LANKAMUSLIM NEWS FEATURES:
- Evicted Northern Muslims will be resettled by May – President
- Ever memorable and never forgettable painful memory of Jaffna Muslims: M.Shamil mohamed
- Non-existence of operational standard for Muslim IDPs : M. Shamil Mohamed
- expulsion of Northern Muslims aged 20
- What “muslim” are we ? a moment of truth: S.M.M. Bazeer
- Sri Lanka: Displaced Muslims of the North to be resttled
- Expelled Northern Muslims and Tamil polity
- Treatment of Tamil IDPs and Muslim Refugees: Double Standard
- Muthur Muslims lose lands to govt. program
- Muslim deputy mayor for Jaffna after one year
- Sri Lanka’s war-displaced Muslims want to return home
- Committee to resolve Vaharai land dispute between Tamils & Muslims
- SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem’s reply to Eastern Province Governor
Rauff ready to convey pardon plea
Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem said today he would consider appealing to President Mahinda Rajapaksa to pardon former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka if such a request was made by Mr. Fonseka’s family members. Mr. Hakeem told parliament a procedure had to be followed in securing a pardon for Mr. Fonseka. “For me to act in this regard, a request should be made by his family members Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lankan Minister, Iranian Envoy Agree on Expanding Media Cooperation
TEHRAN (FNA)- Sri Lanka’s Mass Media and Information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella met with Iranian Ambassador to the South Asian nation Mohammad Nabi Hasaki to discuss cooperation between the two countries in the field of media. Following the meeting, Rambukwella told reporters that the Iranian and Sri Lankan governments have agreed to exchange knowledge and technology in the fields of media and filming industry. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakistan wants strong economic ties with Lanka
Pakistan has sought stronger economic ties with Sri Lanka so as to enhance trade between the two countries. President Asif Ali Zardari said Pakistan values its ties with Sri Lanka which are based on mutual trust and shared interests in maintaining regional peace, security and stability, reported Associated Press of Pakistan. Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lankan Govt. approves building of 35 five star hotels
Sri Lankan Government has given permission to set up 35 five star hotels across the country, said a media report. According to the report, the Government has approved setting up of eleven five star hotels in Colombo and another 24 in outstation areas. Minister Basil Rajapaksa has said, out of the 24 five star hotels that will come up in outstation areas, 14 will be built in Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts.“Each will get seven hotels” Read the rest of this entry »
SL only non-Muslim country which broadcasts Azan – Parliamentarian AHM Azwer
Sri Lanka is the only non-Muslim, country which allows broadcasting of Azam-Call for Prayers – daily in the national radio, said Al Haj. A.H.M. Azwer, Member of Parliament. He was addressing the Opening Sessions of the world Muslim Congress Conference at Hotel Ramada recently Azwer said a united and concerted effort must be made by the World Muslim and Arab countries to thwart the conspiracies hatched by the so-called super powers to decimate Muslim countries and to eliminate world Muslim leadership. This can be dangerous to other countries in the region. Read the rest of this entry »
Govt-TNA talks: Where are the Muslim politicians?
By Latheef Farook
Where are the Muslim parliamentarians and what about the burning issues facing the Muslim community? This is the question raised in many Muslim circles following reports of talks between the government and the Tamil National Alliance aimed at solving the problems of Tamils. However, Muslim politicians, it appears, have not even woken up from their long slumber, leave alone highlighting the grievances of Muslims. One after the other, individually and collectively, Muslim politicians struck deals and joined the government stating that there was “no point wasting time with a weak opposition, Read the rest of this entry »
Free University Education to be stopped
By M.Omar
With the economy dwindling and Sri Lanka trying to move away from being a third world country, Sri Lanka needs to revamp its educational policy and progress from being a “Welfare State’. One of the key changes that need to take place is to change the free university educational policy. This might come as a shock to some but stopping this would only be beneficial to all
Sri Lankan universities today generate low caliber graduates, who not only get a free education on tax payer’s money but in return have nothing to offer those who paid for their education. Read the rest of this entry »
Religious leaders’ contribution to co-existence important
The significance of consulting religious leaders in efforts to foster co-existence among communities as well as in development was stressed at a discussion between representatives of the Congress of Religions and President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees, Tuesday(8).
