThe 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...Read More...
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WhatsApp adds option to use the same account on multiple phonesWhatsApp 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.Read More...
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... -
CBK commends Dr. Shafi’s noble gesture of donating past salary to buy essential medicineFalsely 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 KumaratungaRead More...
Dr. Mohamed Shafi Shihabdeen
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Dr. Shafi donates arrears of his salary to purchase medicines for hospitalsDr. 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.Govt. used Sinhala-Buddhist shield to its maximum benefit Ven. Galkande Dhammananda TheraThis Govt. nurtured thug-like monks promoted them and deployed them in various places Certain monks have severe psychological wounds If society isn’t healed cases of domestic violence, harassment and child abuse will be on the rise Reconciliation was about having workshops, providing a report and earning dollars Accountability has not been included in the Constitution or the Judicial system Terrorism sprouts in a country that has no justice Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera who currently heads the Walpola Rahula Institute for Buddhist Studies has been addressing issues related to social justice and harmony while promoting an inclusive and plural society. Having gathered a wealth of experience during the height of war for instance and having encountered various incidents during his lifetime, Ven. Dhammananda Thera has...Read More...Health ministry to pay back-wages for Dr. Shafi before July 10The 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,...Read More...Sri Lanka court orders release of lawyer held for two yearsA 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 custodyAttorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah today left from remand custody after fulfilling his bail conditions before Puttlalam High Court.Read More...
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...හිජාස් ගෙදර යයිRead More...
(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)...Court of Appeal grants bail on Hejaaz HizbullahThe Court of Appeal today ordered to release Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail after nearly two years in detention and remand custody. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal directed the Puttalam High Court to release Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail with suitable bail conditions. The Court of Appeal two-judge-bench comprising Justice Menaka Wijesundera and Justice Neil Iddawala made this order taking into consideration a revision application filed on behalf of Hejaaz Hizbullah. The Attorney General did not raise objections to release Hizbullah on bail. On January 28, an application made by the defence requesting to release Attorney-at-law Hejaaz Hizbullah on bail was rejected by Puttalam High Court. The High Court Judge Kumari Abeyrathne refused to grant bail citing that she has no jurisdiction to grant bail under the Prevention of Terrorism...Read More...- 1
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Featured Articles
Wednesday, 22 May 2013 20:04
By Sister Shahnaaz Bemath
Thinking positive can work miracles. You may have been told to “guard your thoughts”, but felt the advice to be pointless. After all, your thoughts are private. How can they possibly affect someone else? The fact is, thoughts do seem to boomerang in some mysterious ways. Science has not found a way to measure them as they have invisible sound waves. In order to understand how positive thinking works, and how to use it efficiently, it is important to understand the power of negative thinking.
“Negative thoughts and tensions are like birds. We cannot stop them from flying near us but, we can certainly stop them from making a nest in our mind.”
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Monday, 22 April 2013 19:38
After abandoning his far-right party to embrace Islam, a former colleague of Dutch politician Geert Wilders has visited the holy lands in Saudi Arabia to perform his first `Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) in his life.
“If any person told me that I will visit the land of the two holy shrines, I would have told him that he must be insane,” Arnoud Van Doorn told Al-Madinah newspaper.
“Finding Islam is a dream came true,” a tearful Doorn added.
Doorn, a member of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV) has embraced Islam earlier this year after an extensive study into the religion.
He was among party leaders who helped produce an offensive film titled Fitna that linked Islam and the Qur’an to violence.
Wednesday, 19 December 2012 15:05
Click here to read the full write up
This write-up appeared in LANKADEEPA local news paper on 19th December 2012.
Monday, 13 August 2012 03:59
World powers must intervene to stop the systematic extermination of the Muslim minority and provide much-needed aid in the form of medicines and food
By Tariq Al Maeena | Special to Gulf News
The threat of war against Syria and Iran has been grabbing headlines for weeks, accompanied by ever more sensationalist claims by the mainstream media. The tensions are naturally high and the scenario could be grim.
Michel Chossudovsky, a Canadian professor of economics and author of several books charges that “a sophisticated and all encompassing propaganda programme supports war in the name of world peace and global security. The underlying scenario of worldwide conflict goes far beyond the diabolical design of [George] Orwell’s 1984. The Ministry of Truth upholds war as a peacemaking undertaking by twisting realities upside down. In turn, the lies and fabrications of the mainstream media are presented with various innuendos in a complex web of deceit”.
Wednesday, 13 June 2012 04:41
Egypt Scenario
by SYED HUSAIN PASHA
Egypt is no ordinary place. It is the land where tyranny runs deep and Pharaohs claim to be God.
And yet, paradoxically, Egypt also is the place from where the clarion cry of freedom rang out when Moses (May God Bless Him!) demanded from Pharaoh: Let My People Go!
