{"id":109290,"date":"2020-12-02T18:08:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T01:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=109290"},"modified":"2020-12-02T18:08:54","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T01:08:54","slug":"politics-as-usual-no-remedy-for-islamic-extremism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/12\/02\/politics-as-usual-no-remedy-for-islamic-extremism\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics as usual no remedy for Islamic extremism"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

A\nheated exchange took place in parliament a couple of days ago (November 26 or\n27) about the so-called Batticaloa Sharia University between Opposition MP\nKavinda Jayawardane of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and Minister of\nEducation Prof. G.L. Peiris MP (SLPP), as reported on Hiru TV. Following is a\nrough and ready verbatim translation of the dialogue with essential\nclarifications in parentheses (It is subject to the usual limitations of a\ntranslation, though):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KJ:- The\nEaster (Sunday) attacks killed more than 350 of our Catholic people and left\nmore than  500 physically disabled to this day. Terrorist Saharan carried out those attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Former\n(Eastern Province) Governor Hisbullah had direct relations with this terrorist.\nEven  the chairman of the presidential commission of inquiry (on the\nEaster attacks) said, in relation to this governor, that the legal process\ninitiated concerning this university was unlawful. You, as the then Opposition,\nsaid before the presidential election, that this Sharia university will be\ntaken   over by the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GL:- There\u2019s\nno final decision on that (subject). We will not let it exist as a private\ninstitution. I say   this to the Hon. Member very emphatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KJ:-  This\nuniversity\u2019s curriculum includes Sharia Law as a course component. Unless it is\nbrought under government control, this country\u2019s innocent children will be\ntaught the Sharia with extremist ideologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GL:- Before\n2015, Hon. Member, there was a clear strategy to handle the problem. We did\nnot  allow the Sharia law to sow dissension, hatred on the pretext of\nteaching various courses.  After 2015, they (the Yahapalana\nadministration) even let foreign lecturers come into the country without\nchecking on their  past; they were given the \u2018visa on arrival\u2019 (facility)\nat the airport. We didn\u2019t do so in our time. The Yahapalanaya government gave\ncarte blanche to anyone (any Tom, Dick or Harry) to come and teach any course\nat  any place at any time. We are reaping what you sowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KJ:-  Please\ntell the House whether this government is going to allow the teaching of the\nSharia Law in this country or not? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GL:- Sharia\nor anything else, we\u2019ll see whether it is in conformity with the\nConstitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nwill find out who created this. It is a problem that you passed on to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KJ:- Don\u2019t\ntry to pass the buck. You are in power now. During the presidential election,\nyou said clearly\nthat you will not allow extremism to raise its head; that you will not allow\nSharia to be\ntaught; that those who caused abortions will be taken to court; that Dr\nShihabdeen will be\nhanged. But now you\u2019ve forgotten about Shafi Shihabdeen; you\u2019ve forgotten\nabout Sharia;\nyou\u2019ve forgotten about the Batticaloa Campus. In regard to the Easter\nSunday attacks,\nofficials are being hunted; but the persons who taught the bombers the\nterrorist ideology\nand induced the terrorist mindset (that drove them) are left alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GL:- All\nthese things were done to obtain the support of certain extremist groups for\nachieving narrow ends. That is the truth. It is now that the evil consequences\n(of those actions) are becoming obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(End\nof the translation)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First\nof all, I beg that Professor Peiris and Dr Jayawardane please bear with me for\ntaking the liberty of subjecting your parliamentary conversation to a kind of\ndispassionate critical analysis, that, I hope, will contribute what little it\nmay to the emerging trend of constructive, though usually hostile, criticism in\nthe social media directed at the speeches and actions of our MPs both inside\nand outside the House. Personally, I have great respect for both: the senior\none is reaching the summit of an illustrious career as a celebrated legal\nstudies academic and as an experienced parliamentarian; the junior one,\nprofessionally a medical practitioner