A resident walks past a poster, showing four hands with diferent religious symbols, put up in honour of the victims of the Zion Church suicide bomb attack in Kattankudy (AFP)

• Extremist foreign penetrated educational institutions under guise of teachers
• Large numbers of local youth attend extremists religious schools

‘Religion and politics are two social practices that tremendously influence the morality, structure, law and governance of a society’.   
- Sribas Goswami

 The objective of terrorism is to intimidate both targeted factions and larger segments of society that share the values of beleaguered groups by causing them ‘anxiety, intense fear, apprehension, panic, and horror’ The participation of an insignificant Muslim group in the distressing Easter Sunday attacks on the heart of the county’s multi-ethnic, plural, society is not related to history of cruel hostility between Christians and Muslims. Every pro-western government has external interests for the purpose of distracting the attention of public, and move ahead catering to external tactical interests especially where the country is strategically positioned one, like ours. 

Former Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, speaking in the second reading debate on budget, on November 18, 2016, stated in Parliament that foreigners were spreading Islam extremism among Muslim children. He further said that extremist foreigners had penetrated educational institutions in Sri Lanka under the guise of teachers. He alleged that 32 Sri Lankan Muslims had joined the ISIS. [This heinous crime cannot be planned and carried out by a few men from city and suburbs as it established a well harmonized classy crime meticulously planned and executed within a very short period without help from a foreign intelligence agency].   

Minister Rajapakshe warned the government that unless appropriate measures were undertaken in accordance with the PTA, there would be drastic consequences. Minister alleged that foreign intelligence had reported of 32 Sri Lankans youth belonging to four well-to-do families of the Muslim community joining ISIS training abroad. He continued, saying that foreigners teaching at Muslim international schools in the East, Beruwala, Kurunegala, Kalmunai and Kala Eliya propagated extremism and hate. He also spoke about violence among followers of four main chapters of extremists known as Jamaath Islam, Sunnathival Jamaath, Thawfique Jamaath, and Thabilique Jamaath.

Rajitha vs Wijeyadasa 

“Whatever the international community says, the government should not allow another bloodbath” he observed. “We will implement some provisions of the PTA, some severe clauses hitherto remained unutilized,”said Minister Rajapakshe. 

Contradictory statements made by Cabinet colleagues on Crucial Security Matters: Two days later, Health Minister and Co-Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne contradicting said at a media conference that no one linked to the ISIS had come to Sri Lanka in the guise of teachers.He told the media that according to the intelligence authorities, lecturers from abroad were only occupied in teaching Arabic and had nothing to do with ISIS. 

Senaratne denied Rajapakshe’s assertion that 32 Muslims youth had joined the ISIS, and that all Muslims of Sri Lanka were patriotic and law abiding in keeping with the tradition of Islam. Adding further he stated that Muslims were moderate and liberal minded. That was two and a half years ago, and the matter ended there. Prime Minister Wickremasinghe replying foreign media on April 24, admitted that some terrorist suicide bombers of Easter Sunday carnage were among the original 32 ISIS trained youth.

Some analyst think that Israel was behind similar attacks in Europe during the past two decades and the western media, a component of US- Israeli-European war mechanism, put the responsibility on Muslims only to be proved later that they were the efforts of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. However, relatively simple attacks, [like what our former Defence Secretary ‘anticipated’] the 2017 New York and Stockholm heavy vehicle strikes on pedestrians and more severe operations, such as the suicide bombing of airport in Istanbul in 2016—and the 2017 attackon a Istanbul’s nightclub were carried out allegedly by Uzbeks [Russian nationals].   

The legal definition of terrorism as given in US documents excludes acts done by recognized states. According to American law -22 U.S.C. 2656f(d)(2), it is “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience”. In the absence of an international consensus on a legal definition of terrorism, UN conventions have not reached a consensus on definitions of state terrorism or non-state terrorism. The so-called liberal democracies’ use state terrorism to protect the interest of capitalist elites.   

