{"id":87597,"date":"2019-04-24T15:28:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T22:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87597"},"modified":"2019-04-24T15:28:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T22:28:02","slug":"muslims-extremist-and-parochial-attitudes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/24\/muslims-extremist-and-parochial-attitudes\/","title":{"rendered":"MUSLIMS: EXTREMIST AND PAROCHIAL ATTITUDES"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

All ethnic and cultural groups within society are not\nequal and therefore need not be treated in the same way. All people do not hold\nthe same values. All those who are privileged to have  Sri Lanka was their\nhome, should be aware of the fact that the foundation of our nation, its\nsocietal norms and values originate from the Sinhala Buddhist heritage, which\nhas a history of over 2200 years in this island. Whether we choose to live as\nSinhala, Tamil, Muslim, Malay or Burger, or as Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims,\nChristians or atheists, our right to do so is derived from this heritage and\nassociated way of life. It should be well remembered that in spite of attempts\nby European colonial powers for over four hundred years, to undermine our\nnation\u2019s indigenous culture, and also, in spite of serious challenges faced by\nour country during the decades of Tamil terrorism, the fundamental elements of\nour Sinhala Buddhist national culture prevailed. That gave our nation its\ndistinct identity and character. It is a well evident fact that our nation was\nable to confront these vicious forces and subdue them, owing to the courage,\ndedication and sacrifices made patriotic Sinhala Buddhists.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \n    Islamic community in Sri Lanka is a small\nnon-indigenous minority amounting to about 9% of the total population. Despite\ntheir small numbers they enjoy many special privileges. In recent years, with\ntheir new found petro dollars, it is noticeable from their attitude and\nactions, that some extremist Muslims in our country are posing a threat to the\nnorms and values of our national culture and way of life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n     It was an admirable characteristic of the Sinhala\nBuddhists, from historic times, to have accommodated without prejudice, in\ntheir country various non-indigenous ethnic and religious groups of people such\nas Muslims, Malays and Tamils, who settled down in our country at different\ntimes in the past, for various purposes.\n          Non-indigenous\nminority communities such as the Muslims should feel morally obliged to\nreciprocate the generosity and cordiality accorded to them by the dominant\nmainstream Sinhala Buddhist community, and adapt themselves to the norms and\nvalues of this mainstream of the country where they have chosen to live. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \n   Whatever discord and conflicts between the mainstream and the\nminorities in recent decades, can be largely attributed to extremist and\nparochial attitudes of ethnic and religious minorities. These undesirable\ndevelopments were the outcome of extremist views of these minorities with\nshort-sighted and misguided leaders having their own hidden agendas for their\nown benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \n    There is clear evidence of disregard and disrespect on\nthe part of most Muslims, for the Buddhist cultural heritage of our\ncountry.  Muslims have been responsible for the destruction of archeological\nremains and historic cultural monuments in areas inhabited by them, especially\nin the Eastern region of the country. The fundamentals of \u2018Islam\u2019 that are\nwidely propagated by Muslims especially those pertaining to attitude towards\nnon-Muslims, have serious negative implications as far as the national culture\nis concerned. Peaceful coexistence of different communities and the democratic\nprinciples and rule of law that form the basis of social organization in our\ncountry appear to be threatened by the divisive attitudes and covert actions of\nMuslim extremists.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

         The\nyounger generation of Muslims are being brainwashed with extremist Islamic\nfundamentalism, in \u2018Madrasas or exclusively Muslim schools that have sprung up\nin the country in recent years. The fundamentals of \u2018Islam\u2019 that are widely\npropagated in these Madrasas  have serious negative implications as far as\nthe national culture is concerned. The younger generation of Muslims are being\nbrainwashed with these extremist Islamic beliefs and practices in their\nexclusively Muslim schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their new male and female attire displays their desire\nto look different and to be exclusive and separate from the nation\u2019s\nmainstream. This polarization tendency of the Islamic community is\nself-imposed. It is definitely not because they feel marginalized. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This divisive spirit of Muslims is owing to the\ninfluence of Islamic teachings to keep away from non-Muslims who are considered\nas inferior to Muslims. The Koran forbids Muslims to closely associate\nnon-Muslims. Islam has dualistic ethics with one rule for Muslims and one rule\nfor non-believers and there is no exception to this rule. <\/strong>Why these extremist Muslims want members of their\ncommunity to have a common attire and to look different from others is a big\nquestion. However, this has a divisive effect on society.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n     Islam\u2019s teachings say that non-Muslims are\ninferior to Muslims. To closely associate non-Muslims is forbidden or \u2018haram\u2019\naccording to the Koran. Islam has dualistic ethics with one rule for Muslims and\none rule for non-believers who form the majority of Sri Lankans. There is no\nexception to this rule. Most Muslims do not\nappear to be interested in integrating with other communities, perhaps because\nassimilation is not permitted under Islamic Shariah law.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

