The National Peace Council of Sri Lanka has asked the government to reconsider the government’s comprehensive laws targeting the Muslim community and democracy.
They say the economic downturn generated by covid, the Easter bombing investigation, the sugar tax fraud and the UNHRC resolution on Sri Lanka need to be addressed very carefully.
The National Peace Council points out that the country is facing difficult challenges due to internal and external influences and that it will only increase the level of frustration in the society if the government is able to mobilize a consensus in the country that unites people of all ethnic and religious communities in a common position of unification. That these challenges can be better met.
The National Peace Council said that the government came to power at a time of high ethnic and religious polarization, further polarizing ethnic and religious communities, and that what is needed now is unity and solidarity for the common goal of improving the lives of all sections.
In this context, the National Peace Council emphasizes that the proposed laws banning the wearing of the burqa and the closure of 1,000 Muslim madrassas on the grounds of national security should be reconsidered and that these proposed laws would have a broad and cultural and religious rights effect. Wear can be regulated so that the identity of the wearer can be verified at security checkpoints and the madrasa can be monitored as required instead of registering with the education authorities. That there should be equal provisions for enrollment in Sunday schools of other religions without discrimination.
He said the National Peace Council (NPC) was also concerned about the government’s proposed radicalization law for government officials detaining and sending people to rehabilitation centers on suspicion of preparing for violence or spreading unrest among communities, and that such a law could be severely abused.
This is tantamount to giving the state authorities an arbitrary weapon that could undermine the country’s democracy and freedom of speech, and the National Peace Council calls on the government to reconsider all three proposed laws.