Monday, April 7, 2008

Betrayal of our community not my forte - Hisbullah


The forthcoming elections to the Eastern Provincial Council (EPC) have turned into a political ‘tussle’ with the dramatic moves by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) heavyweights with its leader Rauf Hakeem turning more ‘green’ and the former Deputy Minister and member of the high command of the SLMC, M.L.A.M. Hisbullah turning ‘blue’.

Accusing each other for betraying the Muslim community both are eyeing for the Chief Ministerial post. In an interview with the ‘Sunday Observer’ Hisbullah said that the SLMC Leader was in an election ‘ploy’ for self centred political gains and the three communities, especially the Muslims, should not be fallen prey into this trap.

Hisbullah, who had started the election campaign from his hometown Kattankudy yesterday requested the people of the East to join hands with the UPFA despite ethnicity to win the election. He said that this would be a good opportunity to develop the East, which has heavily suffered for the last 25 years due to the LTTE terrorism and also the tsunami disaster.

“A large amount of funds has been allocated to the Eastern development. It is the high time to work together for a common goal. My request is to vote for the UPFA which is the party could lead a success development drive in the East”, he said.

Following are the excerpts of the interview:

Q: You have said that it was only by joining the government, Muslims of the East could aspire to have a Chief Minister. How is it possible when the Muslims are divided?

A: Yes. After liberating the East from the grip of the LTTE terrorism, people have faith in the President Rajapaksa and his government. So, only the UPFA can secure over 78 percent of the power in the EPC. Since the Eastern victory the TMVP too has a good base in the EPC, they together can field the majority of votes in the EPC.

The UNP does not have a good base there and it can secure a maximum of two or three seats. So the Muslims cannot achieve their targets by joining the UNP. After I joined the UPFA, the SLMC can win only five seats. The UNP-SLMC coalition can get a maximum of eight seats. I think joining with the UNP is a losing battle. Insha Allah! I am 100 percent confident we will win.

Q: You were with the SLMC Leader Rauf Hakeem until very recently. How can you call him as a traitor overnight?

A: He betrayed the Muslims and has gone against the wish of the Muslims. He thinks only about him and he wants to fulfil his own agendas. Hakeem wants to satisfy the leadership of the UNP.

Before I join the UPFA he told me that the SLMC needs to help the UNP as it is very weak in the EPC. He said that the UNP can win three seats and the outcome would badly reflect in the future elections. So Hakeem wanted to protect the UNP. He has his own agendas and he did not think about the Muslims. That is why I call him as a traitor.

Q: How confident are you that you could fulfil the aspirations of the former SLMC Leader who wanted a Muslim to be the Chief Minister in the Eastern Province?

A: Insha Allah, I will win and would be able to make the dream of our late leader M. H. M. Ashraff, a reality.

Q: Why do you think that Mr. Hakeem rejected the invitation of the government to jointly contest the EPC polls?

A: It is basically due to his power hunger. He wants to remain as the SLMC leader for ever. His advisers have told him not to allow any Muslim from the East to become the Chief Minister as it will be a threat to his leadership.

That is why he joined the UNP to divide Muslims into segments. But we know his aspirations well.

Q: If he is not genuine why did he sacrifice his Parliamentary seat?. How do you see this?

A: This is an utter joke! Simply he wants to mislead Muslims to get sympathy to achieve his targets. The two National List vacancies have not yet filled.

He does not want to fill these two vacancies until the election finishes.

Because after the election he will be re-appointed to the Parliament from the SLMC National List. So he has cheated the whole Muslim community now.

Hakeem was elected from Kandy district at the beginning and was defeated later. Then he was the MP for Ampara and also lost the seat. Now he tries his luck from Trincomalee. But the Muslim community know the reality and I strongly believe that he cannot fool them now. And we think Muslims in the EP will not be trapped in his net any more.

Q: The TMVP is adamant that a Tamil should become a chief minister of EPC. In this context how confident are you that a Muslim would be selected to that post?

A: No, this is not possible. According to my information no political party has been given the guarantee of the Chief Ministerial post. The President will decide to whom this post should be offered after the election. Whichever party that gets more seats will be considered as the most suitable for this post. No one can keep hopes about the post now.

Q: Are you going to remain in the UPFA government in future or it is only for the EPC?

