{"id":121901,"date":"2022-01-07T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2022-01-08T00:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=121901"},"modified":"2022-01-07T17:42:10","modified_gmt":"2022-01-08T00:42:10","slug":"towards-a-future-free-from-fears-of-islamism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/07\/towards-a-future-free-from-fears-of-islamism\/","title":{"rendered":"Towards a future free from fears of Islamism"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Gravitas\nNews (wionews,<\/em> World is One News) web portal reported Tuesday December\n21, 2021: Riyadh holds 4-day EDM carnival\u201d. Commenting on the electronic dance\nmusic extravaganza, unprecedented in Saudi Arabia,  the young news\nanchor  said, The defacto leader of the Islamic World, the Guardian of\nthe two holiest sites in Islam, Saudi Arabia, did the unexpected this weekend.\nIt\u2019s through a giant rave party, a four day electronic music festival complete\nwith psychedelic lights and international DJs\u2026.\u201d. With video footage of densely\npacked dancing men and women taken  from the exhilarating event held two\nor three days previously flashing across the background screen, the newscaster\ncontinued: …the images that you see are from Saudi Arabia (where) a giant\nparty was held in the deserts of Riyadh with the blessings and money of the\nSaudi royal family, the House of Saud. They fully endorsed and sponsored this\ncarnival. It was attended by artistes from all over the world. Tiesto, Martin\nGarrix, David Guetta, Afrojack\u2026you name them, the world\u2019s leading DJs,\nperformed at the rave. Their excitement was evident in their statements\u201d. One\nof the DJs was heard saying: It was the first time that there was going to be\nwomen and men being able to dance together, and there was also a very historical\nmoment, and I am happy to be part of this\u2026\u2026\u2026.. Of course, there\u2019s more things\nto be done to improve the country, but I think they opening, are really going\nto the right direction giving more rights to women like four years ago women\ncouldn\u2019t drive \u2026\u2026they can come and dance\u2026. It\u2019s a huge evolution\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nwas what one of the DJs taking part in the massive musical show said about its\nunderlying significance for a socio-culturally changed future for the kingdom,\nthe birth place of Islam, with a previous reputation as the exporter of Islamic\nfundamentalism. The news presenter then dwelt on the fact that the exuberant\nWestern type of music festival in the traditionally conservative Saudi Arabia\ndid indeed symbolise a \u2018huge evolution\u2019. She went on: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(QUOTE)\nSaudi men and women dancing with abandon, swaying to the beats of Western\nmusic, no gender segregation, no full length robes, no face veils, no any\nreligious restrictions for that matter\u2026\u2026All this was unthinkable in Saudi\nArabia just a few years back. Now it is happening \u2026\u2026\u2026.By the way, this rave\nparty comes close on the heels of the \u2026\u2026\u2026 Red Sea International Film Festival,\nthe first of its kind to be held in Saudi Arabia. It was a star studded affair\nwith women walking the red carpet in sleeveless gowns, a woman film maker\nwinning the best director award, and an openly queer man winning the best actor\naward\u2026.What do you make of these changes? The sands are shifting in Saudi\nArabia, it\u2019s evident. The socially conservative kingdom is trying to shake off\nits regressive image. It\u2019s limiting the rule of religion in public life and\nfitting itself as a modern liberal and tourism friendly kingdom. And this, we\nsay, is a welcome change. Although critics of Saudi Arabia  say it\u2019s a\nfacade (and) insist (that) the Saudi society is not making any fundamental\nmeaningful change\u2026., ever since Mohamed bin Salman was made the crown prince in\nSaudi Arabia, he\u2019s embarked on a liberalisation drive, with loosened gender\nsegregation norms, he\u2019s reopened cinemas, allowed women to drive, to go to\nstadiums, take the haj without a male guardian\u2026.In a way MBS has defanged the\ncountry\u2019s religious police that not too long ago would dictate every facet of\ndaily life. And those are all remarkable reforms, they deserve applause\u2026. But I\nhave also to say they are only half-measures, and very late at that. Some very\nproblematic issues persist in the Saudi society. Saudi Arabia continues to\narrest dissidents, \u2026to extend prison terms of activists. It continues to detain\nthe rich on allegations of corruption, a tinkering with power structures,\narbitrary reshuffling whom the crown prince thinks are potential challengers.