{"id":110343,"date":"2021-01-03T17:09:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T00:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110343"},"modified":"2021-01-03T17:15:53","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T00:15:53","slug":"on-rohana-r-wasalas-even-you-minister-ali-sabry-lankaweb-01-01-21-as-given-below","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/03\/on-rohana-r-wasalas-even-you-minister-ali-sabry-lankaweb-01-01-21-as-given-below\/","title":{"rendered":"On Rohana R. Wasala\u2019s \u201cEven you, Minister Ali Sabry? LankaWeb – 01\/01\/21) as given below."},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara. <\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

This is an article that should be\nseriously read, understood, chewed and digested and corrective measures taken immediately\nby the President, Prime Minister, the entire Cabinet first, and second by all\nthe MPP in Parliament including those supporting burial of Muslim Covid 19 corpses.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it is better for all who\ncannot agree with the writer\u2019s discourse should refrain from continuing in\npolitics in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even you,\nMinister Ali Sabry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posted on December 31st, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A HAPPY PEACEFUL PROSPEROUS HEALTHY\nNEW YEAR TO ALL LANKAWEB READERS INCLUDING THOSE WHO HOLD CONTRARY VIEWS TO\nMINE!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media secretary Viraj Abeysinghe of\nthe Ministry of Health has issued a press statement warning against spreading\nfalse information concocted by certain politicians and websites regarding the\nsubject of whether to bury or burn the bodies of persons who have succumbed to\nthe COVID-19 infection (lankacnews-Sinhala\/December 28, 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It notifies that the Ministry is\nturning its attention to some \u2018politically motivated fake news\u2019 stories\nfeaturing powerful politicians connected with the government. The statement\nfurther says that for the time being (daenata) cremation alone is done on the\ninstructions of all the expert reports received by the Ministry so far. Very\nmuch the same news was carried in Hiru TV News (9:55 pm\/December 27, 2020).\nLet\u2019s hope that this is signalling an end to needlessly prolonged\ndilly-dallying on the part of the authorities about an issue where\nevidence-based science, not a particular religion out of the many, ought  to have the last word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewed recently by two You Tube\nchannels (Hari TV\/Lahiru Mudalige\/December 16 and Konara Vlogs\/Avishka\nKonara\/December 23) Ali Sabry PC, Minister of Justice, stressed that his\nstruggle is to build bridges rather than walls between the communities. For over eight months now he has been\nadvocating burial of bodies of Muslims who have died of Covid-19 ignoring the\ndecree of the competent authority, the DHS (Director of Health Services). <\/strong>The\nDHS is acting on the advice of the local experts who know best what is suitable\nfor our country in the current context, i.e., cremation. The reputed lawyer was the legal consultant of (current president)\nGotabaya Rajapaksa at least for fifteen years from the latter\u2019s defence\nsecretary days; he has successfully defended the latter against false charges\nof various kinds fabricated by political opponents.<\/strong> Sabry\u2019s aim of\nestablishing intercommunal harmony is laudable, and he may be sincere in his\nefforts in that direction, but how sincere is yet to be demonstrated. This is\nbecause it is puzzling that he\nrepeatedly warns that young Muslims are likely to be pushed towards extremism\nby what they\u2019d perceive as a denial of their right to freedom of religion if\nthe health authorities do not allow the burial of bodies of Muslims claimed by\nCovid-19<\/strong>. His totally senseless stand on the sensitive issue (that must be\nleft for science, but not religion, to resolve) is likely to give a fillip to\nextremists and other miscreants opposed to the government to create trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the first interview mentioned\nabove, Ali Sabry made the patently false\nclaim that the Aluthgama and Digana incidents drove young Muslims to extremism,\nwh<\/strong>ereas the truth was the reverse of that. (These incidents must be\ninvestigated even belatedly to discover the factual situation that then\nobtained. The disastrous policy of political correctness that led to the\nsubmergence of the truth on those occasions then seems to be at work once\nagain.) Sabry referred to how the UK\nresponded to incidents of Islamic extremist violence as a model to follow in\ndealing with the same problem in Sri Lanka: t<\/strong>he UK government reached out\nto the mainstream Muslim minority and acted to win their confidence and support\nin order to contain Islamic extremism in that country. He implies that Sri Lanka must do the same (as if Sri Lanka has not\nbeen doing exactly that for centuries) or \u2018we must kill all Muslims and put\nthem into the sea!