Ali Zahir Moulana: ‘We have a long way to go to combat ignorance and racism’

COLOMBO: “Sri Lankans still have a long way to go to combat ignorance and racism,” said former Sri Lanka Muslim Congress MP Ali Zahir Moulana.

He tweeted on Tuesday: “The comments on the @Dailymirror_SL article on Talaimannar being chosen as the possible burial site for COVID victims show the grim reality of how deeply divided our country is. We still have a long way to go to combat ignorance & racism. Facts alone are just not enough.”

His reaction follows a report in Sri Lankan English daily Daily Mirror that Talaimannar had been proposed to bury Muslim coronavirus victims and subsequent comments on it in social media.

The Daily Mirror claimed that government sources said that Talaimannar island had been proposed as the safest option considering some concerns raised by certain experts.

A source, cited by the Daily Miror, said that when the matter was discussed by the cabinet last week most of the cabinet Ministers had agreed to the proposal.

The government is under pressure from the international community to permit the burial of Muslim coronavirus victims, said the report.