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If Govt forces reforms on muslim community next confrontation would be with the whole Muslim society
Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Mujibur Rahman[/caption]
What are your thoughts on the ongoing case about the arrest of MP Harin Fernando?
The problem here is that the CID has started to collect statements from those who post things on social media and comment on social media. We also see that people who criticise the Government have been detained and old cases against them have been resurfaced. So, we hear from within the Government itself that such measures are to be adopted for members of parliament who speak up as well. The Government is attempting to silence the voices of a few MPs including Harin Fernando. This is a very serious problem at a time like this because if the Government is going to take action against things that are discussed in parliament by MPs, everyone should unite against this.
About 700 individuals have been arrested in connection to the attacks and also for extremist activity. What are your thoughts on these arrests?
Many of those who have been detained in connection to the Easter Sunday Attacks are those who had shared posts or made comments on social media. Some who had written against ISIS have also been arrested. A poet from Mannar, Ahnaf Jazeem, who had written against ISIS has now been detained for a long time. Many unfair arrests had taken place without proper investigations. This is an unnecessary pressure on the Muslim society. It was the Muslim community that provided information on the activities of Zahran in the beginning. The necessary steps were not taken when this information reached relevant authorities. But the repression that has been unleashed on the Muslim community is not fair. 99% of the Muslim community stood against Zahran.
We hear that families of such detainees have been ostracised by their communities. Have you received such reports from the grassroots?
I have not received any such information about families of detainees being ostracised as such. But the Muslim society has cut all ties with those who were involved in the Easter Sunday Attacks.
What is the response you see from the grassroots about the arrests that are taking place?
Many individuals have been detained for a prolonged period of time for their activities on social media such as comment and posts, for having photographs in their possession or for having something in their phone. This is repression against the Muslim society and the grassroot is disappointed. No one is happy with what the Government is doing. We are not saying that those who are involved in the Easter Sunday Attacks should be released. They should be captured. But the Government should also understand that it is unfair to capture and detain innocent people.
Reforms have been proposed from for the Muslim community as indirect measures to ensure nonrecurrence of such an attack such as the regulation of Madrasas and banning certain Thowheed groups. Do you agree with such reforms?
If reforms are to be brought about in the Muslim society post-Easter Sunday Attacks, the Government should first identify what these reforms are. Then, they should have a dialogue about these reforms with the Muslim society. Religious leaders and Muslim politicians in the Government should be involved in this dialogue. As we are members of the opposition, it is fine if we are not invited to be involved in it. What has happened now is that even the Muslim politicians in the Government are not aware of what the Government is doing. Reforms are going to be forced upon the Muslim society. These things cannot be done by force. Instead of identifying the small percentage of the Muslim society that supported Zahran and taking steps about them, if the Government is going to force things unto the entire community, influence the religious rights and traditions, the next confrontation would be with the whole of the Muslim society. That is not a good thing. What the Government is doing now is not very good and they do not understand that. This would lead to an unnecessary conflict. If the society feels that they are going to be isolated because of what Zahran did, if we are going to lose the rights we had in this country all this time, then that is not right. The Muslim society is not responsible for what Zahran did. The Government wants to use Zahran as an excuse to control the traditional rights we had in this country.
What are your thoughts on the deradicalisation regulations?
Who decides what is deradicalisation? Under what criteria does one come to be understood as a radical? Is there a guideline? Nothing. It is being brought so that the Government could imprison anyone they want claiming that they need to be deradicalised. The court should determine whether someone has been radicalised. There should be an independent body to determine that. Members of the civil society have already filed cases against this. These regulations are against fundamental rights. The Government has no power to make arbitrary decisions that one is radicalised. There should be a more transparent process and it requires a proper definition on what radicalisation is.
Recently, the Cabinet of Ministers gave the greenlight for the banning of the face veil. How will the SJB respond to this?
The SJB is currently discussing the face veil ban and we have not reached any final decisions yet. This is a very sensitive issue. A segment of Sri Lanka’s Muslim society dresses this way. On the one hand, the Government says that this is a step that needs to be taken to ensure national security. But on the other hand, it has been a blow on the beliefs of a part of the Muslim society. Even during the height of the war, the face cover was not banned. The fact that it is being brought now shows that the Government is targeting the Muslim society. They even waited until the Geneva session was over. When this matter surfaced before the UNHRC vote, the Secretary to the Foreign Ministry claimed that no such ban is taking place as the support of Islamic countries in the vote against a resolution was important to them. Banning the face veil would also have a massive impact on tourism from the Arab countries. Many tourists come from Arab countries, and the women wear face veils and these are tourists that spend a lot of money when they visit Sri Lanka. If the face veil is banned, Sri Lanka would lose all of that tourism and the revenue. There are so many things that policies such as this would have an impact on. The Government is not aware of these things.