The talks focused on working out a home-grown resolution to the North and East, convening religious leaders in those areas and holding discussions with them, initiating an appropriate program to foster harmony among communities with the help of religious leaders, Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lanka can be Islamic finance hub for South Asia: official
Zulfath Saheed: Sri Lanka’s Islamic finance sector, ideally positioned between capital flows of the Middle East and East Asia, has the potential to become an Islamic finance hub, particularly for the South Asian region, said an industry official.“What Hong Kong is to China, Sri Lanka can be to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in terms of the (Islamic) banking hub,” said Reyaz Mihular, partner at KPMG Ford, Rhodes, Thornton & Co. Read the rest of this entry »
Turkish will not allow Israel to export natural gas to Europe
Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says the country will not allow Israel to export natural gas to Europe through Turkish territory. “We can’t ignore the fact that Israel has killed nine Turkish nationals… oil and natural gas are not everything,” Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted the energy minister as saying on Friday.
Yildiz added that Europe is the best market for the energy resources Israel has found under the seabed, but noted that Israel would need Turkey to export the natural gas. Read the rest of this entry »
‘US flag-bearer of global terrorism’
Iran’s Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajeddini has described the United States as the “flag-bearer” of global terrorism. Iran has well-founded documents of more than 100 acts of terror carried out by the US across the globe, Mir-Tajeddini said on Friday.
Mir-Tajeddini added that the US has always proved that it is a sponsor of terrorism, IRNA reported. Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei first revealed on Wednesday that Iran is in possession of 100 documents indicating US involvement in terrorist acts. Read the rest of this entry »
The Northern muslims commemorate 21 Black October
The month of October is historic for the Northern Muslims of Sri Lanka – on this day, in 1990, the Tamil Tigers completed forcibly eviction of Northern Muslims from Northern districts of Sri Lanka – Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu, Mannar and Vavuniya. Today, the lives of these Muslims, who have been displaced for 21 years, they commemorate 21 Black October.
The northern Muslims who were forcibly evicted by the LTTE complete 21 years as IDPs today. Black October is an unforgettable part of Sri lankan Muslim history. Read the rest of this entry »
Israel is destroying America, period
By Khalid Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem
There is no doubt that one of the main reasons for America’s phenomenal economic and financial problems, which affect America’s overall global standing, has to do with the so-called Israeli factor. I know it is politically incorrect to say so, especially in an electioneering atmosphere.None the less, knowing and telling the truth shall set us all free.
President Obama admitted recently that the US is facing the severest economic crisis ever since the great depression. However, like most of his predecessors and nearly all Read the rest of this entry »
Tayyip Erdogan’s mother passed away, may Allah have mercy on her
Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un: A prayer took place at Istanbul’s Fatih Mosque on Saturday for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s mother Tenzile Erdoğan who passed away on Friday. The prayer was attended by President Abdullah Gül, Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, members of the cabinet, deputies and other dignitaries.
Tenzile Erdoğan had died of acute cholecystitis Friday morning at Medipol Hospital where she was receiving treatment for some time. She was hospitalized with stomach ache and high fever on Sept. 30. Read the rest of this entry »
Muslim shrine demolished, and even Defence Secretary is angry!
It could have been Sri Lanka’s shameful episode of Ayodya (Babri Masjid), unleashed in the sacred Buddhist land of Anuradhapura. (In 1992, in India, over 2,000 people died in ensuing religious violence after an ancient mosque built in a disputed site in Ayodya was destroyed by Hindu mobs)
Early this month, a rampaging mob led by a Buddhist monk demolished a Muslim shrine in Anuradhapura. The attackers Read the rest of this entry »
Obama’s UN speech is unjust, immoral and unprincipled
By Khalid Amayreh
President Obama’s speech at the United Nation’s General Assembly was probably appropriate for an opportunistic politician who sacrifices honesty, morality, and basic ethics for the sake of making some momentary profit here or there. But it was by all means inappropriate, to say the least, for a statesman, let alone the President of the strongest nation on earth.
