The main Muslim clergy body in Sri Lanka, the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, has asked stores to sell halal products to Muslims only, after Buddhist protests against the sale of halal meat.
The AFP reported that the group asked retailers to offer “separate shelves” for Muslims and non-Muslims.
"We want to promote peaceful co-existence and harmony," ACJU president Mufti Rizwe told reporters in Colombo.
Last week, thousands of Buddhists protested against the sale of halal meat. Monks who were speaking at the rally also attacked Islamic practices, such as clothing, calling them “gorilla” outfits.
"More than 90 percent of the population are Buddhists, Hindus and Christian and therefore there is no justification to force them to eat halal products," Buddhist monk Kirama Wimala Jothi said in a statement.
Bodu Bala Sena’s general secretary Venerable Galaboda Aththe Gnanasara, told the crowds that "only monks can save” the Sinhalese race, reported the BBC.
"Our country is a Sinhalese one and we are its unofficial police," he said.
“From today onwards, each of you must become an unofficial civilian police force against Muslim mannerism. These so-called democrats are destroying the Sinhala race,”
Another monk said:
“This is a Sinhala country; there is a global principle that minorities must reside in a country in a manner that does not threaten the majority race and its identity.”
‘This is a Government created by Sinhala Buddhists and it must remain Sinhala Buddhist.This is a Sinhala country, Sinhala Government. Democratic and pluralistic values are killing the Sinhala race.”
Neo-fascism on the rise in Sri Lanka - Gulf News (23 Feb 2013)
