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Does the Muslim Community really need a Rauf Hakeem to lead them ? He doesn't deserve to be a Chief Minister.
By Charles.S.Perera
Rauff Hakeem has no commitment to the Muslims, therefore he could resign from his Parliamentary seat, to draw the attention of the voters in the East as the man who has made a great sacrifice for the sake of the Muslims in the East. His action is not at all a sacrifice, it is a bait to catch the votes of the Muslims in the East to assure his ambition to be the Chief Minister.
This man, who is like a pendulum on a wall clock, has no principles what so ever. One cannot understand how the Muslim people have voted for a man like Hakeem to represent them, in Parliament. How has the Muslim Community benefited from him, for the confidence it has placed on him ? His only interest is "himself". Politics for him is to enhance his personal prestige. He cares neither the Tamils, the Sinhala, nor his own Muslims. One cannot understand how people like him could fool the people, to accept him as a credible Communal leader.
He believes that his Muslim followers will dance to any tune he plays. Though there are a few of them who followed him to the Parliament, imitating his political contortion and comic ambulations into governments and out of them like trained monkeys, the larger Muslim community may not so easily give into his immature political gambling.
The Muslim Community has to wake up to make Rauff Hakeem understand that being a leader of a Community is to represent them in the Parliament and take decisions favourable to the Community without isolating it, from the rest of the Communities that make up the larger Sri Lankan Nation.
The Muslim Community that has elected him to lead them should make an intelligent evaluation of Hakeem's leadership. Some of the actions he had taken during his Political career does not really show that he has any leadership qualities. His meeting with the most ruthless terrorist to shake his bloodied hands and plead for concessions for Muslims is in itself a most shameful act committed by any political leader.
Rauf Hakeem in doing so pardoned Prabhakaran on behalf of the whole Muslim Community for the atrocious ethnic cleansing of Jaffna of the Muslims. By that act itself Rauff Hakeem forfeited his right to lead his people, as their elected leader. All Muslims with self respect should ask themselves, what right has this man to be the spokes man of the Muslims after the humiliation caused to them by visiting Prabhakaran and entering into a MoU. Has the Muslim Community that accept his leadership asked what benefit the Muslim community has received from Prabhakaran after he signed the MoU ?
Muslim Community has to integrate into the Sri Lankan Nation, with more involvement in its progress. They should not be like the UNP, under Ranil Wickramasinghe, which at the moment is only providing entertainment as circus clowns.
Rauf Hakeem is an opportunistic politician. His first task in being the Leader of the SLMC should have been to unite the Muslims and prepare them for the Eastern Provincial elections as a United Front. If he disagreed with the President Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse he should have remained independent, instead of running from one political group to another, bargaining for personal benefits, to assess who would give more to fit in to his political ambition.
What Sri Lanka needs today are not opportunists, prestige seekers, or political adventurers, but real patriots who seek to unite different communities into a Sri Lankan Nation, to get together to find ways to develop this country of ours, so that the ethnic problems will not exist as narrow Communal problems, but as national problems, to which we could all get together to find a solution. This country does not belong to Mahinda Rajapksa or the Sinhala Majority , but it belongs to every one of us Sinhala, Tamils , Muslims, whether we come from Colombo, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Matara or Hambantota.
The danger with a man like Rauff Hakeem , is his unprincipled political behaviour. If by any chance he becomes the Chief Minister, there is no guarantee that he will not, seek out Prabhakran to build bridges with the terrorists in the North, with the presumption that he is seeking to keep away the TMVP which has an armed force ! It is said that the Norwegians are still up to their pranks…………..to destabilise the Government of the President Mahinda Rajapakse. Chandrika Kumartunga's wayward behaviour and uncalled for remarks merit careful investigation. She has yet to mention the third error she made when she was the President.
TMVP on the other hand have risked their lives in breaking away from the LTTE terrorists, and helping the government forces tochasing them away from the East. Therefore, they have a better right to Head the Provincial Council in the East, than those politicians living in the comfort of their heavily guarded mansions, in Colombo, with their mistresses elsewhere. They can be sure not to build bridges with the LTTE, contrary to Hakeem.
Rauff Hakeem giving up his Ministerial post is no sacrifice at all
to qualify him to be elected by the people of the East. We hope that
better council will prevail among the people of the East not to waste
their vote, casting it in favour of an opportunist who cares least for
the progress, of the Muslim Community in the East, or the development
of Sri Lanka as a whole. |
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