\u2019 (The violent imagery in his speech is an indication of the\ncommotion in his own mind resulting from his subliminal awareness of guilt as\nhe feels forced to lie in this situation for political expediency within his\nown community<\/strong>. He probably fears violent retaliation from extremists for\nwhat they might interpret as collusion with infidels in attacking Islam.) He\u2019s been sounding the warning mentioned\nabove since early April 2020. <\/strong>He believes that he is undergoing a sort of\npublic trial by being blamed by both the Muslim community on the one hand who\nfeel aggrieved by the compulsory cremation rule imposed on all citizens by the\nhealth authorities for the safe disposal of bodies of Covid-19 victims and the\nelectorally successful nationalist faction on the other led by the monks, who\ninsist that the rule should not be relaxed to satisfy the whims of one\nparticular group of people thereby endangering the lives of the whole\npopulation through the possible release of the still inadequately understood\nnovel coronavirus from the interred bodies to the country\u2019s water table, which,\nin many places in Sri Lanka, is not very deep, and lies close to the surface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali Sabry should  know better than most that there has been no\nlack of reaching out to the mainstream Muslim minority either by the majority\ncommunity or by the successive governments. Muslims as a community are mainly\nengaged in business. Seventy-five per cent of their customer base comprises\nSinhalese, making it possib;e for Muslim businesses thrive normally, though\nthere\u2019s been just condemnation, among the citizenry including the majority\nSinhalese, of worsening Islamist extremism in recent years. Be that as it may, it is not simply because Sabry has served\npresident Gotabaya in the past as his implicitly trusted personal legal service\nprovider that he was made a national list MP by the SLPP and honoured and\nempowered with such a very important key portfolio<\/strong>. It is certain that\nGotabaya Rajapaksa believes in the Buddhist teaching that \u2018a trustworthy person\nis the best kinsman\u2019, but he is the last to allow personal relationships or\npersonal prejudices to sway governance decisions improperly that affect the\nnational interest (or at least that is what people still believe about\nGotabaya). \u2018One country One law\u2019 was the rallying cry that inspired patriotic\nSri Lankans at both the presidential and parliamentary elections to vote for\nthe SLPP, which won with the largest margins. As minister of justice Sabry has been entrusted with the task of\nsupervising the making of a new constitution <\/strong>that is designed to achieve\nthat epoch making change (namely, One Country, One Law) among other things.\nGotabaya made no bones about the fact that he won the presidency almost\nexclusively on the strength of Sinhalese votes; most Muslims and Tamils chose\nnot to respond positively to his call for support at the presidential election.\nHis bluntness is a reflection of his characteristic candour, which has not been\ncompromised by the hypocrisy of political correctness, his older brother\u2019s\nunfailing weapon, that fails more often than succeeds.  But Gotabaya holds no grudge against those\nwho rejected him, for in the same breath president elect Gotabaya said that he\nwas elected as president of all the citizens of the country and that he would\nserve in that post without discriminating against any citizen. There is no\ndoubt about the fact that he means what he says. By appointing Ali Sabry to the\nall important post of Minister of Justice, the president incidentally reassured\nthe Muslims that he will not exclude them from his vision of prosperity and\nsplendour for the nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ali\nSabry  has not budged an inch from his\noriginal unqualified opposition to the mandatory burning of bodies of Muslim\nvictims of Covid-19 over which he expressed his disappointment in a Facebook\npost mentioned in an Al Jazeera news report\/April 3, 2020, with the\nauthorities\u2019 decision which, he alleged, ignored the WHO guidelines that allow\nboth burial and cremation<\/strong>. Are we to believe that our experts overlook WHO guidelines\nwithout a rational explanation? Sabry\ndeliberately ignores the various reservations that clearly qualify the WHO\nguidelines, leaving the authorised specialists of any member country to modify\nthose recommendations<\/strong> as appropriate for local conditions and ground\nrealities. The basic assumption that he\nseems to be operating on, regarding the burial problem, is wrong. For all\nintents and purposes, he pretends to wrongly believe that the health\nauthorities insist on making no exception for Muslim dead in this case because\nthat is what the monks want<\/strong>.  