\nPolitical reform remains taboo\u2026\u2026\u201d. (END OF QUOTE)   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nforegoing is based on a news item from an independent online news source that\nrepresents the international free media. The comments on the piece of news are\nthose of the newscaster, about  which we listeners and viewers may or may\nnot agree with her, or regarding which we may just remain neutral. But the\npiece of news is true, and so is what she says about the Saudi crown prince\u2019s\ncommitment to a \u2018liberalization drive\u2019 and his determination to rid his country\nof its \u2018regressive\u2019 image. What it indicates is that the tide is turning\nagainst violent Islamic extremism. It is the same in other countries too. Isn\u2019t\nthis good news for people all over the world who are faced with forms of\nviolent Islamism? For, in this global anti-extremist background, we need not\nentertain exaggerated fears about the menace or resort to measures that are\nlikely to breathe new life into it instead of letting it die a natural death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSaudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salman\u2019s brave initiative is an extremely\npraiseworthy example in a world where, in spite of the steadily rising\nawareness, particularly among the educated youth, of the dangerous insanity of\nexcessive religiosity and the increasing rejection of its political backers and\nsympathisers by the civilized world, the backward ruling classes seem to\nbelieve that they are required to tolerate or even appease the few extremists\nin order to win the hearts and minds of the ordinary faithful. The Saudi\nleader\u2019s reformist gestures make good news for non-Muslim majority countries including\nSri Lanka where a few opportunistic Muslim politicians maintain secret dealngs\nwith extremists while pretending as if they had nothing to do with\nthem.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwas justly suspected by many around the time of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide\nbombings (i.e., both before and after the unspeakable horror) that a handful of\nopportunistic Sri Lankan Muslim politicians with a communal mindset were\nmaintaining treacherous links with suicide-bombing extremists for personal\npolitical advantage. It is now well known now that  these sham champions\nof Muslims try to create the illusion of a non-existent Buddhist-Muslim conflct\nor disharmony in the country through false propaganda, which is a part of their\nscheming to position themselves between foreign donors inspired to genuinely\nhelp their Sri Lankan co-religionists that, they have been persuaded to wrongly\nbelieve, are being persecuted by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority.  All our\npolitical, civil and religious leaders need to unite to convince the leaders of\nfriendly Islamic nations not to be misled by these duplicitous, self-seeking\nMuslim politicos who ultimately betray not only the interests of Sri Lankan\nMuslims (hardly 10% of the country\u2019s total population) whom they claim to\nrepresent, but those of the whole nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ndealt with this subject in \u2018MWL should separate the wheat from the chaff\u2019\/The\nIsland\/ May 4, 2021), where I wrote: What should be of greater concern for the\ngovernment is the fact that, by contriving to get themselves identified as\nconstituting the  whole Muslim community of the country, the handful of\nIslamist extremists who are widely believed to have provided tacit or explicit\nsupport for the suicide bombers are also foisting themselves on its (the MWL\u2019s)\npowerful patronage\u201d. By the wheat\u201d in the title I meant the traditional Sri\nLankan Muslim minority who have co-existed peacefully with the majority\nSinhalese Buddhists and other minority communities over the centuries; by the\nchaff\u201d I meant opportunistic Muslim politicos who secretly associate with\nextremists, while masquerading as champions of the generality of peaceful\nMuslims. These duplicitous Muslim politicos manage to enjoy the best of both\nworlds by making shrewd changes of their loyalty at the right time to join the\nincoming administration, under whichever major party\u2019s leadership it gets\nformed. Leaders of both major parties don\u2019t hesitate to cut deals with these\ncommunalist Muslim politicians at critical moments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nreminded me of certain statements that businessman-turned-politician Shiraz\nYunus made recently which were critical of the government, of which he is a\npartner. He attacked the government while claiming to be prime minister Mahinda\nRajapaksa\u2019s national coordinator for Muslim affairs. The PM\u2019s media division\nhas since denied that Yunus holds any position in the government and that he\nwas expressing his individual personal\nopinions.       <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis according to a statement in Sinhala from the Prime Minister\u2019s Media Division\npublished in the online news portal lankacnews<\/em> on December 4, 2021 (a\nday after the Sialkot incident); it was signed by Rohan Weliwita, the PM\u2019s\nmedia secretary. The statement was carried  under a headline that\ntranslates into English as Mr Shiraz Yunus has not been appointed to any post\nin the Prime Minister\u2019s Office\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUOTE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwish to announce that Mr Shiraz Yunus does not work as a coordinating secretary\nto the Prime Minister; such a position has not not been granted by the Prime\nMinister\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nis to declare that the PM\u2019s Office has no connection with the statements that\nMr Shiraz Yunus makes claiming that he serves as the PM\u2019s coordinating\nsecretary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile,\nhe has not been given a post of any description in the PM\u2019s Office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwish to further state that his statements are completely personal  and\nthat neither the prime minister nor the Prime Minister\u2019s Office endorses those\nideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

END\nOF QUOTE <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why\nshouldn\u2019t we ask the PM\u2019s media unit to: Tell it to the marines? This is hardly\nmore than mere wordplay. In the following You Tube interview published more\nthan five weeks ago, Shiraz Yunus didn\u2019t ever once refer to himself as a\ncoordinating secretary; he claimed to be the prime minister\u2019s \u2018National\nCoordinator for Muslim Affairs\u2019. This interview took place more than a month\nbefore Priyantha Kumara was lynched by an Islamist mob. By denying after more\nthan one month what Yunus never claimed (he never said he is\/was acting as PM\u2019s\ncoordinating secretary\u201d for Muslim affairs), the PM\u2019s media unit seems to be\ntrying to eat the cake and have it, too. Did it have to take a heinous crime\nlike beating to death of a helpless man and desecrating his dead body by burning\nit on a main road in Pakistan on December 3, 2021 by a lynch mob for alleged\nblasphemy, for the PM (who is also the minister of Buddha Sasana) to dissociate\nhimself at long last from Yunus\u2019s baseless attacks on the Gotabaya loyalist\nfaction in the government? Yunus\u2019s criticisms include the false charge of\nanti-Muslim discrimination as allegedly exemplified in the mandatory burning of\nCovid-19 dead, ignoring the religious sensitivities of the Muslims (and of\nothers, for that matter) as an absolute necessity in the circumstances. \nGovernment and Opposition leaders have an unavoidable responsibility to ensure\nthe protection of the non-Muslim majority of the population and the moderate\nMuslims from the excesses of Islamist extremists. Politicians, please don\u2019t\nsacrifice these innocents on the altar of political correctness to please the\nopportunistic ruling elite of the Muslim community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nan interview conducted in Sinhala on a You Tube channel on October 27, 2021,\nShiraz Yunus, who describes himself as Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s\nNational Coordinator for Muslim Affairs, laments that by now there is clearly a\nsplit in the government between a faction that supports the President and\nanother that stands by the Prime Minister. According to Yunus, the latter has\nbeen reduced to a nominal PM and rendered powerless. This, Shiraz Yunus says,\nis in spite of the fact that the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) came to\npower due to the  influence of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Yunus\u2019s claim is not\nexactly true: What reaches me through the grapevine from Sri Lanka is that\nordinary people whisper among themselves that the politically experienced\nMahinda has ruined Gotabaya by restraining his actions, the latter being a\nneophyte in statecraft; Mahinda\u2019s family bandyism and his softness towards\ncertain notorious elements among his loyalists had already dented his heroic\nimage, which helped the 2015 plot against him. The resounding victory of the\nSLPP in 2020 was not exclusively due to Mahinda regaining his old popularity.\nProbably a more important contributory factor was Gotabaya\u2019s image as an\nuncorrupt person and his reputation as an able civil administrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yunus\navers that the Rajapaksa government has lost all its credibility. If an\nelection was held today, 98% of the Muslims would not vote for the SLPP; their\n(i.e., Muslims\u2019) only hope  is for this government to fall; Yunus asserts\nthat the same hope is shared by all Sri Lankans. Only the remaining 2% of the\nMuslims will want the SLPP to gain power again! And who are those Muslims?\nBusinessmen and wheeler-dealers\u201d, as Yunus claims, including presumably the\nlikes of Rishad and Hakeem,  who are communalist minority politicians.