By A.A.M.NIZAM

(Former Sri Lanka Freedom Party Vice President–Matara Electorate Central Committee)

The racist Rauf Hakeem who worked extensively against the President in 2005 Presidential Election and did the same thing in the 2010 presidential election as well has joined the chauvinist, extremist, treacherous and anti national unholy alliance of 100 days Sirisena this time presenting demands which are extremely dangerous for this country and endangering the Muslim community and placing the Muslim community in a confrontational path shattering the peace and harmony that existed between the Muslim community and the Sinhalese community who lived for centuries as brethren of one Sri Lankan family.

The Muslim community in Sri Lanka prior to the formation of the people’s revolutionary government of late Prime Minister Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike in 1956 was more or less a community of serfdom depending entirely on the handouts from the rich traders/merchants, or from the landowners in the agricultural areas, or from the rich families in the fishing areas or from the owners of large herds of animal husbandry. An ordinary Muslim was voiceless and they had to dutifully oblige the master if they were to stay on their vocation and sustain their families. Due to these pathetic slavish status Muslims were forced to support and vote for the U.N.P of the elites, as dictated by their masters at times of election.

Official statistics showed that a mere 3812 elite Anglophile urbanites of the then population of 7.5 Million enjoyed more than ½ of the country’s income. In such a sad situation, it became imperative for a group of patriotic intelligentsia to meet at Madampe and adopt a set of resolutions aimed at changing the course of government and ushering in real freedom to the oppressed masses and to safeguard the national values of the country, and the independence of the people. The outright rejection of these resolutions by the UNP government led late Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike to resign his ministerial portfolio and crossover to the opposition on the Budget Day in 1951 with the late Mr. D.A.Rajapakse, father of President Mahinda Rajapakse heroically taking the lead to follow him. Later 4 other UNP MPs and two independent MPs joined the duo.

Subsequently after much discussion among the patriotic intelligentsia a decision was taken to form a new party to emancipate the oppressed masses, to strengthen racial amity and national harmony, to confer prime place to national values and liberate the nation from shackles of imperialist bondage. A notice calling for the formation of this party on 2nd September, 1951 was issued with the signatures of 44 eminent personalities of that time, which included persons of all religions and all races. Among the 44 signatories were 5 Muslims and 3 Tamils. The Muslim signatories were Dr. Badiuddin Mahmoud, Haji A.T.Kareem, A.M.Marker, C.A.S.Marikkar, and A.C.Marikkar.

Over 10,000 persons, a massive crowd at that time, heeded this call and converged at the Town Hall premises for the formation of the new Party. At this convention the naming of the new party as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party was proposed by the late Mr. H.Sri Nissanka and it was seconded by the late Dr. Badi-ud-din Mahmoud. The convention elected Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike as the President, Mr. Bernard Aluvihare, Dr. Badiuddin Mahmoud, and S.Thangarajah as Co-Secretaries and Mr. George R. de Silva as the Treasurer of the new Party SLFP

Education for the children of the poor Muslims at that time was mainly confined to the schools known as Government Tamil Schools most of which except in main towns had classes only upto 5th or 8th Standard. While the rich Muslims, whose children were educated in leading schools in Colombo and other places, resented the children of their servants acquiring higher education, the teachers in the so-called Government Tamil Schools, who were overwhelmingly Tamils discouraged these poor students pursuing even basic education. Elders relate that most of these teachers used to tell the students that as invariably they will be going to work in shops (or get involved in other labour related works) it would be sufficient if they learn to write something, read a few lines, and count 5 and 5 as 10. Even the far and few Muslim teachers, who belonged to the rich families and served in these schools held similar views and possessed the same attitude. The mosques were also managed by the rich families in the relevant areas.

The first major change made by the first purely Sri Lankan oriented government of 1956 as opposed to the British-proxy UNP governments for the emancipation of Muslims in Sri Lanka was to make a complete change of the teaching staff in schools where majority of students were Muslims. These schools were named as Muslim Schools and Muslim youth who possessed a minimum qualification of having passed SSC were appointed as Teachers to these schools, disregarding their age requirement. There was an acute shortage of Muslim youths with SSC passed qualifications at that time, and it is said by many that in the years of 1958, 1959 and early sixties, Muslim youth got their teaching appointments, even without submitting formal applications, along with their SSC passes, and even before attaining the required minimum age of 18 years.

Although ethnic based schools should not be encouraged and all children of an area should have the right to receive education in the school of that particular area the establishment of Muslim Schools was a need of the era at that time in order to make a mass educational revolution in the Muslim community. This was a giant step taken by the truly Sri Lankan Bandaranaike government to emancipate the Muslim community and liberate them from the bondage to Mudalalis and open a new vista for Muslim children to pursue higher education. It was a well known fact that there were many villages and towns at that time without a single Muslim graduate, without a single Muslim Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant or even a middle ranking government servant.

This massive teaching employment drive initiated by the Bandaranaike government, produced at least one teacher in each Muslim family, and completely changed the educationally backward Muslim society into an educated Muslim polity. It is the children of this new generation of Muslims innovated by the SLFP government that occupy seats of employment today in many fields including those in the professional fields and even in Foreign Missions.

It was the SLFP that legitimized the rights of Muslim girls to wear a school dress in conformity to their religious norms even in non-Muslim schools. While the pro_UNP Western countries were not permitting Muslims girls to wear Hijab in schools the SLFP led government in addition to providing school uniforms to Muslim girls studying in government schools also took action to provide Hijabs to Muslim girls annually.

The Endowment Board known as Waqf Board was created to administer the affairs of mosques thereby providing the opportunity for the commoners to participate in the affairs of administering the mosques, and making them qualified to receive government assistance. Relaying the Azan call for the five obligatory prayers using loudspeakers from mosques throughout the island was permitted.