A: I am a strong SLMCer. I will remain in the SLMC for ever and will contest the election under the UPFA. No idea to cross over to the UPFA.

Q: Are you fully confident that you will become the Chief Minister of the EPC?

A: Insha Alllah, I am fully confident that I will become the Chief Minister of the EPC and I try my best to fulfil the aspirations of the majority of Muslims in the country as well as in the East.

Q: How do you cooperate with the TMVP which is still armed?

A: The TMVP agreed to not to use weapons. A calm environment is prevailing here. The situation is improving. We can not see TMVP carders carrying arms.

Let’s hope for the best.

Q: If you become the Chief Minister how do you disarm the Pillaiyan Group?

A: I will never allow any group to be armed in my Province other than the groups which are officially entitled to be armed. If the TMVP carry arms they have to lay down them. The security of the Province is strengthened and no political party needs to carry arms here.

Q: If you are not appointed as the Chief Minister what will be your political future?

A: If so, I will be with the government and commence my work for the betterment of the Muslims. And I will also help the government in its development process in the Eastern province. I also wish to help the Chief Minister who ever appointed from which ever party, to achieve his targets to serve the people of my Province.

Q: Majority of Muslims do not have faith in the SLMC now as the party hierarchy is always playing musical chairs to grab power. What is your comment?

A: I think Muslims’ only desire is to have a Muslim Chief Minister for the Eastern Province. Though the Leader took a different move at the last minute breaching the trust reposed in him still the people continue to have the trust in us. They wanted us to join the UPFA as this is the only Alliance that Muslims can keep hopes for winning the Post. No other party can achieve this.

Q: Don’t you think in this ‘game’ for power has badly affected the future of the SLMC?

A: Yes. What has really happened was we have decided to capture power in the East. There are nine Chief Ministers in the country and seven belong to the Sinhalese community and one will go for the Tamils in the North.

The only province that the Muslims have their majority is the Eastern province and we want a Muslim to be the Chief Minister. There are over 41.7% Muslims in the Eastern province where there are only 39.9% Tamils.

So everybody in our Muslim circle have decided to capture power at this election. Even last Friday at the Mosque, a large crowd of over 6,000 Muslims appreciated my willingness to join the UPFA. And they wanted to teach a lesson to Hakeem. Now what Hakeem says is that his intention is not to become the Chief Minister but to defeat Hisbullah. Do you think that in this situation Muslims will accept his wish. No. He has misled the whole Muslim community.

Q: Did you join the UPFA following a request by the prominent Muslim leaders or this is solely a decision of yours?

A: No this is not only my decision but the decision by the prominent religious leaders and intellectuals. Especially, the ULAMA, the group which represents the prominent Muslim religious leaders gathered in Colombo discussed the matter and finally they requested me to contest for the Chief Ministerial post to capture power in the East. So this is not only my decision. I accepted the invitation because it was the request of the ULAMA.

Q: Earlier the SLMC rejected the 13th Amendment. What is your stance now?

A: No, it is wrong. The SLMC never objected the power sharing under the 13 the Amendment. What our late leader suggested was to seek a permanent solution to the on-going crisis through merging the North and East. And under that situation we asked a separate unit within the North and East for the Muslim community. That was our original plan.

Q: Do you still want a separate unit for Muslims?

A: Yes. The SLMC has not changed our desire and still we remain in the same stance.

Q: Are you satisfied with the performances of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in dealing with issues of the Muslims and also development of the Eastern region?

A: Yes, We are generally satisfied with the government in its attempt to solve the problems of the Muslims. But there are some land disputes in Ampara district.

There Muslims are not happy with the government because on the instruction of the Minister of Environment, Champika Ranawake their lands have been acquired by the government under the Forest Ordinance.

I have raised this issue with the President Rajapaksa and he agreed to settle some of these issues. So we are hopefully waiting for a positive response from the government. But I do not think these issues can be solved if we join the UNP.

Q: Do you think that the SLMC Leader has betrayed the Muslims right to self-determination?

A: Yes, very much. As I mentioned earlier he has betrayed the Muslims solely for his personal dealings with the UNP. That has been revealed.

Q: You said that the Muslims can achieve their target under the UPFA but not with the UNP. Do not you think that the UNP will come to power in future?