Religious Practices and Islamic Ethics

How much influence does religion have on world politics? Increasing Islamization based on doctrinaire ideology within the Muslim community in the East and Puttlam district was ignored by politicians who valued Muslim vote.Rarely seen Muslim women with Burka, ten years ago, the Islamic garment, and the face veil Niqab became a common sight— are a result of spreading Salafi Islam using Arab Oil money and a few local business tycoons engaged in unlawful export of imported spices mixed with local varieties who are in hand-in-glove with local politicians of all shades. Large numbers of local youth attend extremists religious schools sponsored by the funds doled out by the donors in Gulf states.   

Thawheed Jamaath responsible for Easter Sunday Attacks on Churches and Hotels commenced their role in global Islamization programme against the will of the Muslim elders and clergy one and a half decades ago. Political leaders of UNP, SLFP, SLPP and even JVP are not willing to question the extremists activities as they rely on minority votes and funds for their survival -- one of the reason for not acting on intelligence reports on their clandestine activities.It was only the Sinhala-Buddhist ultra-nationalists extremists groups that we all thought were creating unwanted troubles[of course they did], who really understood the gravity of the situation.   

IDP resettlement in the North

IDP resettlement in the North has been a hot issue since end of 30-year war. The Governments and NGOs gave preference to the Tamils. During the Rajapaksa rule, nearly, 3000 families from deep South were settled there in colonisation programmes, distributing over 2000 hectares among them with Schools and hospitals and state grants for their settlement. President Sirisena listened to Buddhist extremists and Environmentalists and opposed Muslim IDPs returning to their traditional lands.   

History of Islam Radicalism - Who Promoted?

 Actually it was a small group of Muslim scholars who developed the ‘philosophy’, and it is clear how closely linked the movement actually is. They are very influential and its efficiency cannot be measured in terms of numbers or membership.   

Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna

 The West used Islam to legitimize their puppet agents in Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, as just another part of the shady colonial institution. Legitimate anti-colonial and anti-West movements, of Nasser, Bhutto and Mossadegh, were primarily secular in nature. When these nationalist movements began to succeed outside of the British sphere of influence the British used Islamic allies to subvert these sovereign states. The most significant counter-revolutionary movement, The ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ stood out in this period in the Middle East. 

 The ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ was initiated by young Al-Banna born in 1906. He was only 22 years old when it began which has expanded with unbelievable pace, the success of which directly attributed to the organizational skills of Al-Banna, and partly due to the fact that it is based in the heart of British occupied territory for its initial few years. Brotherhood was seen as the most radical, most militant, and the most dangerous. They were in a struggle for power against the secular Wafd party. In 1948, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ were implicated in the killing of the police chief of Cairo and the government struck back when Prime Minister Nuqrashi Pasha issued a proclamation dissolving the Brotherhood. Its offices were shut down and assets were seized; members were arrested and the Brotherhood was driven underground. Weeks later PM was killed by the Brotherhood, and finally on February 12, 1949, Egypt’s secret police assassinated Hassan al-Banna. He died young at the age of 43.

Sheikh Hassan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna, imam and Egyptian schoolteacher best known for beginning the ‘Muslim Brotherhood’, was one of the biggest and most powerful Islamic revivalist movements. His most noteworthy accomplishment during the early years was the involvement in the Arab revolt in Palestine in late 1930s. 

End of Brotherhood

 The Brotherhood endeavored to assassinate Nasser in October, 1954. Many years later a deposed and disillusioned General Naguib claimed in his memoirs that most of the assassinations were sting operations planned by Nasser to make an excuse to do away with the troublesome Brotherhood once and for all.   

 The end of 1954 saw thousands of Brotherhood members being imprisoned, this included all of its leaders, and some were executed. This paved the way for a new affiliation between the Brotherhood and the British and American intelligence services. All of them were united in their extreme dislike of Nasser; but the Brotherhood stayed largely unproductive within Egypt under Nasser’s regime, even though they made several more attempts on his life. Scores of brotherhood members were fleeing and welcomed in London, who remains there to this day, and other were relocated in Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. 

 Al-Banna’s philosophy of three generations: “We require three generations for our strategy - one to pay attention, one to struggle, and one to triumph.” He was the preacher, so his was the “ pay attention” generation. 

 
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