Dr. Daya Hewapathirane    

There are ample historic records which describe vividly the atrocities committed by Muslims against millions of Buddhists in several countries. Their criminality has not subsided despite their living among other religions in different countries. Buddhists have been the most victimized and harassed religious community in the world, owing to actions of Muslims guided by their theistic traditions and beliefs. Buddhists cannot consider Islam as a religion of compassion and peace. Those professing Islam have been the biggest enemies of Buddhists and Buddhism throughout history.  Before the onslaught of Islam, Buddhism was the religion of almost the whole of Asia – ancient countries/regions such as Bactria, Parthia, Afghanistan, Gandhar, Chinese Turkestan, along with Tibet and Inner Mongolia were Buddhist nations that formed almost the whole of the Asian continent. Buddhism was the dominant religion of the people of this vast area of the Asian continent. Islam destroyed and eliminated Buddhism from almost all these countries.

As far back as in the 10th century, as a result of the Muslim invasion of what is modern day Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, the Buddhist religion which formed the basis of life of the people of this part of the world, was viciously wiped out in an act of virtual genocide. Muslim terror and atrocities have inflicted severe damage to Buddhism in many Asian countries, some of which were exclusively Buddhist at one stage in their histories. In some Asian countries indigenous Buddhist spiritual traditions have been severely weakened by decades of persecution. It is a well-known fact that Buddhism disappeared from India under the sword of Islam. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the great Indian Buddhist leader said that there is absolutely no doubt that the fall of Buddhism in India was due to the invasions of the Musalmans or the adherents of Islam. For about five hundred years, from the 13^th to 17^th centuries, most parts of South Asia especially the Indian subcontinent was under Muslim rule. During this period, over 50 million Buddhists and Hindus were massacred by Islamists in greater India which in the past included the present India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. 

The destruction of the colossal Afghan Bahmian Buddha statues by fanatic Muslims, is not the first destruction resulting from Muslim fundamentalism. In the 12^th century, Nalanda, the world’s first university, an illustrious Buddhist university located near ancient Rajagaha in Bihar, established in the 5^th century, was demolished by Muslim fanatics. It flourished for seven centuries as one of the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world, attracting scholars from distant countries including China.  Muslims burnt down its priceless library and mercilessly killed its scholars including Buddhist scholar monks. Islam destroyed Buddhist sites not only in India but wherever it went. Those conversant with global affairs, are aware of the fact that, especially in recent years, Muslims have become a curse to humanity, resorting to violent and unethical means of serving their religious ends, or to ‘resolve’ their obsessive religion-based issues and self-created problems.  Peace and harmony in many countries in the East and West have been impaired greatly owing to unwholesome actions of Muslim religious fanatics. In recent decades Muslim extremism and violence against Buddhists were well evident in Myanmar, Southern Thailand and Bangladesh.

During the last few decades, Muslims have gained increased strength in Sri Lanka increased economic power largely owing to favorable opportunities and privileges made available to them, including local political patronage. In recent decades, all prominent political leaders of Sri Lanka, have offered them undue patronage and privileges especially in view of expanding their vote-base, and to serve their political self-interests.

Madrasas

In recent decades, Muslims of Sri Lanka have received increased tangible and moral support from Muslim Middle Eastern countries to promote Islamic religious ideology in Sri Lanka. This led to the establishment of the so-called madrasas, initially in predominantly Muslim areas and later elsewhere in the country. Madrasas are exclusively Muslim schools funded by Muslim countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, to promote fundamentals of Islam, Islamic Sharia law and the Wahhabi form of Islam. Madrasas as educational institutions are said to offer instructions in Islamic subjects including but not limited to the Quran. It also includes Jurisprudence or figh” and Muslim law or Sharia Law and the teaching and practice of sufi” which encompasses Islamic mysticism. If Muslim Sharia law is given official recognition by means of registering Madrasas as NGOs, it can result in serious legal problems in the future. There can be only one law in our country and that is a secular law which is applicable to all citizens irrespective of their ethnicity or religious affiliations. There is no need to introduce any other law, especially religious law such as Muslim Sharia Law, and cause problems in our country.  It is known that Muslim Madrasas work in collaboration with other foreign Muslim organizations and Madrasas in providing vocational training for Muslim youth.

