The Bodu Bala Sena on Tuesday met with the governor of Sri lanka’s Central Bank, Arjuna Mahendran, to oppose the recent launch of Islamic financial services by a private bank.
General Secretary of the organisation Galagodaathe Gnanasara questioned why parliamentarians were quiet on the issue.
The prominent monk said Sharia Law had made its way into the school system as well as into the legal system smoothly, without being screened, and blamed the previous government for not taking action on "the spread of sharia law".
“We directly blame the previous government for not taking actions on the spread of Sharia Law as we showed them, who are behind these moves. An immediate discussion was called with the CB Governor to discuss the issue, which is a threat to Sri Lankan society,” he said, according to the Daily Mirror.
BBS Chief Executive Officer Dilantha Vithanage said to media outside the Central Bank that there was no legal basis to establish an Islamic, Sharia or Halal Banking system in the country.
“These banking systems had been introduced through the weak points after the Banking Act-2005 was amended. According to information, it had been clearly mentioned that the Islamic banking system is a part of the sharia law. Sharia law is not a law in Sri Lanka and this is totally against the banking law in Sri Lanka,” he said.
Under Islamic banking, activities are compliant with Sharia law, which prohibits the charging and receiving of interest. It is one of the fastest growing sectors of the global banking industry and is used in several countries which do not have a Muslim majority, including the UK.
BBS to meet Central Bank over Islamic finance (08 June 2015)