TIME HAS DAWNED FOR MUSLIMS TO JOIN THE SECURITY FORCES ENMASSE TO DEFFEAT THE TERRORIST ENEMY

A.A.M.NIZAM MATARA.

Muslims have become a major victim in the brutal terrorist aggression to segregate Sri Lanka and establish an elusive separate fascist State called Eelam covering one third of Sri Lanka’s land territory and two thirds of the sea territory for the domicile of less than even half of Sri Lanka’s 12% Tamil population.

Despite vicious suppression of their own community on caste basis, denying them the right to worship in Temples, education, and other social amenities and privileges, the educated wealthy Vellala clan in collaboration with the British imperialists made every attempt to deny the Sinhala majority community their legitimate rights, and in this spiteful endeavour found Muslims a main stumbling block. Tiger terrorists who inherited the dominant ideology of their British servile Godfathers aggressively uphold this policy against the Muslims in their War of Aggression against the Sri Lankan State.

Fathers of Tamil Communalism

Ponnambalams/Arunachalams/Chaelvanahyagams and the like gave birth to their vicious Tamil supremacist dominant ideology from the time the Legislative Council was established in 1833 and it was not something that started following the people’s victory over the “Kalu Suddhas” in 1956, as some shameless servile Anglophile reactionary nincompoops and pseudo-Marxists attempt to project.

During the time of British rule, only a small percentage of Sri Lankan population who belonged to super rich English educated urbanite families enjoyed political rights and hence the Ramanathans, the children of the rich Tamil Mudliyar families succeeded in getting the 3 appointed members to the 1st Legislative Assembly in 1833 equally distributed among the Burgher, Sinhala and Tamil communities despite the fact that the ratio of Sinhala and Tamil communities stood 6 to 1.

When the number of appointed membership increased to 8 in 1889 and the number of Sinhala Members were increased to 2 and it was envisaged to appoint a Muslim member, Ponnambalam Ramanathan unsuccessfully opposed this move claiming that Tamils could represent the Tamil-speaking Muslim community and instead of a separate Muslim member, two Tamil members should be appointed to equate the number of Tamil members with that of the Sinhala members. Muslim members appointed or elected from 1889 onwards, and the community as a whole, except some treacherous opportunists such as Ashroff, and Romeo Hakeem, have unwaveringly stood for and in favour of the legitimate Sinhala majority rule and against communal, anti-Sinhala, secessionist politics of the Tamil chauvinists.

After launching their armed aggression against the Sri Lankan State from 1983 the terrorists inducted a corresponding scheme to murder, terrorise, extort and ethnic cleanse Muslims from the Northern and Eastern provinces. This scheme was intensified in March 1988 with the murder of 16 Muslims in Kantale and 10 Muslims in Kalmunai. When the murder spree was increasing, Muslim politicians and community leaders made representations to President J.R. Jayawardene and requested for security from the LTTE atrocities.

Despite majority of Muslims being blind adherents of his reactionary political party, J. R. Jayawardene urged the Muslim delegation to meet the Tiger terrorist leaders in Tamil Nadu and get the problem solved. Consequent to discussions held in Madras, after J.R. and the UNP government shirked their responsibility, an MOU was signed between the Muslim delegation and the LTTE through which the LTTE guaranteed the safety and the security of Muslims in the Northern and Eastern provinces. The Deputy Leader of the LTTE, Sathasivam Krishnakumar (Kittu) signed this MOU on behalf of LTTE in April 1988.

Notwithstanding J.R’s betrayal, once again the Muslims supported the candidate of the reactionary UNP Mr. R.Premadasa in the 1989 Presidential Election, instead of backing Mrs. Sirmavo Bandaranaike who had stood for the cause of Muslims in the international arena and who had done immense service to the Sri Lankan Muslim community during her 60-64 and 70-77 governments. In this election Ashraf-Hakeem gang of the SLMC opposed Mrs. Bandaranaike and distributed notices in the Northern and Eastern provinces saying that any Muslim who voted for
Mrs. Bandaranaike would fall into the category of an infidel.