In these madrasas, the younger generation of Muslims are being brainwashed with extremist Islamic fundamentalism. It is reported that Madrasas provide Islamic extremism and militancy and are a recruiting ground for terrorism. It is widely reported that some Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders have obtained radical political views at Madrasas. Some Madrasas are recorded to be promoting a militant form of Islam and teach and train Muslim students to fight non-believers and stand against the moral standards of non-Muslim societies. The suicide bombers involved in the July 2005 London terror attack are said to have spent time in Pakistani Madrasas.  The so-called fundamentals of ‘Islam’ that are widely propagated in madrasas have serious negative implications as far as the national culture and the rule of law of the country are concerned. It is noteworthy that Madrasas have been banned in several non-Muslim countries. In recent years, Saudi Arabia is funding the establishment of a massive Muslim university in Eastern Sri Lanka in order to promote Islamic religious ideology.

In some countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, Muslims are among the most deprived communities in terms of education and therefore establishment of certain type of Madrasas for basic educational purposes has become necessary and most people find them to be affordable as compared to other educational institutions in these countries. This is not the case in Sri Lanka where there is no educational deprivation or backwardness as far as the Muslims are concerned. In fact, our school system is open to all Muslims if they wish to attend them, and there are many Muslim students attending regular schools in Sri Lanka. Also, there are exclusively Muslim national schools in Sri Lanka and importantly, most international schools in the country are owned and operated by Muslims where Muslim students predominate. This divisive spirit of Muslims is owing to the influence of Islamic teachings to keep away from non-Muslims who are considered as inferior to Muslims. The Koran forbids Muslims to closely associate non-Muslims. Islam has dualistic ethics with one rule for Muslims and one rule for non-believers and there is no exception to this rule. Why do Muslims cause disharmony and bring about conflicts and confrontational situations in all societies they infiltrate? Why?  Buddhists need to be vigilant and need to initiate actions against the abuse of privileges, aggression and misdemeanor by Muslims.

Their new male and female attire display their desire to look different and to be exclusive and separate from the nation’s mainstream. This polarization tendency of the Islamic community is self-imposed. It is not because they feel marginalized. The so called Burqa outfit or the head covering of Muslim women have been banned in many countries including China, France, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Morocco, Tajikistan, Latvia, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Gabon. the Canadian province of Quebec and finally in Sri Lanka as well after the Muslim violence in April 2019, on Easter Sunday. 

Inciting Violence Against Sri Lankan Buddhists

It was not long ago that Islamic fundamentalists and armed Muslim extremists were inciting violence against legitimate Buddhist activities in the Pottuvil region. Muslims were forcibly encroaching upon land that rightfully belonged to Buddhist temples on the southeast coast and demolished Buddhist archeological sites in the East. Also, the Sri Lanka Muslims Congress and several Islamic groups of our country had the impudence to oppose the construction of Buddha’s statues on the island’s southeastern coastal areas which contain Buddhist historic monuments and important archeological remains which are part of the cultural wealth of the nation. There were protests and demonstrations by Buddhists including many Buddhist monks, urging the Government to crack down on anti-Buddhist activities of Muslim extremists. In a memorandum submitted to the Buddha Sasana Ministry the protesters cited how the Islamic fundamentalists and armed Muslim extremists were inciting violence against legitimate Buddhist activities in the Pottuvil region. According to the Memorandum, the Muslims are forcibly taking land that rightfully belongs to Buddhist temples on the southeast coast. 