Or, as the Qur’ān put it: Arsil ma’iya banee Israa-eel.
After thousands of years, that same timeless drama of Right vs. Wrong is being played out again. And this time, it is between a modern-day Moses in the person of Ikhwan’s candidate for President, Dr. Muhammad Morsi, and the forces of tyranny and corruption embodied in the Military regime of Mubarak and others.
Saturday, 02 June 2012 15:37
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Nirmal Ranjith Dewarsiri is with the department of history, University of Colombo.
The recent attack led by Buddhist monks on the Khairya Jumma mosque located in the so-called “sacred zone” of the Dambulla rock temple in the central province is important even though it did not develop into a larger scale clash between the Buddhist and Muslim communities of Sri Lanka. The Dambulla Khairya Jummah mosque had been in existence for over 60 years and the mosque trustees have legal documents regarding its construction. On Friday the 20th of April 2012 a tense situation arose as regular Friday prayer at the mosque was prevented by a gang led by Buddhist monks who claimed that it was an illegal construction built on sacred Buddhist ground.
Many view this incident as an isolated event led by a group of extremists; an event which was easily quelled as it did not represent the sentiments of the majority Buddhist populace. Although this may be true, this line of thinking conceals some of the realities of the inter-religious relations in Sri Lanka within which the Dambulla incident could be located. In this short piece, I attempt to highlight existing problems in the religious setting in the Sinhala-Buddhist south of Sri Lanka giving special attention to the Dambulla incident.
Friday, 11 May 2012 05:36
Qadijah Irshad (Colombo Courier) / 11 May 2012
Almost three weeks after the vandalisation of a mosque in the Dambulla district by a 2,000 odd mob led by some Buddhist clergy, a Buddhist organisation called the Buddhist Protection Foundation held a protest march and a campaign on Monday in Kalutara demanding the removal of the in Dambulla.
Addressing media, the Executive Director of the Foundation Priest Puliyadde Sudhamma Thero said that the protest was just “a beginning of a series of protests against the Muslim mosque in Dambulla.”
Friday, 04 May 2012 20:33
A common question among many who possess a little knowledge of Islam is, why no non-Muslims allowed in Makka and Madina, two most sacred cities of Islam. The instant answer, that goes usually is, what business do they have in these cities? Picnic? Leisure? Official? Religious visit? Absolutely no need exists for a non-Muslim to travel to these cities. In the first place, they have never been tourist attractions, neither for Muslims nor for others. And for that matter, Muslims never travel there for the purpose of merry-making. They are meant for pure and focused worship of Allah alone.
Friday, 04 May 2012 20:25
by Usthad Rasheed Hajjul Akbar
Holy lands are indeed sacred and they exist on this earth as sites that are respected and that should be respected, not only by the people who believe in the particular faith but by every one in the civilized world. As people who live by Islamic faith, we have sensitivity over this delicate subject because Islam too has its own proclaimed sacred places. These places belong to every Muslim in world and it is their refutable obligation safeguarding and cherishing those places. The countries that have those sacred places within their geographical areas cannot proscribe Muslims coming to their countries for just about any reason.
Terror war: The thunder, blunder and the plunder
Friday, 04 May 2012 11:19
By Ameen Izzadeen
Sri Lanka's road to peaceful co-existence
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Monday, 30 April 2012 19:53
The intent to demolish Dambulla mosque tears at wounds of ethnic violence which are in the process of healing
By Tariq A. Al Maeena
Following a protracted and violent civil war that lasted for more than 26 years costing thousands of lives and destruction of property, it would have been natural to assume that Sri Lanka would set itself on the path of healing through national reconciliation with all its peoples; Buddhists, Tamils and Muslims.
Yet, within many Tamils there exists a widespread belief that the Sri Lankan government is trying to wipe out their Tamil culture and religious identity by constructing Buddhist temples in Tamil areas. Now many of another ethnic minority feel recent moves have taken another dimension.
Monday, 30 April 2012 12:00
The intent to demolish Dambulla mosque tears at wounds of ethnic violence which are in the process of healing
By Tariq A. Al Maeena
Following a protracted and violent civil war that lasted for more than 26 years costing thousands of lives and destruction of property, it would have been natural to assume that Sri Lanka would set itself on the path of healing through national reconciliation with all its peoples; Buddhists, Tamils and Muslims.Yet, within many Tamils there exists a widespread belief that the Sri Lankan government is trying to wipe out their Tamil culture and religious identity by constructing Buddhist temples in Tamil areas. Now many of another ethnic minority feel recent moves have taken another dimension.
In a dangerous precedent reminiscent of another time and place, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister D.M. Dayaratne ordered the demolition of a 65-year-old mosque in Dambulla stating that the area was sacred to Buddhists. He tried to appease local sentiments by saying that the mosque would be relocated to another area. This public statement followed events recently when Buddhist agitators stormed the mosque and vandalised it, threatening its destruction.
The incident undoubtedly angered the island's Muslim community who have seen enough suffering and were severely victimised during the civil war for which they had paid a heavy price. During the civil war, caught in the crossfire between the government and the Tamils, they were attacked and slaughtered in village after village, even while offering prayers in the sanctity of their mosques. Their paddy lands were looted, businesses closed and had their very means of survival taken away. The entire Jaffna Muslim population was booted out of their homes and their belongings and property were stolen from them.
They are shocked and hurt that the demolition order strikes at the very core of religious freedom in a country attempting to heal itself. Muslim Congress Secretary and parliamentarian Hassan Ali said the "community will not accept a mosque in another place even if it was built of gold".
He also added that "If the places of religious worship of the minorities are being attacked while the police and army are idly watching, it implies that they are
supporting the marauders and providing security to them, instead of the law abiding people". Faced with the initial opposition, the prime minister claimed that this decision was taken after consultations with Muslim politicians. However, it was immediately debunked as a ‘blatant manufactured lie' and strongly rejected by leading Muslim politicians: Senior Minister A.H.M. Fawzie, Deputy Minister M.L.A.M. Hizbulla, Western Province Governor Alavi Moulana and Parliamentarian Abdul Khader, all of whom categorically reject the prime minister's claims. They assert that the mosque was built on land legally bought in 1964 and simply dismiss the allegations of militant Buddhists who claimed this area was sacred just two years ago.
Misleading people
Asad Sally, chairman of the Islamic Solidarity Front (ISF) and former deputy mayor of Colombo, stated that "it is misleading to say that the mosque was in existence for two years as it has been there for more than 65 years. We have all the documents to prove that it is a legally constructed mosque under the Waqf Act. Therefore the statement by the prime minister claiming that the unauthorised construction of the mosque has been stopped is totally false. The land on which the mosque was located was bought by a Muslim lady in Jaffna from Englishmen. This mosque has existed since then.
"Later the adjacent land too had been bought by mosque authorities in 1995. This statement by the prime minister is misleading the Buddhists in the country. The prime minister should not make such irresponsible statements as the Waqf Board comes under him and he is contradicting his own statement. Besides statements like Muslims will not have a place to urinate are not only irresponsible but very dangerous too."
Though the leader of the United National Party Ranil Wickremasinghe is yet to make a public statement on the tense situation, his deputy Sajith Premadasa described the prime minister's order as "law of the jungle and nothing to do with Buddhism". Sajith wondered "how could we develop the country when the prime minister's
office issues such false statements?"
Some public figures deplored the political pandering of the prime minister to a few Buddhist thugs, stating that in any civilised society one would expect unruly elements who vandalise places of worship to be arrested and brought to justice. Instead they have been rewarded in violation of all principles of human decency.
Following Sri Lanka's recent and turbulent past, Tamils, Muslims and others had been looking forward to a period of peace and harmony. However the intent to demolish the Dambulla mosque tears at the wounds of ethnic violence still in the process of healing, and only serves to prove that reconciliation, peace and progress are nothing but distant dreams. The historical co-existence of Tamils and Muslims among the Buddhist Sinhalese people for more than 1,000 years is under threat.
Tariq A. Al Maeena is a Saudi socio-political commentator. He lives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Courtesy: Gulf News
Tuesday, 24 April 2012 07:31
Riza Yehiya (Courtesy: GroundViews.Org)
The storming of the Dambulla Mosque on Friday the 20th April and chasing away of the Muslim worshippers attending Friday prayers by a mob led by Buddhist priests is epoch making in modern Sri Lankan history. The majority of the people of all communities are shocked and incensed by the way Buddhist priests lead this violent and destructive mob against the Dambulla Mosque.
Monday, 02 April 2012 01:50
By Hameed Abdul Karim
According to Western public discourse there are two types of Muslim. One is a ‘fundamentalist’ the other is a ‘moderate’ Muslim. The former is one who wants to be independent from Western hegemony and the latter is one who cozies up to the Western agenda, wittingly or unwittingly. But now there is a new kid on the block. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Rand Corporation Muslim. ‘Who the heck is he’, you might ask and quite rightly so. Well, for starters he or she is a Muslim or, more appropriately, one who wears the ‘Muslim’ name tag and one who is trained and financed by America’s Rand Corporation to dilute Islam to a point where its adherents will no longer be a stumbling block to the empire’s plans for total world hegemony. And Manzoor Ahamed, writing under the title ‘China, Pakistan and the Iranian Bomb’ (Ceylon Today’ Sat. 24 March, 2012) fits the description of a ‘Rand Muslim’ like a glove going by his vilification of Pakistan’s much maligned nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan who gave his country its ‘Islamic bomb’.