Dr Sudath Gunasekara Ex Ministry Secretary and President. Senior Citizens Movement Mahanuwara 11.9.2012

Hakeem has said the SLMC is the kingmaker in the East.

Yes Sri Lanka Muslim Congress as it is, may be the King maker but Hakeem must also understand that he is not the King. He also has said he had received offers from MR and TNA. So as it is he has two options that is either to join hands with the TNA and bag the Eastern PC by getting the CMƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s post and as he aspired when he decided to contest all alone and lose the cabinet MinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s post or to remain within the UPFA, be satisfied with one Ministers post in the PC (which Muslims already had in the previous PC as well) and retain his Cabinet Ministry post, wait like that until the UNP forms a government one day in future ( so that he could be a Minister in that Government as well) and betray the Muslims of the East to whom he has vouched to get the eastern PC under their control as the starting point of his dream Khalisthan in Sri Lanka. In this backdrop though he says he has to act with responsibility, what is the alternative he has other than staying with the government to safeguard his own position and privileges as Minister.

Had the UPFA nominated four Muslims for Samanthurai, Kalmunai and Pottuvil and Muttur electorates even without Hakeem they would have won and a Ministry would have gone to a Muslim man in the PC. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So even an ordinary Muslim might now ask ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”What is the mighty difference Hakeem and Saleem have brought about to eastern Muslims other than sowing communal hatred and cultivating political and social discord among the people of the East in particular and in the whole country in general?

The poverty of HakeemƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mentality is clearly explicit in the following statement he had made ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”we were able to win three out of four electoral divisions, namely Samanthurai, Kalmunai and Pottuvil with ease. Those who felt Muslims could be intimidated have been proved wrong,” Hakeem said. The SLMC also won the Muttur electorate in the Trincomalee District.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

All these electorates have a Muslim majority. That is why they won them. Again when you take Batticalloa and Trincommallee the TNA has bagged them as the majority there is Tamils. Most Tamil politicians and some Muslim politicians like Hakeem and Salim always think and act purely in terms of ethnicity. This pattern clearly demonstrates nothing but the stark reality of communal approach to politics. As long as they behave politically like this the ethnic problem will never end in this country and perpetuate for posterity for ever bringing misery and chaos to the entire nation.

One could see the same behavioral pattern in the Ratnapura and Kegalla districts as well where the CWE contested separately. The same pattern will be repeated one day when the elections for the NP are held. This system therefore will perpetuate ethnic polarization and communal segregation which finally leads to clamoring for separation.

The first step to arrest this trend is therefore to ban all ethnic political parties by law. This of course should be followed by abolishing the Provinces and setting up of the Tun Rata or the Three Regions that would consolidate their thinking in terms of broader geographical Regions in place of narrow ethnic or religious considerations and finally compel them to think as one nation and one country.

In spite of all the unprecedented development done by the Government in the East and the North it has had no effect in changing the extremist communal thinking eitherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  among the Tamil and Muslim politicians or the majority of voters in those regions. Now look at the amount of unprecedented amount of public funds that has been dumped in to development in the post conflict period to develop infrastructure in the Eastern and Northern areas, often at the expense of development in other parts of the country. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But has the Government been able to bring about any substantial change in the attitude of these communal politicians or the people in those areas? As for me I donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t think so. I am not surprised at Tamils voting for a Tamil candidate or a Muslim voting for a Muslim candidate. Because it is only natural and human for them to behave like that. What I am against is their voting on an organized communal basis with a sinister political motive.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  If we donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t have communal parties like TNA or Muslim Congress and if they had only national parties like SLFP, UNP, LSSP or CP the contestants will be compelled to contest on such tickets of their choice and the voters too would have no alternative but to cast their vote on a broader national basis. In fact this was the practice resorted to by them in the past. Then elections will be contested on national policies instead of the present practice of fighting on communal policies. Thereafter politicians will also begin to behave more responsibly as members of one nation without trying to identify themselves politically as Tamils, Muslims or Sinhalese. Fortunately Sinhalese have not up to date fought elections on such lines. People will also learn to vote a person on his or her merit and party policies not considering whether he/she is a Sinhalese, Tamil or a Muslim.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This I think is the best way and the shortest cut for inter-communal reconciliation and peace that would finally bring about economic, social and cultural prosperity to this Island Nation.

So in my opinion what the President should do now is to first get the four Muslim MPP to join hands with the UPFA and kick out Hakeem out of the Cabinet and send him to eternal political wilderness for going against the Government in which he is a Minister, violating collective responsibility of the Cabinet and creating communal disharmony and dissention in the East. That will be a good lesson for all communal politicians and those who want to be communal politicians in future as well. Secondly convince the TNA MPP also to accept a Ministry in the new PC, renounce this mad Eelam dream and join hands with the government to work for the wellbeing of the people in the East. They should put the country before their unrealistic and unattainable Eelam dream.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Let them also come down to the ground from their dream ivory towers and realize that they can never form their Eelam on the soil of this country. Can any one of these Tamil or Muslim MPP or any Tamil or Muslim citizen in the East today deny that everyone can live in peace? Could anyone also deny unprecedentedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and all-round development has taken place in these areas under this Government after the LTTE was wiped out in May 1909?

I think it is also high time for the Government to request all Governments and International Organizations to look at people of Sri Lanka only as Sri Lankans and not as Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese as they have been doing all the time. It is ironical that none of these countries is concerned about the Sinhalese ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the majority- who form nearly 80% of its population and of course who have shaped the civilization of this Island Nation.