like his late father the then UNP\u2019s \nnationalist-leaning Dr Jayalath Jayawardane, is just starting what is\ninvariably going to be a distinguished political career, given the potential he\nhas already shown. No personal disrespect, humiliation, or offence towards\neither is intended by the following opinion, offered for what it is worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MP\nJayawardane  may be exaggerating things on the spur of the moment when he\nsays that more than 350 Catholics were killed in the Easter bombings (Of\ncourse, there\u2019s no gainsaying the fact that even one killed is too many) and\nwhen he talks about somebody\u2019s alleged past threat to hang someone. Be that as\nit may, as a concerned Sri Lankan, I found the exchange between the two\nHonourable Members in the august Assembly very depressing in these critical\ntimes. My impression was that both speakers were ignorant of, or indifferent\nto, the crucial matter they were, somewhat implicitly, arguing about: how to\ndeal with the emerging Islamist threat to Sri Lanka, which is behind the\nsimmering controversies including the Batticaloa Sharia University issue,\nHizbulah\u2019s connection with it, and complaints that Dr Shafi Shihabdeen had performed non-consensual\ntubal sterilisations on Sinhalese mothers during a flaunted record number of\ncaesarean section operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To MP Jayawardane\u2019s question whether the government\nwas going to bring the Batticaloa Sharia University under government control,\nMinister Peiris assured him that though no decision had been arrived at\nregarding that, it will not be allowed to exist as a private institution. This\ncould mean that the college will not be allowed to continue at all (which is\nunlikely) or it will be assigned to the state university system. However, this\nis part of the unimaginably thorny issue of what to do about the madrasas that\nhave mushroomed around the country. Neither speaker seems to have the faintest\nidea about the bigger picture. Obviously, Peiris is bluffing and Jayawardane is\ntrying to call his bluff, though both of them are equally ignorant of the real\nproblem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jayawardane is asking whether the government is\ngoing to allow the teaching of the Sharia Law. Actually, it is a non-question.\nThere is no question of allowing or not allowing the teaching of Sharia for it\nis an essential part of Islam. The Arabic word sharia means the \u2018way\u2019.\nGoogle says Sharia \u2018is more accurately understood as referring to wide-ranging\nmoral and broad ethical principles drawn from the Quran and the practices and\nsayings (hadith) of Prophet Muhammad\u2019. In my opinion, it parallels the Noble\nEightfold Path in Buddhism. Of course, the two things are like chalk and cheese\nor apples and oranges. The issue is whether certain aspects of Sharia law (such\nas death for blasphemy, apostacy, and amputation for stealing) can be\nimplemented in a democratically governed non-Muslim majority country like Sri\nLanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Peiris maintains that, before 2015, extremist Islamic\nactivism was kept under control, and that the present troubles  are the\nresult of the wrong attitude of the Yahapalanaya to the problem. I\u2019m afraid it\nis not at all true to say that the pre-2015 government did anything special to\ncontain Islamic fundamentalism; Peiris is just being economical with the truth.\nRishad, Hakeem, Hizbullah, Salley, etc pursued their careers in those halcyon\ndays, as \u2018powerful allies\u2019 of president Mahinda Rajapaksa while underground\nIslamic extremist activities were going on, despite the vocal agitations of the\nmonks, which fell on deaf ears. The above named Muslim politicians cannot be\ndescribed as terrorists or terrorist backers; but it is quite possible, going\nby what is being revealed during investigations, that they were abused as a\nprotective phalanx by the Jihadists including suicide bomber Zahran Hashim\nunbeknown to those popular personages. Such fancied exoneration of these\nworthies  may be too charitable for them. In the public eye, they are more\nvulnerable to the charge of having been willfully involved in a symbiotic\nrelationship with terrorists. If they are sincere, they need to do something\nmeaningful to contain Islamic extremism within the Muslim community itself,\nwithout palming it off entirely onto the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it looks like what happened in the past is\nhappening today, despite the availability of young Muslim leaders, both in\nparliament and outside, who think out of the box as president Gotabaya\nRajapaksa correctly insists on doing. MP Jayawardane, probably unknowingly,\nforced Minister Peiris to admit what is most likely to be the truth, which\napplies to politicians of both the main parties\/their new manifestations: \u2018All these things were done\nto obtain the support of certain extremist groups for achieving narrow ends.