Fifty-seven top Sri Lankan Muslim academics, journalists, politicians, civil society leaders and human rights activists have appealed to the Lankan authorities to bring to book those who have been harassing and intimidating  Sharmila Seyyid for her writings against the Talibanisation of Lankan Muslim society.

Seeking a “thorough and fair” investigation into the complaints made on behalf of Sharmila, the signatories through the appeal have urged the authorities to hold those responsible for all the misconduct accountable. They also requested community religious leaders like the Jamaithul Ulema to take steps to “halt the targeting of fellow Muslims based on spurious religious justifications.”

The signatories said that there is a “critical need with Muslim community, for developing processes to respond to issues, not through harassment, but through a process of dialogue.”   

A single mother, young Sharmila from Eravur in the Eastern Province, is a poet, novelist, journalist and social worker.

She has been writing against the institution of purdah and the subjugation of women in Lanka.

What triggered the tirade against her was an interview given to BBC’s Tamil Osai in 2012 in which she said that the sufferings of prostitutes could be mitigated if prostitution was legalised. Arsonists attacked the educational institution she was running, and the social media was liberally used to tarnish her reputation. According to the media, this included an audio of a “lustful” conversation she had allegedly had with a top cop in Tamil Nadu and a picture of her battered “dead body” suggesting that death was in store for her. Forced to flee Lanka, Sharmila is still in exile.
(The New Indian Express)