A: I am not talking about the elections after the EPC. If the UNP contests alone they would get only two seats, Ampara and Trincomalee.

Their poor performances at the election would affect the future of the UNP badly. That is why the Opposition Leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe had pleaded Hakeem to help him by contesting under the UNP. After accepting the invitation, Hakeem said that he wanted to save the UNP’s future.

Q: The SLMC had several discussions with the Muslim Ministers to form a Muslim Alliance. Why did you fail?

A: Yes, the SLMC had several rounds of talks with the United Muslim Association (UMA), which is the intellectual body of the Muslims and the ULAMA about the issues.

These two bodies invited all the Muslim Ministers and eminent Muslim personalities and announced that all Muslim political parties should contest under the government. There Hakeem said that it was not possible as he crossed over to the opposition few months ago and he could not go back to the government.

They accepted his problem. Then they suggested us to form an Alliance and contest under one symbol. But objecting to their proposal he said that he was not willing to contest under any other symbol than the SLMC’s. He opposed the proposal continuously and insisted that the SLMC should contest under the SLMC symbol.

Here, it is obvious why he refused all those proposals to join the government. He was in another mission and only known to him, how he accepted the invitation of the Opposition Leader. He agreed to give up the issue of party symbol when it was asked by the UNP.

Finally he has agreed to contest under the UNP’s symbol. The two prominent Muslim bodies which were angry over his behaviour had discussed themselves and finally requested me to contest under UPFA. I accepted to contest the EPC under a common platform.

Minister Ameer Ali said that the resignation drama staged by Rauff Hakeem and the other two members of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress will not have any impact on the provincial council election.

He said that United Peoples Freedom Alliance would win convincingly despite the unconvincing drama staged by the SLMC leadership. He cautioned the Muslims and Tamils not to fall headlong into the traps of the UNP-SLMC combine, who might arouse racial tensions for political gain.

Ameer Ali, Minister of Disaster Relief Services said that they earlier invited Sri Lanka Muslim Congress to come forward to contest jointly with all the other Muslim groups and parties together under a common platform. A meeting was organized by the Muslim Ministers, ULAMAS (religious leaders), scholars and other eminent persons from the Muslim community.

“When Muslim politicians and religious leaders held a meeting with the SLMC leader and party members to unite all Muslim parties under one umbrella, Rauff Hakeem said that the SLMC would contest only under its ‘Tree symbol’”.

Hakeem also rejected the Government’s invitation to the SLMC to contest jointly with the Government. “He insisted on contesting under the ‘Tree’ symbol. The SLMC leader had since decided to forge an alliance with the UNP to contest under the Elephant symbol after the latter refused to contest under his ‘Tree’ symbol.

Rauff Hakeem joining the UNP and abandoning the SLMC’s ‘Tree’ symbol does not augur well for them, warned Ameer Ali.

He warned that as an election ploy, stirring-up of racial tension for the sake of self-centered political gains might be the trick up in their sleeves to win the Muslim votes. Ameer Ali added that Muslims and Tamils should be on the watch out and should not fall into the trap of rabble rousers who are planning to stir Tamil-Muslim tension to win the Provincial Council elections.


* People of the East have faith in President Rajapaksa and his Government.

* The UPFA has a powerful base in the East.

* A Muslim can be appointed as the Chief Minister only by joining the UPFA.

* SLMC Leader betrayed the Muslims.

* His intention is to save the UNP.

* Hakeem thinks a Muslim leader from the Eastern province is a threat to the SLMC Leadership.

* Sacrificing Parliamentary seats is an utter joke.

* They will be re-appointed from the National List.

* The ‘power struggle’ has weakened the faith towards the SLMC.

* The SLMC still wants a separate unit within the East for Muslims.

UNP-SLMC alliance holds edge in east

Hisbullah poaching gets Muslim Congress leadership infuriatedControl of Batticaloa goes from one armed group to another under government auspices

By Our Political Editor

Twenty-four-year-old Inpanathan Rushikanthan, a mason, his wife and their four-year-old daughter left the once Tiger guerrilla stronghold of Kokkadicholai soon after the December 2004 tsunami. He thought there were greener pastures in the Government-controlled Batticaloa district where recovery work was under way.

He joined his relatives in a newly built housing complex in Ariyampathi in the Kattankudi Police area. It was a fishing hamlet battered by the tsunami. An NGO had built the houses. Finding easy work had changed his life. He and his family were happy.

On Sunday March 30, after dinner they were to retire when there was a knock at the door. "Who are you all?" Rushikanthan asked. A voice responded, "We are from the Police. We want to check your house." The family raised cries but the neighbours were frightened to respond. Power supply in the vicinity had been knocked off from a nearby lamp-post. They refused to open the door.

Wickremesinghe and Hakeem: A blossoming alliance.

One of them tried to enter through the roof of the house. "I saw a rifle in his hand," said Nadeswari (22), Rushikanthan's wife. They forced open the door. My daughter was hugging her father. "They forced them apart and dragged him away. I saw them thrusting him into a white van that sped away," she said. The following morning, Nadeswari said, she lodged a complaint at the Kattankudy Police Station. She also made representations to the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) office in the area.

Nadeswari and her daughter are distraught and await the return of their beloved one, her husband and her daughter's father. "No one will do this except a powerful armed group," she says. However, she does not identify the group. She fears the reason for the abduction of her husband being that his brother was a Tiger guerrilla cadre who was killed in a confrontation.

Then there was Sinniah Eelamaran (29), a father of two from Eruvil near Kalawanchchikudi. In the morning of Monday March 31, he was walking to school, Tikkodi Tamil Maha Vidyalaya. He was shot dead by unknown gunmen. The next day, his wife complained to the local office of the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). Eelamaran was a supporter of this group. His wife said she was frightened to go to the Police. Party officials later complained to Kalawanchikudi Police that one of their supporter's had been gunned down.

These are just two from a catalogue of incidents that have triggered off fear and panic in the Batticaloa district, the bowel of the Eastern Province. The Government declared it had seized control of almost the entirety of the East following conduct of successful military operations against the LTTE that ended in July, last year. Last month, local government elections were held in this district and the TMVP, backed by the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration won it. This is in the absence of any formidable opposition political parties contesting the polls.

What was once a district partly dominated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) but now in the hands of their erstwhile comrades, the TMVP. Paradoxical enough, the group has now gained both political and, in a sense, military control of the area. Anyone suspected of having connections or colluding with Tiger guerrillas faces strong reprisals. Like the Tiger guerrillas in the Wanni, they collect their own 'taxes', and are now the power to be reckoned with.

In other words, the TMVP in Batticaloa is what the LTTE is to the Wanni. The only difference - the Government is waging a war to deny the LTTE that power and influence. At the same time, the same Government is waging a different war to protect and allow the TMVP to continue to do what it is doing, both good and bad, some with vigour and some with impunity. In essence, one-armed group has replaced another though the metamorphosis has taken it through legal and democratic gateways.

And now, a Provincial Council election, set for May 10, will determine whether the new process in the East will take a turn for the worse or call a halt for good. The turn for the worse will be if the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance, its ally the TMVP and now renegade Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) top runger M.L.A.M. Hisbullah, win the mandate of voters in the East - the districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara.

It will be a different story if the alliance between the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) have their way. There is no doubt they will provide the UPFA-TMVP formidable opposition and that fact has caused considerable concern at the highest levels of the ruling leadership.

In a climate where everything that moves or speaks is a suspect, how the Opposition alliance came to be born is interesting. They believe both Opposition and UNP leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe as well as SLMC leader, Rauff Hakeem, had a string of meetings with India's High Commissioner Alok Prasad. It was only thereafter that Wickremesinghe had flown to New Delhi to attend a wedding reception of family friends after which he conferred with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shanker Menon. Thus goes the theory that the new alliance had the 'blessings' of India.

In the light of a 'New Delhi hand behind the bush', the ruling leadership even considered whether the polls should be called off. Such a postponement would have been put on security grounds. However, saner counsel prevailed. And behind the scenes, a string of measures are under way to deny the opposition any opportunity of winning the Eastern Provincial polls. One of the prime movers behind the exercise is Basil Rajapaksa, senior Advisor to the President and the man who is personally spearheading development programmes in the East.

It was Basil Rajapaksa who was able to win over Hisbullah, a one-time Mangala Samaraweera protégé. Ranil Wickremasinghe was one of the first to learn of Hisbullah's cross-over to the Government. On his return from India on Sunday, Wickremesinghe had told Hakeem of the impending move by Hisbullah, who was being considered as a possible Chief Minister by the UNP-SLMC Alliance.

