response to the article "Rising Muslim militancy foreshadows another disaster"

1.
August
22nd
2013
The
Chief
Editor
The
Nation
No.742
Maradana
Road,
Colombo
10,
Dear
Sir
Re:
Rising
Muslim
militancy
foreshadows
another
disaster
It
is
regrettable
that
your
esteemed
Newspaper
of
August
18th
2013
has
published
an
unsigned
article
with
the
above
caption
with
racist
overtones
and
malice
against
the
Muslim
Community
of
Sri
Lanka.
In
the
absence
of
a
name
for
the
writer,
the
editor
has
to
assume
full
responsibility
for
the
article.
Your
newspaper
has
become
party
to
the
hate
mongering
and
racism
manifested
by
a
small
group
of
Sinhala
extremist
elements
that
have
targeted
the
Muslim
and
Christian
community
in
Sri
Lanka.
This
is
an
infringement
of
our
fundamental
rights
as
equal
citizens
enshrined
in
our
constitution.
The
government
of
Sri
Lanka
has
never
declared
any
form
of
Islamic
terrorism
or
militancy
in
any
part
of
the
country
and
it
is
a
figment
of
your
writer’s
imagination
that
there
is
or
has
been
any
form
of
Muslim
armed
groups
operating
amongst
the
Muslim
community.
Quoting
cables
from
the
US
embassy
in
Colombo
tantamount
to
rumor
mongering
without
any
substantiated
evidence.
If
there
had
been
any
form
of
Islamic
militancy,
our
armed
forces
that
fought
and
beat
the
world’s
most
ruthless
terrorist
force
mainly
due
to
their
highly
skilled
intelligence
network
would
have
taken
necessary
steps
to
eliminate
such
a
threat.

2.
The
Muslims
of
Sri
Lanka
with
a
long
history
of
over
a
thousand
years
in
this
country
have
made
valuable
contribution
to
the
Sri
Lankan
state.
The
Muslims
of
the
North
and
East
of
Sri
Lanka
faced
tremendous
hostilities
from
the
Liberation
Tigers
of
Tamil
Eelam
(LTTE)
because
of
their
loyalty
to
the
united
Sri
Lanka
concept.
The
Muslims
of
the
North
were
evicted
under
the
LTTE’s
ethnic
cleansing
process
in
1990
mainly
due
to
their
loyalty
to
the
country.
Twenty-­‐two
years
on
and
they
are
still
languishing
in
refugee
camps
in
different
parts
of
the
country.
Further,
a
number
of
brave
and
brilliant
Muslims
sacrificed
their
lives
in
the
tri-­‐forces
in
defense
of
our
nation.
It
is
sad
to
note
that
journalists
have
become
instruments
of
racism
and
hate
mongering.
As
a
journalist
and
media
entrepreneur
myself,
it
is
indeed
regrettable
that
our
hallowed
profession
has
become
pawns
in
the
hands
of
fascist
groups
hell
bent
on
destroying
the
ethnic
harmony
that
prevailed
within
our
communities.
I
sincerely
hope
that
you
will
refrain
from
publishing
such
biased
articles
in
your
esteemed
newspaper.
I
kindly
urge
you
to
publish
this
response
with
equal
prominence
as
the
original
article.
I
thank
you
for
your
kind
co-­‐operation.
With
Kind
regards
Hilmy
Ahamed
Member
Steering
Committee
of
MCSL