Ali\nSabry is the last person that rational people would expect to demand that\nMuslims should be allowed to bury their loved ones dead from the novel\ncoronavirus while cremation is the only method legally prescribed by the\nDirector of Health Services (DHS). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not a happy thing to say\nabout arguably the most important and powerful minister in the cabinet, being\nthe closest companion of the president, next to the prime minister, who is the\npresident\u2019s own brother. It is\ninconceivable how Ali Sabry is capable of (no doubt unintentionally) justifying\nthe berserk behaviour of some virus-infected Muslims (as seen in their show of insubordination,\nnoncooperation, physical harassment of the health workers trying to help them\nincluding spitting at them (with the malicious intention of spreading the\ninfection); cases were reported of some Covid-19 positive tested individuals\nspitting out of the windows of buses carrying them to quarantine centres in\nvicious attempts to spread dreaded infection)<\/strong>. Such demonstration of\nunprovoked anger is based on the false pretext of alleged discrimination\nagainst them by the government in the matter of mandatory cremation of Corona\ndead as prescribed by the responsible health experts to prevent the escape of\nthe deadly virus with many unknowns into the environment. The virus is no\nrespecter of people\u2019s religious sensitivities. If the Director of Health determines\nthat cremation is the only option for Sri Lanka in the current emergency,\ncitizens are obliged to accept that and act accordingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why doesn\u2019t Ali Sabry make an effort\nto explain to the agitating Muslims and to the misinformed Muslim world in general,\nwho have never been enemies of Sri Lanka, that this blown-out-of-proportion\ncontroversy over the burial or cremation issue has nothing to do with the monks or the government or the health\nauthorities or the army and police officers (the last mentioned having been\nco-opted into the Covid containment operation only as ancillary personnel\nemployed for a strictly logistical purpose to serve under the director of\nhealth services, DHS, the government appointed competent authority who gives\nleadership to the whole enterprise, which involves every single citizen of the\ncountry<\/strong>). The cremation imperative is not an arbitrary decision taken by\nthe government to spite the Muslim minority under pressure from the monks as\nmisleadingly suggested by the hostile foreign NGO elements, Islamists, a\nhandful of misguided Muslims, and the irresponsible SJB-led opposition. The DHS\nis not acting capriciously either; his recommendations are based on a\nscientific rationale collectively defined by a group of experts belonging to a\nnumber of different relevant fields of study in the best interest of all\nresident Sri Lankans and foreign visitors.\nAli Sabry seems to be more concerned about remaining in the good books of the\nhandful of Islamists and their sympathisers than the feelings of the\nninety-five per cent of the population who are against them<\/strong>. Is he in the\nthrall of the five percent? Or could it be the case that Ali Sabry needs to be\nsaved from disguised Islamist apologists and opportunistic schemers, who are at\npresent busy striking while the iron is hot? But one thing is clear: The goal of One Country One Law will be a\nnon-starter so long as Ali Sabry remains Minister of Justice. That is my\nopinion for what it is worth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MY comments,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If \nwhat Rohana has stated are correct Ali Sabry cannot and should not\ncontinue as a Cabinet Minister in this government any longer, as his stance had\nbeen  running counter to that of the\nPresident and the Government since he had been making statements and giving\ninterviews to media contrary to the \nGovernment\u2019s  policy of \u2018One\nCountry One Law. The gist of Rohana\u2019s article clearly demonstrates that Ali\nSabry  is trekking a different path from\nthat of the Government although he is supposed to be an eminent Presidential\nCouncil he appears to have clearly violated the principle of collective\nresponsibility which is a cardinal principle of Cabinet Government. The reason\nfor this peculiar behavior I think is his inclination first to think and act like\na Muslim though he speaks fluent Sinhala even better than a native Sinhala man.