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| Sunday, 24 October 2004 |
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Forum of Muslim Parliamentarians : Presenting a united front by Rashomi Silva Amidst common complaints that post-Ashraff Muslim politics is deeply divided and had left the community at the mercy of the major political actors Muslim legislators from all political parties represented in Parliament got together under the leadership of Environment Minister A. H. M. Fowzie recently to talk about issues concerning the community. The policy of the Muslims polity ever since Sri Lanka gained independence was to involve themselves in the national polity and bargain to the best of the community. They (Muslims) were found in both major political parties and held responsible portfolios in every cabinet.
However, increasing hostility of the Tamil-military nationalism and the ethnic cleansing by the LTTE in North-East increased the need for a separate ethnic party. Muslim youths who had suffered immensely at the hands of Tamil military nationalism, equally disappointed with the post Ashraff political leadership organised and armed themselves to protect what they called 'there community from the brutality of the LTTE' giving birth to a new form of Muslim nationalism creating fresh concerns and fears in the political spheres. The Muslim community has several major issues that demand serious attention. Settlement of land question, a Muslim representation at talks, power sharing arrangement in North and East and security concerns of the Muslims. But apparently what is happening today is the Muslim leadership, rather than concentrating on the present is dwelling on the past. And past problems may in fact create fresh problems. Certain segment of National political parties as well as the regional political parties have made their own contribution to the confusion to gain political advantage from the unfortunate crisis. Sunday Observer sounded out the opinion of peace activists and the leaders of the Muslim community on their views about the priorities of the community at this juncture of the peace process. A. H. M. Fowzie, Minister of Environment and the Convenor of the Forum of Muslim Parliamentarians: "I should say the first day of the forum was a success, where we had a representation of almost all political parties in the Parliament. We moved a resolution to accommodate a separate Muslim delegation at future peace talks. We informed President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on the resolution that was passed at the Forum and the Secretary General of the SCOPP Dr. Jayantha Danapala wrote to us asking us to take up the issues at the next meeting of the National Advisory council. We are also hoping to discuss other issues which would have an impact on the community at large such as education, when the forum meets next time. Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Head of the Political Science Department, Colombo University: Prudent management of the Sinhala-Tamil-Muslim relations is crucial for the success of any ethnic conflict. In fact the Eastern province with its almost equal demographic presence of Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese has a marked difference with other regions with similar ethnic composition. Sri Lankan Muslim politics in general is in deep crisis. After Minister Ashraff's sudden death the community leadership remains intensely divided. There seems to exist a great deal of personal bitterness and animosity, particulary among the recently emerged young Muslim political leaders. These divisions have also pushed Muslim politics to the mercy of major political actors. In this background it is very much for the interest of the community all Muslim legislators decided to form a united front to discuss the concerns of the community. Among the Muslim youths in the Eastern province as well as those who have grown up in refugee camps, there is a tremendous frustration about their community's political leaders. The gap keeps widening between the existing Muslim leadership and the new generation of the Muslim youth who have experienced the harsh and violent conditions of war. Some even have begun to talk about the need for a 'Muslim Prabhakaran.' Prabhakaran or not, there is indeed the possibility of a radical and uncompromising political leadership emerging in Post Ashraff Muslim Politics of Sri Lanka. It is essential to draw the attention of the Government and the LTTE to the power sharing mechanism in North-East, specially in the North. the common complain of the Muslims of the North is that National Muslim leadership is concentrating on the East and have forgotten the Muslims of the North. The bottom line however is that Sri Lanka has a tripartite ethnic conflict which need a tripartite settlement. Kabir Hashim, United National Front MP, Kegalle district: He referred to the formation of the United Muslim MPs front as a ground breaking move. "It was interesting to observe that all MPs irrespective of their political affiliation were present at the opening forum. We are at a critical juncture today and when the talks re-start we need to have a united front to voice the interests of the community. "We all agreed on the necessity of sending a sperate Muslim delegation for the talks as the delegation would be able to raise issues such as land, display people and power sharing at a final and interim arrangement". "Apart from the national issues and the peace process, we are also hoping to discuss other concerns of the community. For example under the UPFA government we do not have Muslim Affairs Ministry, and we are hoping to take this issues up in a next meeting". Hasan Ali, General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress: Talking about the priorities of the community at this juncture he said his party had repeatedly emphasised the need to give the Muslim Community the status of an equal state holder in the process. "Parliamentarians of all political parties agreed on the issues," he said. "The SLMC believes the power sharing in the North-East should be based on community basis. The Muslims in North and East had faced many trials and tribulations. When talking about the community concerns one cannot overlook the emotional aspect of the people who were chased away from there own houses in less than 24-hours. They had to leave all their earnings behind, and live like refugees for a great part of their lives. We also see lot of disparity in the land issues where over 40,000 Muslim people live in less than 30 square kilometres, whilst in the same province some 10,000 families live in 600 sq. km. of land. |
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