                                                                                                                                         Need to Protect Cultural Traditions of the Nation

As a nation with a historic cultural tradition that extends to over 2200 years, where freedom, compassion, tolerance and accommodation of people of all faiths and ethnicities have been the founding principles, it is necessary that we as a nation take necessary steps to protect and preserve these noble and wholesome cultural traditions. We cannot allow them to be undermined under any circumstances.

Those deeply concerned about the need to preserve the quality and character of our nation, built on a sound Buddhist spiritual foundation, should be deeply grateful  to patriotic organizations such as the Bodu Bala Sena among several others countrywide, for their bold and commendable initiatives to bring about increased awareness on the deceitful under-handed activities of extremist Muslims to undermine the Buddhist identity of the nation and to propagate archaic and fanatic Muslim fundamentalist customs and lifestyles in the country that are inconsistent with and contradictory to the Buddhist norms and principles upon which our nation is founded.   

Rapid Increase of Wahhabi Influence

Sufism has been for centuries, the predominant form of Islam in Sri Lanka. It was a peaceful form of Islam which enabled cordial relations with people of other faiths. Wahhabi Jihadism is an extremist, fundamentalist form of Islam followed in Saudi Arabia. Oil rich Saudi Arabia began to influence Sri Lanka’s Sufi adherents starting in the 1970′s. With increased funding by the Saudi Arabia with their petro dollars, and other forms of penetration, the Wahhabi followers have increased in Sri Lanka during recent decades. This was clearly evident in the Eastern province. Wahhabis claim that the Sufis or the moderate Sri Lankan Muslims are ignorant of the basic teachings and practices in Islam. They claim to be the real scholars of Islam. This has led to sectarian clashes among peace loving Sri Lankan Muslims. There appears to be an increasing trend in this unruly behaviour pattern of some sections of the Muslim community, in the East and elsewhere where they predominate. It is a fact that there is a rising trend of Wahhabi Jihadism in Sri Lanka. Wahhabi fundamentalism has advanced so quickly in Sri Lanka partly because the House of Saud has financed the building of many madrasas and Mosques.

                                                                                                                                     Scholarships are offered to Muslim youths to go to Wahhabi institutions in Saudi Arabia and Egypt with the condition that those who complete their Wahhabi studies should return to Sri Lanka and propagate Wahhabism. This is happening extensively. Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia spends 87 billion US dollar per year to spread Wahhabism world-wide. Wahhabis are trying to take the peaceful Islamic community in Sri Lanka down the path of extremism and violence. The Wahhabis have already created deep divisions in among Sri Lankan Muslims and have formed gangs that intimidate moderate Muslims who speak out against Wahhabi fanatics. Like the Christian fundamentalist groups using NGOs to convert innocent poor families to Christianity, Wahhabis help poor Muslim families by providing cash and other material benefits to convert them to their cult. Wahhabis appear to be using Sri Lankan Government agencies to propagate Wahhabi activities.

During the last two decades, many Sri Lankan Muslims both male and female, found employment in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries and were strongly influenced by Wahhabism. It is a fact that there has been a significant increase of Wahhabi followers in Sri Lanka in recent years and this trend is clear in the Eastern and Northwestern provinces. Also, many young Sri Lankan Muslims were awarded scholarships by Saudi Arabia to study Wahhabism in Saudi universities. Upon their return to Sri Lanka they undertook in an organized manner the propagation of the ideology of Wahhabism. They were instrumental in the establishment of numerous madrasas where young Muslims were subject to various forms of brainwashing on Wahhabism including the jihad approach. This Islamic fundamentalism brought about by Wahhabism began to cause communal polarisation in Sri Lanka, like in all other southern Asian countries. In India, the trend of increasing radicalisation of Indian Muslims owing to Wahhabism has become a serious national security issue. The growth of radical Islamist streams became visible only in the past two decades. Wahhabism calls for Jihad, or war against infidels, or non-believers of Islam

