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.”
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.