Fisheries Minister Rajitha Senarathne has been selected to deliver the keynote speech at the National Shoora Council meeting which is to be held in Colombo on August 13.

 The Bodu Bala Sena organization, a few weeks ago, demanded the government to ban National Shoora Council on the grounds that it supports Muslim extremism and terrorism in Sri Lanka. Minister Senaratne is known to be a strong critique of the Bodu Bala Sena and hardcore Sinhala-Buddhist organizations.

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However, the National Shoora Council (NSC), calls itself as a grouping of national level Muslim organisations, professionals, academics and activists.

Shura is an Arabic term stands for ‘discussion’ and according to the council, the objective of the establishment of the Shura is “unifying the Muslim community in times of controversies, brushing away their individual and organizational differences and agendas, acting with forbearance while giving prominence to the common good of the Motherland upholding the values of religious tolerance and peaceful co-existence as well as participatory democracy.”

BBS Chief Executive Officer Dilantha Withanage, addressing a press briefing in colombo, lashed out at the organization saying  the Shoora Council is similar to parliament in Muslim countries.

“In some countries it enforces and enacts laws. Why do we need such a council here? Who mediated to establish this council in our country? How was it established? A national council should be approved by parliament. This is an unregistered illegal organisation and should be banned, considering the threat it could pose to the security of the country in the future,” Withanage said.