Sri Lanka News Updates with Discussions

By Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai

?The Government is actively giving patronage to the armed groups in the East, and allowing them to act with impunity. Many Muslim civilians have gone missing in several months? said Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.

The leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauff Hakeem met the journalists in Colombo at ?Thaarusalaam?-party headquarters on Thursday after crossing over to the Opposition in Parliament on Wednesday. The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has taken a decision to resign from the government and quit their ministerial portfolios over a slew of issues. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress has decided to support the Government from January 28th 2007 onwards.

The three members who crossed over along with the leader Rauff Hakeem were General Secretary of the party Hasan Ali, Chairman Bashir Segudawood and Ampara District Member of Parliament Faizal Cassim. Two other members and Deputy Ministers K. A. Baiz and M. Nijamudeen remain in the Government. The four members of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress were welcomed to the Opposition by thumping the desks and shaking hands by the Members of Parliament of the United National Party and Tamil National Alliance. United National Party Member of Parliament Lakshman Kiriella offered his front row seat to Rauff Hakeem.

He further clarified his party`s stand on crossing over to the journalists:

?My great leader used to say that, our party makes things happen. We like to see a paradigm shift in solving the national problem, not only the Muslim issue: and also of those Tamils. The issues pertaining to Northern and Eastern Muslims remain unresolved. There are huge issues pertaining to land, security, economic interest and our rights to exercise our religious freedom. The Government is trying to change the demography of the East through settlements and land grabbing.

We resigned from the government with dignity. People who have mandated us are happy about our decision. We will not join the Government again we are ready to face any challenge. Truth is the first victim in a war.


Stamped as traitors

We were called nationalists when we were with the Government, the moment we withdrew our support we are stamped as traitors. The Tamil National Alliance Members of Parliament are threatened. Recently relatives of the three Tamil National Alliance Members of Parliament went missing. My security was withdrawn soon after I resigned along with my fellow members. When I was in the Government I had 14 guards from Ministerial Security Division with vehicles, and 6 Special Task Force personnels. It was reduced to two few hours after I crossed over to the Opposition. I made a complaint and I have 5 guards from Ministerial Security Division. Each of my fellow members who resigned from the Government is provided with only two Police constables. Removing the security is a violation of human rights.

Muslims have to go back to Saudi Arabia

It`s noted with deep regret that a Venerable Buddhist monk made a statement recently stating that the Muslims are not citizens of this country. And we Muslims have to go back to Saudi Arabia.

Today, I stand before you to tell the truth about the doubts that I and members of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress had been entertaining during the past twelve months, as ministers and members of the ruling coalition.

Parted ways on principles

However I should emphasize the fact that it is with no malice or acrimony that I present my case and that my party will continue to maintain very healthy ties with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his ministers and members of the Government even in the future despite our decision to leave the Government. There are no hostilities between us. We have only parted ways on principles.

We behaved in the most diplomatic manner in the process of leaving the Government. As we promised, we have given adequate advance notice on our decision to quit expect the Government too to respond to our departure in a similar mature manner and take it in the spirit that we made the move.

All of you are aware the circumstances under which we became part of the Government. The decision was more to do with keeping the unity of the party than out of conviction that there would be room within this Government with its assortment of parties for us to get the basic demands of the Muslim community met.

As the leader of the party I had serious misgivings about the capability of this Government with its far right wing slant to address the grievances of minorities both Muslims and Tamils from the very outset.

Doubts and dilemmas shared

My friends in Parliament and outside are witnesses to the fact that even on the day that I joined the Government-January 28th 2007 to be precise, I shared my doubts and dilemmas with them. I told them that my stint in this Government is not going to last long and it is to prevent a split in the party that I was joining the Government. If one peruses the media interviews given by me during the last twelve months it will become clear that I have been maintaining this stance in almost all my media comments.

Despite all these uncertainties about the manner the Government would approach Muslim grievances we were dignified enough to abide by the collective responsibility. We defended the Government in the House and outside throughout our stint even putting the party`s credibility at stake on many occasions. Finally at the second reading of the Budget we kept our word and voted for the Budget.

While we were dutifully playing our part as an ally of the Government we were very much conscious of the growing restlessness among our own constituents. The delicate politics in the East is such that everyday new issues keep cropping up. There is slew of issues pertaining to land, security, and economic interest. In the case of land issues our people are facing problems that they have never faced before, making them feel that they are outcasts in their own lands.

Fear psychosis

On the other hand the Northern Muslims who have been languishing in Puttlam and neighbouring areas fro 17 long years are now expected to return to their places of origin without any security guarantees due to a fear psychosis among some members of the Government that a long term presence of my people in Puttlam would disturb the traditional demographic pattern of the area.

Besides the infringement of religious rights in the form of new noise pollution regulations is becoming a rancorous issue. The interpretation by my community was that the regulations were in violation of the core traditions of Islam. Our repeated request to remedy the situation have fallen on deaf ears.

No sympathy towards the minorities

My party was coming under tremendous pressure from my community to withdraw our support to the government. There was absolutely no hope in the horizon for the community under the present regime. The unpalatable reality about the Government is that its composition and power alignment are such it can make a very little progress in addressing the grievances of the minorities. Not only Muslims equally those of Tamils. Even though a few make some genuine efforts to resolve some of the issues those moves too are doomed to fall apart due to the imbalanced configuration.?

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem made a statement to the House on Wednesday Dec 12th, announcing the reasons which led to his party`s decision to resign from the Government. He quoted a famous American writer Mark Twain ?when in doubt tell the truth?.

Raising a privilege issue in Parliament today regarding reducing the security entitled to him and three of his fellow members, Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem vowed to go international on the matter if the security is not restored. ?The government is sponsoring illegal militant groups in East and the withdrawal of security has put the people`s representatives` lives in jeopardy? Rauff Hakeem said.