Few months after the election in the backdrop of Premadasa’s Hilton Honeymoon with the terrorists, the LTTE reneged on their agreement with the Muslims. A gang of LTTE terrorists numbering 30 armed with AK-47s, hand grenades and SLRs, planned by Batticaloa/Ampara intelligence chief Newton and led by Batticaloa leader Ranjith stormed the Meera Jumma and Husseiniya mosques in Kattankudy in the night of August 3rd 1990 and brutally murdered 120 Muslims who were in prayers and injured 70 others. The death toll subsequently increased to 142.
This followed several sporadic attacks and massacre of Muslims including two major massacres, amounting murder of 116 Muslims in Eravur and 171 Muslims in Palliyagodella.

In the milieu of government and the SLMC opportunists remaining inactive over these massacres, the terrorists launched one of their major offensives against the Muslim community in October 1990. The terrorists issued an ultimatum on October 23 that Muslims in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaithievu and Vavuniya should leave the North by October 28th and Muslim in Mannar by November 1st .

The instructions were that all gold and valuables should be left at the nearest mosque. Premadasa government remained silent observers. Accordingly, nearly 100,000 Muslims fled and took refuge in Puttalam, Anuradhapura and Trincomalee. These forcibly expelled unfortunate Muslims continue to remain as destitutes and refugees in 74 camps in Puttalam and also in Anuradhapura and other parts of the country, deprived of basic facilities.

Again with the advent of the Hakeem collaborated LTTE funded Ranil Wickremasinghe’s rogue government in 2001 terrorising, extortion, murder and expulsion of Muslims in the Eastern Districts increased and in particular after the signing of the infamous CFA. Their post CFA activities mainly centred on strengthening their fire power in and around Trincomalee and making the Trincomalee Naval Base virtually inoperative so that it could disrupt supplies to Sri Lankan bases in the Jaffna peninsula.

Establishing bases in the coastal belt of Muttur that has a close proximity to the Trincomalee Port across Koddiyar Bay received priority in this regard. For this reason, terrorizing and extortions in Muttur were increased with the objective of provoking the Muslims. These attacks were started in June 2002 and resulted in murder of many Muslims and destruction of millions worth Muslim properties.

The Muslims of the Eastern Province stoned the houses of the opportunist SLMC MPs forcing Hakeem to seek redress from Ranil Wickrremasinghe but Ranil dutifully following his mentor J.R., wanted Hakeem to sort out the problem with the LTTE. The opportunist SLMC leader who had gone on record requesting Muslim youth in the East to emulate murderer Prabhakaran pompously had a meeting with the megalomaniac and signed an MOU, which the terrorists reneged after a few months. The government of Ranil Wickremasinghe failed even to compensate the victimized Muslims.

It is obvious that the terrorist outfit initiated the Mawil Aru dispute with the main objective of expelling the Muslims from Muttur Town and establishing its bases on the coastal belt of Muttur and on the Muttur jetty. In achieving their prime objective they terrorized and expelled the population of Muttur prior to our gallant forces chased out the terrorists and gained control of Muttur. The Government of President Mahinda Rajapakse is making every effort to resettle the Muttur Muslims in the habitats while providing the basic amenities they require. The President has assured that he would not allow the fate that befell the Muslims of the North to befall those of Muttur.

Throughout the decades of enemy aggression the terrorists have made every attempt to expel the Muslims from the Northern and Eastern provinces, murder them, misappropriate their land and destroy their properties. Muslims should no more remain as bystanders at a time the terrorist enemy is destroying this glorious nation in collaboration with the reactionary vested interests, and rise against them en-masse in joining and helping the security forces.

Sri Lanka needs more and more Tuan Nizam Muthalifs and Rizvi Meedins to join our gallant forces, and fight the enemy as their forefathers who served in the Sinhala Royal armies did in the past, fighting against the invading grandfathers of the terrorist enemy. As the President emphasized to Muslim Parliamentarians “time had come for Muslims to unite irrespective of party or other differences” and serve the nation to eradicate terrorism.