\nRishad threw stones at a judge\u2019s house, but was not arraigned in a court of\nlaw, Yunus remembers. (In the past, Rishad enjoyed the indulgence of the\ngovernment, whichever of the two major parties was in power.) Yunus complains\nthat although he wanted to contest the last election from the SLPP, he didn\u2019t\nget the ticket for it. Now he won\u2019t even vote for the SLPP if there\u2019s an\nelection for it is sure to lose! My hunch is that though, as is well known,\nMuslims did not make any extraordinary contribution to Gotabaya\u2019s or SLPP\u2019s\nvictory, they gained the whip hand over both (Ali Sabry over the former and\nMuslim wheeler-dealers like Yunus over the latter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nPM\u2019s National Coordinator for Muslim Affairs, is no doubt, performing his duty\nto the satisfaction of his employer. Surprisingly for a Mahinda loyalist, he\nargues that Rishad and Hakeem emerged and flourished during Rajapaksa times,\nwhich, however, is not an untruth. In his opinion, the majority Sinhalese were\nopposed to the 20th Amendment (that repealed 19A and restored the executive\npowers of the President that it had clipped). When enough MPs (required to form\nthe two thirds majority) were not available to pass the 20A bill, some\npotentate arranged to cut a deal with the two to get their support. Yunus\naddresses himself directly to the duo (MPs Rishad and Hakeem) through the\nCP\/Pnone\/TV screen, and takes them to task for sacrificing Muslim interests for\npersonal political gain! He shouts lajjai, lajjai\u201d shame, shame\u201d at them.\nRishad and Hakeem must have guffawed in private if they watched him performing\nhis dramatic feigning.  However, towards the end of the You Tube channel\nQA session, Yunus betrays his hypocrisy by inadvertently revealing that he, in\naddition to being a disillusioned politician, is a disgruntled businessman as\nwell, with interests at least in fertilizer importation and hydro-electricity\nproduction. He asked for a permit, he tells the interviewer, for importing what\nhe calls liquid organic fertilizer, but his application was not granted by the\nagriculture department (which, he implies, does not know what sort of organic\nfertiliser is good for the country). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yunus\nmakes the patently false claim that the two and a half million Muslim community\nlive in fear today, implying that all Sri Lankan Muslims are being condemned,\nand discriminated against, as violent Islamists, which allegation is a figment\nof his imagination. Which community does he hold responsible for this alleged\nanti-Muslim bigotry? The majority Sinhalese, of course. This is not the place\nto produce evidence to disprove his false charge (Yunus knows the truth to be\notherwise). Even before the April 21 attack took place, some young Sinhalese\nBuddhist activists and monks made credible claims that hauls of swords and\nknives were being concealed in mosques. Nothing was done to check the veracity\nof these alleged wild fabrications\u201d. When hoards of newly imported swords were\ndiscovered in mosques during police searches following the 2019 Easter Sunday\nattacks, the Sinhalese Buddhist activists\u2019 claims were found not to be\nfabrications; the yahapalana government didn\u2019t seem to take exposures\nseriously. The reality is that this close Mahinda Rajapaksa associate has been\nrepeating the same sort of nonsense in his FB and Twitter accounts and in other\nmainstream and social media channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis also clear that Shiraz Yunus is better received among global Muslims than\nthe PM himself  who supposedly consults him on Muslim issues. Yunus says\nthat he has acted as Mahinda Rajapaksa\u2019s Muslim affairs coordinator since March\n23, 2018 (that is, well before MR became PM). He stresses that he has no\nconnection with the Muslim Cultural Department, which is paid separately. His\njob was earlier done by an MP, Yunus said. In his capacity as national\ncoordinator he looks after all Muslim affairs. Yunus complains that those that\nhe calls new \u2018viruses\u2019 that recently gathered round the PM have failed to\ncommunicate the true message to the Muslim public. There are contextual hints\nto say that Yunus\u2019s alleged viruses are officials from the Muslim Affairs\nDepartment and the Muslim businessmen that allegedly surround him. But, doesn\u2019t\nhe himself belong to the same category?