\nThat is the truth. It is now that the evil consequences (of those actions) are\nbecoming obvious.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying\nto please veiled opportunists is no way to tackle the Islamist problem because\nthey, like the few mentally unhinged terrorists, are actually in a really\ninsignificant minority. Such a policy can easily demoralize the educated young\nMuslim leaders who are braving the wrath of a few lawless terrorists apparently\nruling the roost within that community evading detection under the radar of the\nsecurity agencies. Jihadist extremists use fear as a weapon. Despite this,\nincreasing numbers of young Muslim women are now publicly speaking up against\nunwarranted impositions on them regarding their dress, choice of marriage\npartners, socialization with members of the opposite sex, and so on in the name\nof religion as decided by a few conservative Muslim males. It is a fact that\ngrowing numbers of young Muslims and Tamils of both sexes are establishing\nclose political links with their Sinhalese counterparts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incidentally,\nthe spat between state minister of wildlife protection Wimalaweera Dissanayake,\nSLFP MP, and some officials of the wildlife department, no doubt, brought an\nunpleasant sense of deja vu to most of us who were familiar with the escapades\nof a now discredited and defeated former MP from Kelaniya. Whatever the truth\nat the centre of the episode, Dissanayake clearly failed to behave as he should\nhave. There appears to be some nefarious activity indulged in by some crooks in\nthat locality who may have won the misplaced confidence of the deputy minister.\nThis impression was reinforced by some well known young activist monks who\nsymbolically pulled down an unauthorised shed built to shelter cows in the\nforest reserve; the monks complained that criminal elements were continuing\ntheir activities in that place rich with ancient archaeological remains in\nspite of the relevant authorities having been warned about the matter before.\nAdding insult to injury, MP Roshan Ranasinghe of the SLFP has also castigated\nthe wildlife officers.  This cannot be approved of either. There may be a\nfew of them who are guilty of various offences, but indiscriminately condemning\ngovernment functionaries is a bad thing. We know how dedicatedly our doctors,\nnurses, police and army officers execute their duties in trying to control the\nCovid-19 pandemic situation; they are doing that in the name of the country,\nmost of them inspired by the example of the new president, expecting no public\nplaudits unlike most politicians. Had Gotabaya not been there, some of these\npoliticians would not have been elected to parliament. They are obstructing the\npresident\u2019s action plan. It is clearly a national crime for any politician to\ndo or say anything that is likely to demoralize even a single dutiful public\nservant.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nParliament or the House of Representatives is traditionally described as \u2018august\u2019\nand the elected members who meet there to legislate as \u2018honourable\u2019. These are\nformal words that are ceremonially used, but they are not devoid of serious\nmeaning. The augustness of the Parliament as the supreme legislature of the\ncountry and the honourableness of the Members of Parliament as the elected\nlegislators are inviolable, though the persons who man the institution from\ntime to time may or may not be really worthy of the epithet \u2018Honourable\u2019.\n\u2018August\u2019 in this context means dignified, distinguished, imposing, stately,\nsolemn, etc; the opposite qualities include frivolous, silly, undignified, and\nso on. \u2018Honourable\u2019 has the sense of bringing or deserving respect, honest,\nmoral, ethical, principled, righteous, etc.  Antonyms of the word are dishonourable,\ndespicable, crooked, deplorable, and similar negatives. Having said this, I\nwould like to finally add that it is a reason for consolation for us that our\nMPs do preserve their personal dignity and the solemness of the institution\nthat they man up, with a few exceptions, that too, under pressure of\ncircumstances. Occasional unparliamentary behaviour among members is what\nprevails in legislatures in many democracies around the world, and that is due\nto fallible human nature.  Of course, human fallibility is no excuse for\npeople\u2019s representatives to resort to dishonourable conduct in an august body\nlike the parliament.    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala A heated exchange took place in parliament a couple of days ago (November 26 or 27) about the so-called Batticaloa Sharia University between Opposition MP Kavinda Jayawardane of the Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and Minister of Education Prof. G.L. Peiris MP (SLPP), as reported on Hiru TV. Following is a rough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109290\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}