The former governor of the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka, MLAM Hizbullah, has stated that Muslims are a majority globally and cannot be subjugated to anyone.
Addressing the Kattanakudy Periya Jumma Mosque on Saturday, the former governor stated that Muslims are a minority only in Sri Lanka but not a majority all over the world.
As per reports, Hizbullah said, “Muslims should live with their heads up. I wish to make it clear that only in this country that we are minorities but in this whole world, we are in a majority. Till we find a solution to our problems, we should be united. At the time of the elections, we must reveal our stance.” He added that Muslims cannot be subjugated.
Hizbullah had recently resigned after widespread protests in Sri Lanka over his alleged links to the Easter bombings. After allegations of the links emerged, a prominent Buddhist religious leader and parliamentarian Ven. M Athuraliye Rathana Thera had initiated a ‘fast unto death’ near the Sri Dalada Malingawa at Kandy, Sri Lanka’s holiest Buddhist Shrine.
The protests by the Buddhists, which was also supported by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Sri Lanka’s head of the Catholic Church was attended by thousands of people.
Athuraliye Rathana had demanded the resignation of governors MLASM Hizbullah, Azath Sally and a politician Rishad Bathiudeen.
Hizbullah reportedly also drew attention to the resignation of two politicians named Kabir Hashim and Rauff Hakeem.
Hizbullah further stated that he has given the president of Sri Lanka a two weeks ultimatum within which he has to prove the allegations against him and other Muslim leaders. He added that the Bhikshus have uttered blatant lies in front of the Dalada Malingawa and that should be brought up before the people.
It is notable here that the town Kattanakudy is in the very centre of radicalism and Wahabi extremist activities that have been linked with the Easter bombings. The main accused Zaharan Hashmi was linked with Mosques and Madrassas in the town and a huge stash of weapons and detonators was also found near the town. Many arrested terrorists also belong to Kattanakudy. Two of the Easter suicide bombers were from Kattanakudy.
The little town of 66,000 Muslims has over 45 Mosques, including the grand Jumma Mosque, which is built as a replica of the Al Aksa Mosque in Jerusalem. Kattanakudy was also the birth centre of National Thouwheed Jamath, the organisation that carried out the Easter bombings.
When Sri Lankan security forces had raided the house of Zahran Hashim in Kattanakudy, the mastermind of the Easter Bombings that had left over 300 people dead, Hashim’s brother and other family members allegedly blew themselves up, leaving 15 people dead (including 6 children) and several injured. Hashim’s father and the two brothers who died that day had circulated videos calling for an all-out war against all non-Muslims.
The extent penetration of radicalism and violent extremism in Sri Lanka’s Muslims can be gauged by the fact that two of the suicide bombers in the Easter attacks, were the sons of one of Sri Lanka’s richest and most influential men, Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim. The wife of the younger suicide bomber had also detonated a suicide blast, killing herself and her three children, when the police had raided the millionaire’s house in a posh Colombo suburb.