Sri Lankan government has issued guidelines to trustees of mosques

Sri Lankan government has issued guidelines to trustees of mosques not to engage in or permit any gathering to promote or propagate hatred or extremism in any form.

The Ministry of Muslim religious and cultural affairs issued a set of guidelines to all the trustees of mosques advising not to use mosques for radicalizing congregations. It said no group should be allowed to engage in such efforts and the relevant board of trustees will be held responsible if such a thing happens. The Muslim mosques have also been instructed to record Jummah prayers or other sermons within their premises and submit the copies of those to the Ministry. The guidelines also stipulate that mosques provide their full cooperation and support to the security forces in their efforts to eliminate terrorism. The government has already imposed ban on burqa and religious preaching which promotes terrorism. The guidelines came in wake of Easter Sunday attacks which killed over 258 people including 45 foreigners. Security forces have launched a countrywide crackdown on suspects and several cache of arms and explosives were seized since the attacks.