On Tuesday, the UNP and the SLMC leadership huddled for talks. The two sides were negotiating how to set about with a joint campaign. The UNP's Tamil representatives of the Eastern Province were demanding that the party have its own Chief Minister nominee and that if it is to be a Muslim, then it should go to Naushad Majeed of the UNP and no one else.

As the discussions were in progress, news came in that Hisbullah had gone across to the Government. This infuriated the SLMC leadership. They then adjourned and decided to meet at 10.30 that night. The SLMC immediately went into a crisis meeting and they were not ready to meet the UNP that night. It was only the next day that the SLMC emerged with their strategy - for Hakeem, Basheer Cegu Dawood and Hassan Ali - all Members of Parliament - to resign their seats in parliament and contest the Provincial Council elections. It was a strong response from the SLMC aimed at sending, in their way, a stinging message to the Government for having poached their members.

When the SLMC leadership met the UNP, they announced their decision and asked that the trio be permitted to lead the respective Districts, Hakeem (Trincomalee), Cegu Dawood (Batticaloa) and Ali (Ampara) in the Alliance. Wickremesinghe was to ask Hakeem if he was sure of the decision, and the risk involved. The UNP Tamils protested at the demand to make the Muslim Congress trio the District leaders, but Wickremesinghe was able to explain to them the wider interest in allowing this. He said that after-all, the SLMC leaders had sacrificed their parliamentary seats for this.

The UNP-SLMC Alliance then agreed that the two parties will campaign separately, the SLMC in the Muslim villages and the UNP in the Tamil villages. The UNP has also put forward some former MPs Sinnamaru, Sinna Thowfeek, Sunil Shantha Ranaweera etc., to Trincomalee, Galappati and Daya Gamage for Ampara, Arasaratnam Sashidharan to Batticaloa.

Fuelling speculation over the edge (some say it is more than an edge) the opposition alliance has is the belief that the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) would 'unofficially' back them. Officially, the TNA has declared that "it should not compromise on its fundamental political principles and be seen as being a participant in an electoral process, the objective of which is diametrically opposed to such fundamental principles and a reversal of what the Tamil people have stood for, during more than the past half a century."

In a three-page statement the TNA (which goes as Tamil Arasu Kadchchi) said "No other Government since independence has inflicted such immense harm on the Tamil people as this Government has done in the past two years. The Tamil-speaking people should not fall into the dangerous trap that is being laid to bring about their downfall in their areas of historical habitation. This is an election at which through the visible or invisible fire and muscle power of the TMVP and Government armed forces, President Rajapaksa hopes to implement his insidious political agenda."

On Thursday, nominations for the Provincial Council Elections for the East were trouble free in the districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. In Batticaloa, 14 registered political parties handed over nominations. Four of them rejected were Muslim Liberation Front (MLF), Eelam People's United Front (EPUF), United National Alliance (UNA) and the Tamil United National Front (comprising TULF, PLOTE, EPRLF - Sitharthan Group, the LSSP and the Communist Party. Nineteen independent groups are also contesting.

In the Batticaloa Distrcit 14 political parties handed in nominations. One of them was a purported political wing of the LTTE calling itself Viduthalai Pulikal Makkal Munnani (Liberation Tigers People's Front or LTPF). The LTTE, however, denied it had entered the fray. The Sunday Times learnt that the group that is fronting as LTPF has the backing of an influential section of the Government.

One of the reasons for their move is to create the impression that the LTTE too had embraced the political process and was entering the democratic process through the EP polls. Sixteen independent groups are also contesting. In the Ampara district too, 14 political parties submitted nominations. However, three were rejected. Also contesting are 26 different independent groups.

Down in Kataragama, Opposition Leader Wickremesinghe was breaking coconuts, while in Colombo and elsewhere, his party organisers and followers were breaking pots and pans. The Opposition seems to feel that the Eastern Province elections will be the turning point to the Government's popularity in the country. Something like the Provincial Councils victory of the Southern Province in March 1994 was the turning point for the then almost invincible UNP Government.

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/080406/Columns/political.html

Minister Jeyaraj Fernando Pulle Killed in a blast on 6th April 2008