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Ali Zahir Moulana

29 Dec, 13 tweets, 3 min read

With increasing domestic pressure and indisputable evidence provided by internationally accredited experts, the Government has now appointed a new 11 member expert committee on 24.12.2020 comprised of reputed virologists and qualified experts. (1)

The stated position which has been disclosed repeatedly by the President, PM & Health Minister since the beginning of COVID-19 regarding permitting burials is to “go with the recommendations of the experts”. (2)

Similarly, the stance of the Muslim community since the very beginning has been that IF science proves that burial is harmful, THEN we will cease our claims immediately, as we do not wish to cause harm to anyone.

This has been conveyed to to all officials and the public. (3)

Over the last 10 months, science has proven overwhelmingly that in 194 countries and at least 1.5 million COVID-19 burials worldwide, there is no tangible evidence that burial is harmful. (4)

The formation of this new expert committee is due to the fact that it has now been proven overwhelmingly that the previous committee’s recommendations are disputed and were based largely on “unknowns”, with lack of substantial evidence to prove or disprove its recommendations.(5)

Such recommendations were also not available in the public domain for the aggrieved Muslim community to consume.

If such information was valid, then it should have been made available so that we can accept it & agree with the stance of the Government. Nothing was provided. (6)

Now, I place my full confidence in science and in the reputation of the members of this new committee.

I also place confidence in the fact that the President, PM & Health Minister have stated repeatedly that they will act in accordance to the recommendations of the experts.(7)

I’d like to believe that this new committee’s findings is based purely on SCIENCE and supplemented by the recommendations provided by international organizations & experts who have ruled clearly that burial does not create a risk to contaminate groundwater or spread COVID-19. (8)

Their report is now completed and is due to be presented on 30.12.2020 to the President via the Health Ministry.

I sincerely hope it will be presented in its full form, without any last-minute changes or deletions. (9)

As such, I only ask that the President, Prime Minister and Health Minister act as promised, with the recommendations of the new expert committee, and pass the requisite legislation in keeping with this report by this new committee. (10)

I also request this report be made available to the public via the Health Ministry or Presidential Secretariat after its submission.

I ask this on behalf of my entire distressed community to give us solace, and on behalf of those aggrieved families, to give them closure.(11)

Moreover, this will largely assist in assuaging the prevailing distrust and fear between affected communities and the authorities, which will greatly contribute towards COVID-19 mitigation and controlling the spread throughout Sri Lanka. We can fight this together! (12)

I place my trust and faith that after an exhausting, grueling, heartbreaking 10 months of struggling for basic human rights, science and humanity will finally prevail. God Willing. (13)

#StopForcedCremations

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More from @alizmoulana

Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

27 Dec

Since the beginning of our struggle against forced cremations last March, amongst many others, there have been several individuals in the media fraternity both locally & internationally, who did not hesitate to be ambassadors for the truth and take this struggle to the world.

While this injustice is far from over, I wish to sincerely convey my appreciation to all of you for being our voice. Thank you for doing the right thing and being honourable, steadfast and righteous in your own right, helping our continued struggle to #StopForcedCremations!

@munza14

I apologize in advance as I will miss out on tagging everyone, and some are not on this platform.

@munza14 @sarojpathi @Meerasrini @tingilye @ShereenaQazi @MarianneDavid24 @kataclysmichaos @AzzamAmeen @MarianneDavid24 @Abihabib @ChandaniKirinde @amrutabyatnal @sunandadesh

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Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

11 Dec

I have noticed that a lot of the discourse on social media consists of blaming the 6.9 million Sri Lankans that voted this Govt into power, for the prejudice and bigotry of today. Don’t. In my opinion, they are not to be blamed. They should in fact be pitied. They were duped.

They are victims of and are a direct result of the fear factory engineered, produced and directed by this Government, equally shrewd politicians and certain biased media outlets to wield power, influence and manipulate public opinion.

They are our fellow Sri Lankans. Instead of blaming them, educate them. Take time out of your day to show your neighbour, friend or co-worker facts & figures. With the advent of social media, engagement is much easier.

Read 7 tweets

Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

10 Dec

Spoke to Fahim, the distraught father of Shaykh, the 20 day old infant who was forcibly cremated yesterday. Upon arriving at LRH at 10 pm on Monday night, the baby was subject to antigen testing which indicated positive, while both himself & his wife’s results were negative. (1)

Fahim, bewildered by the fact that his baby’s results were positive and his & his wife’s (who was breastfeeding the infant) was negative, also heard that antigen testings usually result in false positives. He then requested from the doctor to conduct a PCR test on the child. (2)

The doctor refused & told Fahim to do so privately. Fahim is a three-wheel driver who has been living in a lockdown area for nearly a month and has no income. However, through a few phone calls he managed to get confirmation from people who were willing to pay for the PCR. (3)

Read 13 tweets

Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

31 Oct

It is truly disheartening that today’s 20th reported COVID death and the two prior to that were all Muslims, and the remains were cremated. By all means, this pandemic must be brought under control and the Muslim community has given its utmost cooperation. All we have asked...1/7

...is for a dignified burial be afforded to the deceased in keeping with international norms, guidelines and regulations practiced worldwide. Why Sri Lankan health regulations maintain an exception to this is baffling given all of this. Given the non-cooperation of...2/7

...health authorities in this matter, myself and several others filed Fundamental Rights petitions in the Supreme Court last May naming the Minister of Health, DGHS, Attorney General and others as respondents. The next court date is scheduled for Nov 26th but given that...3/7

Read 7 tweets

Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

14 Jun

Vote buying. Bribery. Corruption. Practices that have become commonplace in our democracy and our electoral processes. Practices that have increased with intensity rather than reduced. This being my 7th Parliamentary election, I have witnessed over time how it has evolved...(1)

...with vigor and effectively eroded not just the principles and established practices of how voters chose their representatives, but also led to poor governance in all our levels of government...(2)

I am fed up and frustrated. My district of Batticaloa is one of the poorest in the country with a populace that has been ravaged by civil wars and natural disasters alike. (3)

Read 19 tweets

Ali Zahir Moulana

@alizmoulana

4 Jun

The news of the brutal assault by police on Thariq Ahamed, a 14 year old autistic boy of Dharga Town, Aluthgama is shocking and the prejudice that ensued after by the Police and the JMO needs to be exposed. Thariq was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder since he was 4..(1)

... and his development has been hindered by it since. Today, he has the capacities of a 6 year old child. On the 25th of May, while curfew was imposed, Thariq had wandered out of his house on his bicycle and had ventured by the Ambagaha Junction in Dharga Town where there..(2)

...was a police checkpoint manned by 6-7 policemen. He was first stopped and accosted by a policeman in civvies, and pushed violently off his bicycle. Thariq, being autistic, naturally was not able to effectively communicate who he was and what he was doing there. Further...(3)