


COLOMBO : Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya said here on Saturday,Sept.28 that such incident as ‘forced cremation’ which affected the Muslim community, will never recur in future.
The premier who visited the Katukelle mosque and Harmony Center in Kandy was responding to a speech made by the Mosque President Afzal Markar.
In his speech, Marikar pointed out : “ I also take this opportunity to present you a book called ‘Oddamavadi. ‘The Untold Story
This book and a film that we produced gives an agonizing story we all Muslim in this country underwent during the Covid epidemic. Our community had to undergo this tragic period where the government and some professionals connived to do injustice to the community by cremating the victims even though the WHO gave directions to bury. However, he said , later almost 3400 bodies were transported to oddamavaadi for burial under dire stress and difficulty. We hope that we as community and as Sri Lankans will never undergo an episode of this nature in the future ever which was fabricated without any scientific evidence or advice very unjustly. “
The Katukelle mosque is a significant and historic mosque in Kandy’ it hosts the first Harmony Centre in the area attracting people of all faiths and beliefs to learn about us and our beliefs. The Katukelle mosque also runs a school or Madrasa as it is called in Arabic, where we have about 150 students with residential facilities. Students learn the Holy Quran, the teachings of our Holy Prophet and the Arabic language whilst preparing themselves to sit for the GCE ol examinations conducted by the ministry of education.
And fully equipped computer learning center. The mosque host a ladies prayer hall a funeral parlour for both men and women, making it convenient to conduct funeral rites to all those who do not have sufficient facilities in their homes to attend to them.
Attendees at the event included members of the All Ceylon Jamiyathul Ulema, the clerics, members of all the masjid federations member’s of the Kandy and Katukelle YMMA s members of the Kandy Muslim Traders association and many professional members of our community specially persons attached to the Kandy and Peradeniya general hospitals the university as well various various professional traders.