Obama’s excessive praise of Israel caricatured an insecure president that fears telling the truth, a leader that shakes at the very thought of uttering the “wrong words” even when these wrong words happen to represent the heart, soul and essence of the truth. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama: America’s ‘first Jewish president’?
Obama is the “the first Jewish President”. That’s the title of New York magazine’s lead article, written by John Heilemann and quoting a major Obama fundraiser. Listening to Obama speak at the United Nations on Wednesday many would nod in agreement, not less in Palestine and the Arab world.
The US President has embraced the rejectionist Israeli position on the question of international recognition of an independent Palestinian state. But that’s not a Jewish position. It’s a radical Zionist position. Many Jews, including US and Israeli Jews, do not embrace such extremist views. more..
Defiant Ahmadinejad prompts UN walkout
Iranian leader accuses US and others of racism, colonialism, war-mongering and blames them for financial crisis: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, has accused the United States of using the September 11, 2001, attacks as a pretext to launch wars on Iraq and Afghanistan.
He also attacked the US for its history of slavery, causing two world wars, using a nuclear bomb against “defenceless people,” and imposing and supporting military dictatorships and totalitarian regimes on Asian, African and Latin American nations. Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lanka clarifies fate of destroyed Muslim shrine
By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo: Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has clarified earlier reports about the fate of a Muslim shrine destroyed by a crowd of Buddhist monks.
The shrine in the town of Anuradhapura was demolished by the monks earlier this month. Mr Rajapaksa told the BBC he could not order the structure to be rebuilt, as was reported earlier. Read the rest of this entry »
Sri Lanka’s pilgrim quota increased
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS RIYADH: Saudi authorities have raised Sri Lanka’s quota for the upcoming Haj to 3,800 pilgrims, which is an increase of 1,000 over the allotted number, the country’s new consul general in Jeddah Adam Bawa Uthumalebbe told Arab News on Saturday.
Uthumalebbe, who succeeded Sabarullah Khan, assumed duties at the Jeddah consulate last week. Prior to his posting in the Kingdom, Uthumalebbe was the chairman Read the rest of this entry »
Moulana wields axe at Mervin
Western Province Governor and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) veteran Alavi Moulana warned today that Minister Mervin Silva would face major problems if he tried to stop the animal sacrifices that will be performed by the Muslim community on the eve of the Haj festival.
“If Minister Mervin Silva who prevented the ritualistic animal sacrifice at a temple in Chilaw tries his antics on the Muslims who will sacrifice animals for Kurban, they will take to the streets in protest,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Razed Sri Lankan Muslim shrine to be rebuilt
By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo: Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, has ordered the reconstruction of a Muslim shrine recently destroyed by Buddhist monks.
Mr Rajapaksa told a delegation of prominent Muslims the shrine will be rebuilt after Buddhist monks led a crowd in tearing it down nine days ago. The monk who led the demolition said the shrine was built on land given to Buddhists 2,000 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Moragoda launches roadmap for betterment of Muslims
Milinda Moragoda, the UPFA mayoral candidate for Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) who launched a roadmap for the betterment of Muslim community in Colombo City yesterday pledged that he would not allow anyone to violate the rights of any ethnic or religious group living in the city.
He also pledged to create an understanding of the Muslim culture within the other communities, and to introduce facilities for the Muslims to obtain vocational training. Mr. Moragoda said he would work with Muslim religious bodies Read the rest of this entry »
British Education and Career Suicide
Omar Mohammed
The notion of adding a qualification such as an ACMA, BA, MBA, PHD after ones name and adding an Al HAJ before the name has been the latest craze amongst the Muslims living in Sri Lanka. Education is sought after not for knowledge but merely for economic gains, prestige and status. This is absolutely against the Islamic view.
The British qualification has gained much prominence in our society but the Ummah fails to realize the underling agenda behind the British educational system . Read the rest of this entry »
SLMC Displeased With Blake
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) has expressed its dissatisfaction over the failure of US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake to meet with any Muslim political leaders during his official visit to the country.
The SLMC has said that Blake should have met the Muslim political representatives if the US was keen on discussing a solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic issue. Read the rest of this entry »