Wahhabism is a new politico-religious movement that has been sweeping the predominantly Muslim occupied areas of the country such as the Eastern and Northwestern provinces of Sri Lanka. Their overall objective is to propagate the movement throughout Sri Lanka and has raced ahead and taken control of the Jihadist and Al Fatah groups in Sri Lanka under their wings. Through the lavish inflow of Saudi money into Sri Lanka Wahhabis has overtaken other Islamic organizations by threats, intimidation, and coercion. Wahhabism has been encroaching Sri Lanka without any form of resistance from the governments of the day. Operating through a movement called Thawheed hugely funded by Saudi Arabian sources, and through NGOs such as Al Haj Adul Jawad Alim Valiyullah Trust, Wahhabis established itself fully in Sri Lanka. They have established many new mosques and madrasas” in many locations’ Sri Lanka. Saudi agents have successfully penetrated Sri Lankan Muslims social fabric and have managed to defeat the Sufism in their game. Due to the training afforded by the House of Saud now the Wahhabis have prevailed over the Sufis. The Muslims in Sri Lanka have been subdued due to the Wahhabi influence while Buddhists have been agitating for the release of Rizana Naffek – teenage housemaid from Muthur who was sentenced to death by a Wahhabi Sharia Court in Saudi Arabia.

Wahhabism in Sri Lanka is headquartered in Kattankudi is a new politico-religious movement that is sweeping the Eastern province of Sri Lanka with more than sixty Muslim Wahhabi organizations helping in propagating the movement throughout Sri Lanka and has raced ahead and taken control of the Jihadist and Al Fatah groups in Sri Lanka under their wings. Wahhabism is imported and planted in the midst of peace-loving Muslims in Sri Lanka, mostly through the lavish inflow of Saudi money pumped into Sri Lanka has overtaken other Islamic organizations by threats, intimidation and coercion. Clashes between Sufis and Wahhabi Muslims in Kattankudi and Oddamavadi have been regular occurrence in the past few decades. Many homes of Sufi followers were burnt down by Wahhabi Jihadists in Kattankudi during similar clashes occurred in October 2004. In Kattankudi, the hatred between Wahhabis and Sufis has widened in the last few years and has grown in intensity, left many injured, and caused damage to several houses and vehicles.  

All the ‘Islamist’ terror attacks in South Asia including in Mumbai, Afghanistan and Pakistan had the hallmarks of Wahhabism. Wahhabi Jihadists are blinded by faith to believe that they have the mandate of Allah to rid the world of ‘infidels’ and ‘heretics. Until this Wahhabism is thoroughly discredited, combating Wahhabi terrorism is impossible. Since the Western countries subterfuge to destabilise Sri Lanka, by surreptitiously supporting the LTTE failed, now the Western countries will promote Wahhabi Jihadism to cause strife and trouble to destabilize Sri Lanka. Wahhabi followers – al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups – have caused untold misery in several countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka appears to be their next target. The Sri Lankan government must take immediate strict measures to control Wahhabi organizations and ban them. Wahhabis have already built several illegal Mosques in Sri Lanka using Saudi Arabia’s petro dollar. The overwhelming peace loving, tolerant and intensely patriotic Muslims of Sri Lanka would extend their support to the government in this matter. As the Wahhabis are even capable of starting ethnic riots between the peaceful Sinhala people and the Muslims, the Sri Lankan government must not be lethargic on this matter. The Government authorities must investigate every Wahhabi school and propagandist in the Eastern Province to make sure they are not preaching things that are inimical to Sri Lanka. Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other Wahhabi terrorist groups. Saudi Arabia spends 87 billion US dollar per year to spread Wahhabism world-wide. Wahhabis have infiltrated Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). Almost all the participants and staffers in the Muslim section of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation are Wahabis and use the State radio to propagate Wahhabism. Not only Wahhabis run private unlicensed radio stations in the Eastern Province, also armed Wahhabis often attack mosques and leaders of the Sufi sect.

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane