No squabbles in Eastern Province administration:

Chief Minister's ethnicity no criterion - Dy. Minister Hisbullah

By P. Krishnaswamy

Deputy Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs and National Organiser of UPFA ally, All Ceylon People’s Congress (ACPC) M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, a veteran parliamentarian representing the Batticaloa constituency, told the Sunday Observer in an interview that their party will stand by the UPFA as ever before and contest the upcoming Eastern Provincial Council polls under UPFA symbol to ensure the overwhelming victory of the Government.

Many mega developments projects under ‘Mahinda Chintana’ providing much-improved infrastructure, health, education, irrigation and livelihood facilities have been implemented under the direct involvement of Minister of Economic Affairs Basil Rajapaksa and other key ministers, he said. Many far-reaching projects are under implementation. People of all three communities are living in peace and harmony and the Provincial Council, established four years ago, has also contributed immensely towards the economic and social uplift of the people, he said. He spoke on these and other current political issues.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: Fresh polls to the Eastern PC are round the corner with the expected dissolution of the Council at any moment. Being a constituent of the UPFA, will your party contest the polls as a UPFA ally?

A: We are always with the Government and we are working very closely with the UPFA. It will be so in the upcoming PC polls as well. We will assume responsibility to ensure the overwhelming victory of the government in the polls.

Q: The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is insisting on the re-unification of the Northern and Eastern provinces. Your position on that?

A: We will never allow the East to be merged with the North once again. At present the demographic percentage of the Muslim community stands at 39 % and they have considerable representation in the PC and the local government bodies, many of which are under their administration. Under a merged Northeastern province their demographic percentage will be reduced to a mere 17%. For this reason our late leader M.H.M.Ashraff vehemently opposed the merger. Peace and brotherhood among the three communities was restored after the de-merger , unlike during the three decades prior to that. There has been no communal tension or clashes ever since the establishment of the Eastern PC.

The Eastern PC is the best among all the nine PCs in the country. The PC and its cabinet are represented by all three communities. Every time there were sparks of minor tension, induced by interested elements, the elected representatives of the three communities have been able to nip it at the bud through discussions and appropriate action.

People do not want even to hear anyone talking about re-merger because they have their bitter experience. It is not unlikely that the Muslim youths will take to arms to prevent such a merger.

Q: Your observations on the development work carried out in the province since the establishment of a separate PC?

A: Anyone who visits the Eastern province will see for himself the many development projects that have been implemented.

Many more development works are taking place under President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ‘Mahinda Chintana’ , under the direction and involvement of Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa.

Other Cabinet ministers, including Irrigation and Water Resource Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva, Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, Education Minister Bandula Gunawardena and Health Minister Maitripala Sirisena have also contributed immensely towards the improvement of irrigation, water supply, electricity, health, education and infrastructure development. All parts of the province are developing fast.

All hospitals are functioning with some of them having been upgraded. All schools are also functioning. Electricity supply which was earlier restricted only to urban areas has now been extended to all rural areas.

In 2008 the province was at the bottom of the list in comparison with other provinces in educational standard. Now the province is at the fifth place among the nine provinces.

I am very proud to tell that in the last GCE(O/L) results Batticaloa zone turned out to be the first with 80 percent of the students having qualified for higher studies.

Kandy and Colombo zones were only second and third respectively. Sri Jayawardenapura zone was fourth. Vast developments have taken place in a comparatively short period.

In 2011, the Batticaloa district produced 25 percent of the national requirement of rice which is another positive economic development indicator. Almost all tanks have been rehabilitated and irrigation facilities have been made available to all farmers. The fisheries sector has also vastly improved.

Q: The TNA has openly called for the support of the Eastern Muslim community for protecting their traditional homeland in the province. Your comments on that?

A: They think the Muslims are at their beck and call and can get their support at any time they want to and then they can be ignored completely. They did not open their mouth on all occasions when the LTTE attacked the Muslims , when they killed the Muslims and when they chased them away from the Northern province. And now they seek the support of the Muslims to protect ‘homeland’ , ‘traditional lands’ and North-East merger.

We do not want the Muslim community being dragged into all these unwanted things. We want to live in harmony with the Tamil and Sinhalese communities and very good communal relations prevails amidst us at present. We have a very good Chief Minister in the Eastern province. We have Ministers belonging to all three communities and we are working in an atmosphere of cordiality.

Sri Lanka is one country and every citizen should be able to live in any part of the country he wants to. We should understand the need for living together.

