Colombo: Islamic clerics in Sri Lanka on Thursday tried to defuse mounting religious tensions over halal meat row in the majority Buddhist nation by advising traders to limit the sale of halal certified goods only to Muslims.
“We want to promote peaceful co-existence and harmony. That is why we are asking that halal certified products are not offered to non-Muslims,” Rizwe Mufthi, the president of All-Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama, Sri Lanka’s main body of Islamic clergy, told a Colombo press conference.
The ACJU’s move to calm the growing tension came after Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), or Buddhist Force, staged a rally on Saturday and issued an ultimatum that all halal certified goods must be taken off the market shelves by end of March.
The BSS said the non Muslims, mostly Buddhist, are being forced to consume food items certified halal, which is prepared according to Islamic religious rites.
The halal method of killing an animal requires it to have its throat slit. The BSS also accuses ACJU of making money in the practice of issuing halal certificates.
The traders, however, argue that halal certificate was needed for exports. The ACJU has now instructed the traders not to offer halal certified goods to non-Muslim customers.
The BSS held that almost 90 per cent of the population are non-Muslim and there was no justification in halal certified goods at super markets.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed a ministerial committee to look into the growing religious tensions.
The main opposition UNP has accused BSS of having covert blessings from the government for their campaign of Muslim hatred.
The BSS denies they are anti-Muslim. (PTI)
