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| Sunday, 17 July 2005 |
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Prime Minister assures protection of Muslim Rights by Anura Maitipe The government will not allow a group of community to dictate terms to another group. I assure you the government will protect the rights of the Muslim community in the North and East, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse told at 10th Annual convention of Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum yesterday. The Muslim community has certain grievances over P-TOMS and they have made several proposals to the government and we would rectify these shortcomings through dialogue. And while there is a court order I do not want to comment on this issue, he added. The media institutions also have a great responsibility in solving this issue. And they should not compete against each other to gain more readership or an audience at the expense of national issues done by certain political parties to gain power, he noted. Members of Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) will play a greater role in this issue. Because members of SLMMF are not limited to one language or one media institution. In this context I greatly appreciate the services rendered by the SLMMF to build harmony among the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim community, he pointed out. Media personnel should also play a key role in creating peace,protecting the environment and governance. The tsunami was the biggest disaster ever we faced in recent history and one percent of the total victims were Muslims. Therefore the media personnel should educate all communities to move into common front while respecting the cultural identity of others to overcome this tragedy, he urged. Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao, the SLMMF President N.M. Ameen, General Secretary F.M. Fairoos, PC Faiz Mustafa also addressed this convention. |
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