Hakeem rebukes Eastern Province CM for berating naval officer

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) chief and Lankan cabinet minister, Rauff Hakeem, has rebuked Eastern Province Chief Minister and party stalwart Naseer Ahamed, for publicly berating a naval officer at a function in Sampoor, an incident which triggered noisy protests by Lankan nationalist groups.

Speaking at a Muslim school function at Kinniya in the Eastern Province on Sunday, Hakeem said that intemperate words such as those employed by the CM will only give a handle to communal elements in the majority Sinhalese community to the detriment of the Muslims.

The Eastern CM had called a naval officer an “idiot” and asked him to “get out” in front of TV cameras. After the video went viral on the net, the navy, army and air force took it up with the Defense Secretary who promptly ordered an indefinite Tri-Services boycott of the CM and barred him from entering their Establishments. The Eastern CM complicated matters further by describing the boycott as a “political one with broader implications.” 

-NIE
-Agencies