         The\nrules of Islam govern politics, marriage and the day-to-day lives of its\nfollowers. In fact, Islam is a political ideology where the church and state\nare not separate. Under the circumstances, one cannot expect Muslims to develop\na sense of patriotism and national pride in a predominantly non-Muslim country\nsuch as ours. Our people are well aware of Muslims of Sri Lanka cheering\nPakistan at cricket matches played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many of us, especially those living in Sri Lanka are aware of the\nfact that Halal is a most repulsive and horrendous practice that involves\nextreme form of abuse and cruelty towards animals?  Halal is a gruesome\nmethod where the animals are tied down and their throats slashed, letting their\nblood ooze out slowly from the animal\u2019s body and making animals die on their\nblood, a slow, lingering and agonizing death.  What is most horrendous is\nthat this torturous practice takes place while the animals are desperately\nstruggling for their lives. It is a well evident fact that these animals are\nconscious of what is happening to them. This is a most sickening and inhuman\nway of killing animals. It is a practice that should not be tolerated in any\ncivilized society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a society such as ours where Buddhists predominate, and where\nnon-violence towards all living beings is a fundamental tenet, practices of\nthis nature cannot and should not be tolerated under any circumstances. \nAnimal welfare has been a tenet of the rulers of our nation from very early\ntimes, from the 3rd<\/sup> century BCE, when King Devanampiyatissa ruled\nthe country. This was in-keeping with the declaration of the Buddha in the\nCakkavatti Sihanada Sutta (Digha Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka) that an ideal or\nvirtuous ruler of a nation or \u2018Cakkavatti King\u201d will give protection and\nshelter not only to human beings, but also to birds and beasts. It was this\nking, over 2200 years ago, who established the world\u2019s first Bird and animal\nsanctuary in Sri Lanka. Since this time, the principle of animal welfare\nprevailed in our country until the arrival of European colonial powers,\nstarting with the ruthless Catholic Portuguese invaders, about at the beginning\nof the 16trh century. Besides hunting animals as a sport, the slaughtering of\nanimals as a vocation started with the entry of Christianity and Islam to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resurgence of Buddhism is a well evident development\nin the country in recent years. It is an opportune time to take action, on the\npart of the nation\u2019s Buddhist leadership \u2013 lay and ordained, to develop a\nwell-conceived policy against cruelty to animals, to save our animals\nfrom   \u2018terrorism\u2019 meted out to them by some quarters of people in\nour country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslims are well known to be running successful\nbusinesses in predominantly Sinhala majority areas with the Sinhala people as\ntheir customers. They are involved in wealth generating employment connected\nwith tourism and travel.  The household income of Muslims far exceeds\nthose of ordinary Sinhala people. The per capita income of the Muslim community\nis far higher than that of the Sinhala majority community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a pity that the Muslim leaders and successful\nindividual in general, have shown greater interest in furthering the interests\nof the Muslim community and not the general public as a whole. It is time that\nMuslims invested more on hospitals, schools and other national social welfare\nactivities and contributed tangibly for infrastructure development activities\nthat benefit everyone and not necessarily the Muslim community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is time that Muslim establishments refrain from\nexclusively hiring Muslims, especially for responsible positions in their\nestablishments.  There have been many instances of Muslim encroachment of\nplaces that are of Buddhist historic value, and the destruction of Buddhist\nmonuments and items of archeological value in the Eastern Province in\nparticular.  This definitely has to stop. If Muslims are involved in the\nillicit drug trade as often reported in the media, this is a national crime and\nhas to stop. There has been much discussion in recent times about the deceitful\nand exploitative nature of the halal\u2019 business venture of Muslims. Also, the\nallegation of various covert practices to increase the Muslim population at the\nexpense of the Sinhala population has received much publicity in recent times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslims should consider it their duty to participate\nmore actively in national events such as the National day festivities and other\nimportant national events and international events as Sri Lankans and cheer Sri\nLanka and rejoice in their international attainments in all fields including\ncricket and sports in general.  The indigenous cultural norms and values\nupon which this nation is founded should be well understood and respected by\nall citizens of this country, irrespective of their religious or other\naffiliations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, there are no restrictions in Sri\nLanka for the construction of mosques in predominantly Sinhala areas.  It\nis a well known fact that Muslim countries do not permit even the display of a\nBuddha image, let along building Vihares. In activities connected with Muslim\nmosques, especially in early morning prayers using load speakers, the Muslims\nshould pay more attention to the comforts and conveniences of the non-Muslim\nneighbors.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not long ago that the exclusively Muslim, religion-based\npolitical party – the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and several Muslim civil\nsociety groups opposed the construction of Buddha\u2019s statues on the southeast\ncoastal areas. These were   predominantly Buddhist areas in the\nrecent past, where Buddhist historic monuments and important archeological\nremains abound and these are some of  the cultural wealth of the nation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Daya Hewapathirane.\u00a0 All ethnic and cultural groups within society are not equal and therefore need not be treated in the same way. All people do not hold the same values. All those who are privileged to have  Sri Lanka was their home, should be aware of the fact that the foundation of our nation, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-daya-hewapathirane"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87597","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=87597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}