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nmakes passing references to the problem of Muslim objections to the cremation\nof  their Covid-19 dead and the Muslims\u2019 perception of the cow slaughter\nban as discriminatory towards them as a community. Why didn\u2019t Yunus, as PM\u2019s\npaid overall Muslim affairs coodinator (advisor\/consultant in practice),\nprevent the PM from so egregiously mishandling both issues? At that time,\ncremation of covid dead was ordered by the Director General of Health Services,\nwho had been appointed as the competent authority to decide on the way such\nbodies were to be disposed of. The DGHS made it mandatory to cremate bodies of\nCovid dead on perfect scientific advice in view of the water table situation of\nthe country that made burial Covid virus infected bodies dangerous to public\nhealth. However, the government could have asked the experts to devise a safe\nway to bury the bodies of those Covid dead whose families insisted on burying\nthem on religious grounds, such as impervious concrete walled coffins.\nIronically, even the fiery Ven. Gnanasara Thera wanted Muslim sentiments\naccomodated in this regard, and burial permitted. But that was running counter\nto what scientific opinion demanded.The decision belonged to the authorities.\nThe DGHS implemented what the health experts recommended.  The government\ntook it for granted that people of all religious persuasions would prioritise\nscience over religion, and accept his decision. That agreed with president\nGotabaya\u2019s approach to the issue. But the biased media interpreted this as Sri\nLanka forcing Muslims to cremate their Covid dead (in violation of their\nreligious sentiments). However, some conservative Muslims and the few\nopportunistic Muslim leaders didn\u2019t relent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwas rumoured that PM Mahinda Rajapaksa embarrassed himself by asking Maldives\nto accept bodies of Corona dead Muslims for burial.That was probably the most\nclumsy decision the veteran politician took in his generally illustrious\npolitical life until then. The Maldivian leaders responded positively which\ncould only be expected, but it appeared that no dead bodies were transported\nthere for burial. However, the PM\u2019s clumsy response to the problem projected\nSri Lanka as a country that was not sensitive to the feelings of religious\nminorities, even at a tragic moment like that. (NB: We are made to understand\nthat PM Rajapaksa never asked Maldives to bury Covid-19 dead Sri Lankan Muslims\nin its soil, and that the offer actually came from the Maldivian authorities.\nBe that as it may, whichever alternative was actually proposed, it would have\nfed the totally unfounded canard that, in Sri Lanka, Muslims are being\ndiscriminated against.) Then, reportedly MR had arrangements made for such\nbodies to be taken to Ottamavadi in Batticaloa, where the shallow water table\nproblem was not there.  Later a boastful controversial Muslim politico\nfrom that province claimed with responsibility\u201d that the bodies of some Muslim\ndead were buried normally in Colombo, while their empty coffins were \u2018cremated\u2019\nto satisfy the official requirement. He was actually betraying the PM, for he\nimplied that this was done with the knowledge of the latter. (This piece of\nnews was carried, if my memory is correct, in the online Sinhala news outlet\nlankacnews, but I cannot remember the date it was published.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nhandful of communalist Muslim politicians have a niche in both major parties.\nWhile this is the truth, many SLPP speakers have rubbished the Janatha Vimukti\nPeramuna for having included, in the past, business magnate Ibrahim (father of\ntwo suicide bomber sons who perished while carrying out the April 21 Easter\nbombing attacks) in their national list! But the JVP may not have known that\nthey too had been infiltrated by the same traitors, who use religion as a\nsecret weapon in business and politics. Let\u2019s hope that the emerging Jana Bala\nVegaya (People\u2019s Power) movement and other new patriotic alliances beware of\nthe danger. Majority party politicians need not worry about losing the support\nof the few Muslim political crooks who are at present ruling the roost within\nthe Muslim polity. They are being exposed, and their days are numbered. The\nfuture belongs to young Muslim politicians like national list MP (from Wimal\nWeerawansa\u2019s National Freedom Front  or NFF) Mohamed Muzammil (41), whose\nnon-communalist politics, incorruptability and secular credentials are beyond\nquestion. By the time of the next general elections, there will be enough new\nyouthful Muslim leaders of his calibre to elbow out the blighters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala Gravitas News (wionews, World is One News) web portal reported Tuesday December 21, 2021: Riyadh holds 4-day EDM carnival\u201d. Commenting on the electronic dance music extravaganza, unprecedented in Saudi Arabia,  the young news anchor  said, The defacto leader of the Islamic World, the Guardian of the two holiest sites in Islam, […]<\/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-121901","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\/121901","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=121901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121901\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}