But that does not mean that the majority community should be brought and settled down in the predominant areas of the Tamils or Muslims in the North and East. But anyone, if he so wishes, should be able to go and live in any part of the country.

In the North and East the Tamils and Muslims have been living for many centuries. Nobody has challenged that. But there is no need for them to say it is their part of the country or their area.

Q: Your party leader Minister Rishad Bathuideen recently stated that the government did little for resettlement of the Muslims whom the LTTE drove away from the North in 1990 and they are still languishing as refugees in other districts. Does it imply any contentions with the Government?

A: When he was Minister of Resettlement he had done a lot for the welfare of the Muslims who were chased away by the LTTE from the Northern province . They were displaced in that manner in 2009.

They, together with their natural increase, are still living as refugees in many other districts. At present priority in resettlement and other assistance are only being given to the Northern Tamils who were displaced in the later periods due to LTTE terrorism and counter-terrorism operations . The Muslim refugees have not been absorbed into the resettlement programs.

They have not been considered for allotment of houses under both the UNDP and Indian Government housing programs. This must have prompted Minister Bathuideen to make such remarks. In any case the Government is now making all efforts to resettle them in their original places and, as such, it will not be an issue.

Q: Certain Muslim political parties expressed the desire that the government should nominate a Muslim Chief Ministerial candidate. What is the position of your party on that?

A: Whether the Chief Minister is a Tamil or a Muslim is totally immaterial. At present we have a good Tamil Chief Minister.

Although I myself tried for the chief minister post at the last PC polls and the present Chief Minister was my opponent , we maintain very good relations. We are working very hard, very closely for the economic and social uplift of all communities. There has not been a single misunderstanding between us during the last over four years. We will face the polls and decide after the polls who should be the Chief Minister. It is not an issue at all. We do not want to set one community against the other.

Q: Is it likely that all Muslim political parties will form a common alliance to contest the PC polls?

A: There is nothing being contemplated and I do not think that it will happen.

Q: As Deputy Minister of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, can you tell what has been achieved by your Ministry towards addressing the problems of children and women in general and what are your shortcomings?

A: During the last few years my Ministry concentrated on designing policies to prevent discrimination against women and children, domestic violence against them, harassment on them and a number of other issues that surfaced after the end of the war against terrorism. There were 40 vacancies for Women Development Officers and we have filled them.

We filled the Child Protection Officers vacancies also. We are now opening separate desks at all police station premises for women and children to lodge complaints. All children’s homes and orphanages have been brought under our direct supervision.

We are providing guidance and assistance and many of them have been upgraded. We got a large number of street children admitted to the children’s homes and providing them education.

Q: The TNA has accused that large extends of lands owned by the Muslims and Tamils in the Eastern province have been forcibly taken away by the majority community. How far is it true?

A: Such claims are not correct. There were some incidents but the real background for the lands to go into the hands of others should be understood.

For nearly three decades the Muslims did not go to their lands in the Tamil areas and the Tamils did not go to their lands in the Muslim areas. Both communities had deserted their lands situated in the border areas. In passage of time the Muslims and the Tamils occupied each others’ lands, developed them and built houses. In the border areas the deserted lands were occupied by the Sinhalese community under similar circumstances. Now, after the restoration of peace, the original owners want their lands back.

We are now making efforts to identify the lands and give them back to the original owners where possible or to give alternative lands.

In one particular area in Batticaloa about 30 families had abandoned their lands and now, after about three decades, the number of the families has increased to over 100 with their natural increase.

Q: Certain political parties have protested against plans to shift part of the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital to another place. Can you please explain the actual situation?

A: The allegations are totally incorrect. Batticaloa medical faculty students are now in their final year. They should have gone for training on completing three years but units for training could not be provided at the Batticaloa hospital due to space problem.

Altogether six units are needed and I suggested four units to be made available in the Batticaloa hospital and two in the Kathankudy base hospital.

The Kathankudy base hospital is housed in a new building in a very spacious place. The distance between the medical faculty ( situated in Arasady) to both the Batticaloa hospital and the Kathankudy hospital is almost the same. The TNA has been raised as a communally-based issue. Neither did the Medical Director, the hospital authorities nor the students have opposed the proposal.

It is only a proposal on which no decision has been taken and no discussions have been held. The TNA wants to rouse the communal sentiments of the Tamils when polls are approaching. In the case of the Medical Faculty of the Peradeniya campus, 08 of the units are in the Kandy hospital while 04 are in the Peradeniya hospital. I only suggested a similar arrangements for the benefit of the medical students.