World Muslim League (WML) General Secretary Dr. Mohammad Bin Abdoulkarim Alissa yesterday (1) said he was unaware of any criticism about the donation of USD 5 million to a charity fund to help the affected in the Easter Sunday attacks.
“I haven’t heard such allegations or claims from any Muslim authorities; the money was given to the charity fund that would help those affected in the recent terrorist attacks. The fund will receive more donations as time goes. It will be audited by the government as well,” he said.
He said he emphasised on condemning terrorism and extremism when he met Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith.
“I condemned ideology and extremism and highlighted the importance of co-existence and harmony. We reviewed the common values he had together, and if we work on 10 per cent of the similarities of what we reviewed can live in peace and harmony,” he said.
“The WML deals with many things. If there is a need to open a branch in Sri Lanka we will do that and see how conducive the environment is for the league to be in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, we would like to have a centre for everyone to engage in dialogue,” he said.
He said that it is important to teach the religion moderately at religious schools.
“It’s important to have religious teachings to a certain level without isolating children from the rest of the environment. School curriculums should teach values of co-existence and integration with other communities and religions. It’s very important to learn tolerance and acceptance from an early age,” he said.
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