Colombo, 2007 Nov 11, IQNA/The Nation

By Kushali Atukorale

Sri Lankan Muslim religious and civil organizations are contemplating their next step, following last week’s Supreme Court order which banned the usage of loudspeakers from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., which has also enraged the community.

The Nation reliably learns that representatives from some 35 mosques in the Eastern Province will congregate at the Sammanthurai Grand Mosque to discuss necessary legal measures to be taken against this ruling.

Mosques in Colombo are also expected to meet in the coming days to discuss the issue.

Colombo Grand Mosque General Secretary Nazushan Hassen told The Nation that following the Supreme Court ruling, Muslims have been deprived of their early morning call for prayer, an age old tradition dating back to thousands of years.

Following the court ruling, the prayer at dawn has been the worst affected as this is usually called at around 5 a.m.

Federation of All Mosques and Organizations in Eastern Province Secretary S.H. Abdul Razik told The Nation that mosques in the east will be holding a special meeting today to discuss their next step, such as whether they could seek legal redress or make an appeal to the authorities urging them to relax the banning for mosques as the daybreak call for prayer does not take more than three minutes.

Senior government minister A.H.M. Fowzie was of the view that the court ruling not only affected Muslims but also other religions as well.

Meanwhile, UNP MP Kabir Hashim emphasized that in the event the community was looking at taking steps against this new regulation, it should be a “collective effort” rather than an individual effort to find a solution to the problem.

“Not only Muslims but people of other religions too have been effected by the decision made by the SC. Therefore, we have to see it as a problem for all rather than dividing it among the religions,” Hashim told The Nation.

He pointed out that sound pollution is not an issue which is limited to Sri Lanka only, but other countries as well. However, he added there are many more important measures that needed to be taken to curb sound pollution and the mere banning of prayer calls would not solve the problem.