<b>Political Crisis Grips the Muslims</b>

T.Sabaratnam

Sri Lankan Muslims are facing a severe leadership crisis following the week long Tamil- Muslim clash in the eastern region of the country.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), which claims to be the sole representative of the one million strong Sri Lankan Muslims, is facing grave internal conflict and challenge from Colombo based Muslims.

Internally, a group of Eastern Muslims led by ALM Athaullah and AR Abdul Cader, are revolting against their leader, Shipping Minister Rauff Hakeem. They accuse Hakeem of being soft towards the LTTE and sacrificing the interests of the Muslims in the Eastern province.

“He (Hakeem) lacks understanding of the problems of the Muslims of the Eastern province,” Athaullah said.

Hakeem, who comes from Kandy, is viewed as an outsider by those Muslims in the Eastern province.

SLMC sources allege that, Athaullah, Minister of Highways, is aspiring to be the leader of the SLMC, a party founded by late leader M. H. M. Ashraff, who hails from the eastern Ampara district. Ashraff, for the first time in Sri Lankan history wrested the Muslim leadership to the East, where a third of the Muslim population lives away from the traditional Colombo based leadership. Six of the 12 SLMC parliamentarians hail from the eastern province.

UNP MUSLIMS

The crisis-ridden SLMC is facing a challenge from the Colombo Muslims, who never accepted SLMC as the representative of the Sri Lankan Muslim community. They support the national political parties, the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP).

Western Province Development Minister M, H. Mohammed, the acknowledged leader of Colombo Muslims and a member of the UNP and the Minister for Cooperative A. R. M. Cader, took a high level delegation on Sunday, as instructed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, to the East to meet the LTTE‘s Eastern region’s political leader Karikalan. Mohammed told a group of Muslims that, SLMC has no overall right to talk to the LTTE, or the government, on behalf of the Muslims. He also told them, to forget what had happened last week and to live peacefully with the Tamils.

“Muslims have to coexist in the east with the Tamils. Their life and their economy are interlinked,” Mohammed said.

He told the same thing to Karikalan. The LTTE’s Eastern region leader positively responded, and said: “Sir, that is our conviction too.”

Karikalan guaranteed the safety of the Muslims. “They can come and work and do their business in Tamil villages. Nothing will happen to them,” he assured.

They decided to set up peace committees at local level to promote amity among the two communities.

SLMC sensed the danger of the UNP’s intrusion. An SLMC group led by Anwer Ismail traveled Sunday night to the LTTE office at Kokkadichcholai in the Tiger held area in the Batticoloa district and met Karikalan and talked to him for over two and a half hours.

“That was a heart to heart talk. We told them our concerns. Karikalan gave us a firm assurance that, no harm would be done to our interest,” Anwer Ismail said on his return.

He quoted Karikalan as saying: “We sacrificed the lives of 17,600 cadres to win our rights. Do you think we fought so long to suppress the rights of another minority community. We’ll never do so.”

TRADITIONAL COMPETITION

The clash, last week, at Valaichchenai, was the result of the habitual Tamil-Muslim antagonism. Eastern Muslims, unlike their brethren in Colombo and the South, are primarily farmers and fishermen. They have to compete with the Tamils, in both these spheres. Yet working relationship was forged and they lived peacefully.

The recently emerged war situation had strained that relationship. Tamils alleged that Muslim farmers took-over the paddy fields belonging to the Tamils, when they were chased out by the army.

Researchers studying the impact of the war on Tamil-Muslim relations, said that astute Muslim trader and merchants, who control the marketing of the agricultural produce and fish had exploited the war situation to their maximum benefit.

With the return of peace the Muslims fear they would lose those benefits. They naturally resent it.

T. Pathmanathan, a trader in Batticoloa said, that the Muslims had wounded the feelings of the Tamils by helping the armed forces. Tamils relate numerous instances of atrocities by Muslim Home Guards.

Despite the Tamil resentment and Muslim fears, both communities have to live together. They live in villages close to each other and farm in the fields that lie outside the villages.

“We will promote amity. We’ll also guarantee the safety of the Muslims, Karikalan assured Mohammed and Ismail.

“Why did you talk to Mohammed when you have a Memorandum of Understanding with the SLMC?”’ Karikalan was asked by a reporter.

Karikalan said that while the LTTE is prepared to guarantee the safety of the Muslims, SLMC is not prepared to give a similar guarantee about the safety of the Tamils. They say there are many Muslim groups and they could not control all of them. So they had to talk to all groups to ensure the safety of the Tamil people.

Karikalan was adverting to SLMC’s Parliamentarian Segu Dawood’s admission, at the Batticoloa peace meeting that, they were not in a position to control the Muslims, as there were many groups.

SLMC is not happy with the visit of Mohammed and A. R. M. Cader to the East. They say that, it was a calculated attempt to divide the Eastern Muslims. They are especially unhappy with the Prime Minister, whom they charge is trying to build an alternate Muslim UNP leadership in the East.

UNP Muslim leadership says that the Eastern Muslims are already divided and fighting for leadership.

Athaullah is denying the charge that, he is trying to be the leader of the party as a divisive rumour. But he said: “The leader must be from the East. SLMC is the party of the Eastern Muslims.”

Hardliners in his group clamor that the Sri Lanka-LTTE Memorandum of Understanding to be amended, to incorporate provisions ensuring the safety and security of the Muslims in the Eastern province. Athaullah exert pressure Hakeem to take up that matter with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

“We intend to request the Prime Minister to amend the Memorandum of Understanding, the Government entered with the LTTE” Hakeem said in a signed statement to the press.

The Prime Minister had declined to entertain that request. He pointed out any amendment to the MOU has to be done with the concurrence of the LTTE.

SLMC was due to meet the prime minister and ask for stronger army presence in the east to protect the Muslims.

Rumors are afloat that President Chandrika Kumaratunga had invited Hakeem and Athaullah for a meeting.