\nFrom the analysis of Rohana I also think he plays the role of Dr. Jekil and\nHide. (referring to persons with an unpredictably dual nature: outwardly good,\nbut sometimes shockingly evil.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rohana also has said that Sabry has\nserved president Gotabaya in the past as his implicitly trusted personal legal\nadviser which he implies the reason for him to be appointed as the Minister of\nJustice. Any way if that is the reason as to why he was a taken in as a\nNational list member of Parliament and appointed to the third most powerful\nplace in the Cabinet as Rohana says I think it is a grave mistake. Rohana also\nhas referred to Ali Sabry\u2019s misinterpretations made on Aluthgama and Digana\nissues. Furthermore in this backdrop entrusting him with the task of\nsupervising the making of a new constitution that is designed to achieve that\nepoch making change (namely, One Country, One Law) among other things.\u201d Is\nreally dangerous. Appointing the Minister of Justice to supervise the work of\nthat Committee in any case negates the independence of that Committee.\nAppointing a Muslim to supervise Constitution making for this Sinhala Buddhist\nState makes it even worse. Even the Advisory Committee on Constitution making\nappointed by the President has also already run in to serious trouble with\nregard to its constitution and priorities according to internal sources. Seven\nMillion Sinhala Buddhists who voted the President in 2019 and the Government in\n2020 are at a loss to understand as to how a Committee where there is no one to\nrepresent the age old traditional Sinhala Buddhist interests to say at least\none prominent Buddhist scholar monk. With Ali Sabry\u2019s steam roller authority as\nMinister of Justice and his personal conviction as A Muslim for which he will\nalways  give unreserved priority , who on\nearth will believe that this Committee will come out with a Constitution\nsuitable and acceptable to the  this\nSinhala Buddhist Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to what Rohana has said\non Alisabry in his note The goal of One Country One Law will be a non-starter\nso long as Ali Sabry remains Minister of Justice\u201d, to state my personal opinion\non this issue for what it is worth\u201d any report made by this ill constituted non-independent  advisory Committee on constitution making for\nthis nation will be a day dream\u201d as already this Committee has run in to serious\ntrouble on some key issues like the abolition of the Provincial Councils.\nAccording to what I gather from internal sources, the Advisory Committee will\nfinally be compelled to issue will be heavily conditioned by what Ali Sabry\nwill have to say and that draft Constitution \nwill be definitely rejected by the Sinhala Buddhist majority. But even\nnow he can be a second Luxman \nKadiragamar if he limits his religious convictions to the Mosque and  advice the mad Muslims to bury their Covid 19\ndead without creating un-necessary problems for the Government and withdraw\nfrom the position of Advisor to the Constitution Advisory Committee <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally the President and the\nGovernment will have to bear the cost of public displeasure Therefore it will\nbe advisable at least now to reconstitute the present Committee and appoint a\nnew one comprising eminent Sinhala Buddhist scholars well versed in History,\nArcheology, and the traditions of statecraft and law making of the Motherland\nwith at least two eminent monk Scholars. If the President is serious in making\na historic Constitution the country needs and the 7 million who voted him in to\npower aspired him to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last but not least, If the President,\nthe Prime Minister and the Government fail to rectify these immediately or at\nleast in time, the net result of Ali Sabry\u2019s involvement in Constitution making\nand the Covid 19 Muslim burials issue might end up as political suicide for the\ngovernment.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Sudath Gunasekara Mahanuwara.  This is an article that should be seriously read, understood, chewed and digested and corrective measures taken immediately by the President, Prime Minister, the entire Cabinet first, and second by all the MPP in Parliament including those supporting burial of Muslim Covid 19 corpses. I think it is better for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sudath-gunasekara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110343","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=110343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}