Viewpoint by Dr. Ameer Ali
A modern Muslim university is an absolute need of our time, and it will be a sound first step to reform even the madrasas eventually, writes Dr. Ameer Ali, a lecturer in economics at the School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia. The aborted university project in Punanai, a small hamlet in Sri Lanka’s Batticaloa district was a golden opportunity squandered by abuse of political power, subservience to Wahhabism and hunger for profit, he adds.
PERTH (IDN) – About three years ago when passing through Punanai along the arterial road between Habarana and Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, I noticed a few brick structures appearing in a parched land amid thick shrubs and woody trees. It was almost a desolate spot where I could not see any people living close by.