What will Mr. Rauf Hakeem do next?

Janaka Gamage

Some Muslim leaders in the recent past has made a huge cry that the Special Task Force or what is known as the STF has played a hand in the murders in Potuwil. It is a very tragic situation when considering a few years back the same Muslim leaders were pleading for protection from STF when the LTTE was trying to evict them from their places of living. There was a time when a LTTE leader by the name of Maheshan was terrorizing the Potuwil, Paanama areas and even destroying bungalows in the Yala wild life park. He was followed by a few other leaders such as Arian etc.

It was the same STF that was able to kill these LTTE and bring security to this area. But in the recent past with the MOU in place some Muslim villagers made good relationship with the LTTE in the illicit timber racket in the area. LTTE was willing to let the villagers engage in felling the trees for their rackets as long as they supplied them with their provisions and other requirements for their bases in the jungles of Kangikuduaru. This was a very profitable relationship for both the LTTE and a few Muslim racketeers.

STF even used to ignore this illicit timber racket and the relationship with the LTTE until the day LTTE knocked on their door by killing two STF persons who were engaged in distributing water to the pilgrims on the Pada Yatra. At this moment only the STF woke up from their long sleep to realize that they were loosing the grip in the area due to some racketeers giving vital information to the LTTE. STF then started to act against these racketeers. Only a day before this civilian massacre that the STF arrested 13 carts of Muslim racketeers who were engaged in illicit timber felling in the jungles near Shathreweeli. At this time these racketeers realized that the only way to get rid of the STF from the area is by creating a situation like what arose after the massacre. There might be some Muslim racketeers and LTTE carders who exactly know how they planned this out but their planned worked to some extent.

Even veteran Muslim leaders like Rauf Hakeem played to their music by accusing the STF. By now some of these leaders have come forward to express their opinion that the STF is not behind this. Even the sole surviving victim of this massacre had given a statement to NIB confirming this fact. This survivor named Mohideen used to work at the STF, Shatreweeli camp for some time. If there was any involvement of the STF, he would have recognized them by name without any fact.

Now it is the time to Politicians like Rauf Hakeem to decide whether is going to keep using the STF security that he uses as they might be gunning to kill him. Or even decide whether he is going to continue to use the Police grounds for his physical exercises as there are many STF officers using the same at the same time he is there. It is better to think twice before you open your big mouth to win a few votes when there is a crisis facing a whole community. Am I right Mr. Hakeem?