Former Minister of Muslim Religious Affairs tells PCoI he was ignorant about extremism here

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Former Minister of Muslim Religious Affairs, M. H.A. Haleem yesterday told the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks that although he had heard about the National Thowheed Jamaat (NTJ) by 2014, he didn’t think it was a violent organisation.

He said so when he was asked by the Counsel representing the Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, whether he had been aware of the NTJ during his tenure as Minister. Haleem also said that he didn’t know about Zahran before the Easter Sunday attacks.

Haleem said that he had not known what had happened in Kattankudy until the Easter Sunday attacks.

The lawyer representing Archbishop of Colombo: “There was a clash between the NTJ members and those of Sunnath Wal Jamaat on 10 March 2017 at Aliyar Junction, Kattankudy. Were you not aware of this?”

Haleem: “No. Perhaps local political leaders may have told higher-ups about the threats posed by the NTJ. But I was not informed.”

The lawyer representing Archbishop of Colombo then asked Haleem if he had been aware of a speech made by former Justice Minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapakse about ISIS activities in Sri Lanka. Haleem said that he had spoken to Muslim religious leaders, Muslim intellectuals and even law enforcement agencies but they all had assured him that there was no evidence of ISIS activity in Sri Lanka.

Haleem also said that there were too many mosques and Moulavis in Sri Lanka and added that six months after the establishment of a mosque, the trustees could request registration.

“There are too many mosques and these have also caused issues in the community. Many mosques are unregistered and we don’t know whether they receive foreign funding or what they do. There are also too many moulavis. Some people with Moulavi qualifications are driving three-wheelers.”

The former minister added there was no need to register certain types of religious schools.

A Commissioner asked Haleem about the activities of the Thowheed Jamaat movement and whether it was a problem to inter-communal harmony.

Haleem: “They are also a problem in the Muslim community. They start mosques near other mosques and cause trouble.”

The former minister also said that there should not be any weapons in mosques. He said this responding to a question posed by the Attorney General’s Department representative, who told him that there was evidence that some NTJ members had imported swords from China and distributed them among mosques.