March 05, 2023, Colombo: The steps taken by the government to rehabilitate Muslim youths who were arrested on suspicion of suicide bombings on April 21, 2019, and have not been proven guilty so far cannot be accepted.
If they are sent to rehabilitation centers without being proven guilty, they will be established as terrorists. Muslim civil society activists have urged the British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Sarah Halton, that their future will be bleak. They have also requested the High Commissioner to pressure the Sri Lankan government.
Accepting the demands of civil society activists as reasonable, High Commissioner Sarah Halton promised to negotiate at the government level in this regard.
Muslim youth detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be rehabilitated in their homes. This procedure can be done under the supervision of the respective regional mosques. Psychological rehabilitation efforts may also be undertaken for them. Instead, if they are sent to government rehabilitation centers by the Ministry of Defense, they will be branded as anti-social and terrorists. Government institutions also ignore them. Hilmi Ahmed, a social activist and vice president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, said she told Sarah Halton that they would face challenges for the rest of their lives.
He told Vidivelly that he said this during a meeting with the British High Commissioner at his residence yesterday. And he said; Detaining Muslim youth for years under the Prohibition of Terrorism Act and trying to send them to rehabilitation centers where no crime can be proven is revenge against Muslims. So, we’d like to ask that you discuss this with the government and get a fair solution. Also, Islamic books and Quran copies imported from foreign countries are detained at the Customs Department and the Ministry of Defense for monitoring their contents. Islamic texts and copies of the Qur’an are thus seized and examined. But this rule needs to be followed for other religious books. Why this prejudice? I also asked the High Commissioner to pay attention to this. Also the country’s economic situation, the local council elections and the people’s protests taking place in the country were also discussed in this meeting. Regardless of the economic condition of the country, an election is imperative. Social activists said that this is a fundamental democratic right of the people.
Views were also exchanged regarding the proposed amendments to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act. Three women social activists and social activist Hisham Mohamed participated in this meeting.