A Special Unit known as Muslim Service was created in the then Radio Ceylon solely dedicated for the Muslims to broadcast religious and cultural programmes and enlighten the Muslims with religious knowledge, their cultural values, and educate them about the affairs of fellow Muslims in other countries. Creation of this Unit helped Muslims to listen to whole night broadcast of religious programmes on special days such as Lailathul Qadr and listen to whole day programmes on Eid and other significant days, in addition to daily night and morning programmes.

A new set of teachers known as Maulavi Teachers, similar to teachers of other religions was appointed to teach religion to Muslim students even in non-Muslim schools. Two hours permission for Muslims to attend Jumma Prayers was granted. Days prominent for Muslims were included in the list of Public Holidays.

In the international arena too, the SLFP goverments espoused the cause of Muslims and Muslim countries. During the Suez Canal War in 1958 the late Prime Minister Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike solidly stood supporting the steps taken by President Gamal Abdul Nasser of United Arab Republic (currently Egypt), to nationalise the Suez Canal. Historical records reveal that the late Prime Minister Mr. Bandaranaike speaking at the United Nations not only vehemently condemned the invasion of Egypt by the western imperialist forces together with Isreal but also threatened even to send the armed forces of Sri Lanka to fight these Imperialists along with the Egyptian and Arab armies. Not even the Muslim countries outside the Middle East region had the courage to support President Nasser in this manner.

It was the government of late Prime Minister Mr. Bandaranaike that appointed a Muslim as Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The UNP which fools the Muslims in every election to get their votes and provide them nothing in return is yet to appoint a Muslim to such a prestigious position.

In the olden days Labour Ministry was the insignificant Ministry in the whole Cabinet. The UNP governments always kept this Ministry reserved for Muslims as nothing could be done to serve the community through this Ministry. It was the Bandaranaike government that nullified this discrimination and appointed Mr. C.A.S.Marikkar to the prestigious position of Minister of Post and Telecommunications.

Also the Bandaranaike government has the credit of appointing for the first time a Muslim as the Speaker of Parliament. The late Mr. H.S.Ismail was appointed as the Speaker of Parliament although he was not elected to Parliament as an SLFP MP.

The second structural change in the life of Sri Lankan Muslims and enormous service to the community took place during the reign of the late Prime Minister Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who dearly valued cordial relationships with Middle Eastern and Muslim countries all over the world. It was in gratitude to her cordial relationship that President Nasser sent several oil shipments to Sri Lanka when western countries imposed sanctions on oil supplies to Sri Lanka following the bold step taken by her to nationalize the oil companies in Sri Lanka and establish the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. In gratitude to this friendly gesture, Madam Bandaranaike declared one week’s mourning on the death of President Nasser, and his funeral proceedings were broadcast live through Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation. Such a respect to President Nasser’s funeral was not accorded even in several Middle East and Muslim countries.

The late Prime Minister Madam Bandaranaike was the only non-Muslim world leader who severed Diplomatic relationship with Israel, for invading Arab countries and occupying their territories in the 1967 war.  Mr. J.R.Jayawardene, the UNP hierarchy and the pro-UNP press severely criticized her for taking this bold step.

When Madam Bandaranaike made arrangements to host the 5the Non-Aligned Summit in Sri Lanka, the UNP not only condemned her decision but also opposed it intensely. Pro-UNP media severely criticized the late Prime Minister Madam Bandaranaike for holding the Summit and boorishly slandered many Muslim leaders who were scheduled to attend. The Summit, however, provided the opportunity for the leaders and Heads of State of almost all Muslim countries to visit our motherland and obtain a first hand knowledge about the country, about the Muslims in this country, and also to interact with them. In spite of UNP’s criticism and vilification the Summit opened a new vista for Muslims and other Sri Lankans to find employment, particularly in the Middle East countries.

Thus began the era of foreign employment for Sri Lankans and it has now become the leading source of foreign exchange earning for Sri Lanka, and a means of alleviating poverty throughout the country. Many Muslim families in Sri Lanka live without feeling the hardships of poverty because of this step taken by Prime Minister Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike. People who went for employment in the Middle East countries in the early phase would recall that the general public in the Middle East were not aware of the existence of a country called Sri Lanka and they knew Sri Lanka only as Madam Bandaranaike country.

Despite the enormous service rendered to the community by the Bandaranaike governments, Sri Lankan Muslims beguiled by the hollow promises, misled by deceitful and aggressive propaganda joined the reactionary forces and helped the western slavish dictator J.R.Jayawardene to win in the 1977 General Election.

Under the UNP governments from 1977 to 1994 Muslims faced many hardships and the UNP Ministers and MPs numbering 11 persons were utterly powerless to do anything to help the Muslims. If it was not for the Middle East employment avenue opened up by Madam Bandaranaike the pathetic situation Sri Lankan Muslims would have faced is horrific even to imagine.

During this Adarmishta period of 18 years Sri Lankan Muslims living in the North and East and in the districts of Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura and Puttalam were continuously subjected to LTTE atrocities. Unable to withstand these atrocities when a delegation of Muslims led by Dr. Badi-ud-din Mahmoud met President J.R.Jayawardene, to request him to provide protection to Muslims, they were bluntly asked to meet the LTTE leadership and sort out their problems. Ultimately they were compelled to go to Chennai, South India, meet the LTTE leadership and negotiate an agreement under which LTTE promised to desist from harming the Muslims. Contrary to this agreement the atrocities continued and the UNP government completely failed to protect the lives and property of Muslims.

When J.R.Jayawardene, obliging the Americans allowed Israel to re-establish diplomatic relations, Muslim Ministers and MPs of his government went in a delegation led by Speaker Mr. Bakeer Markar to meet him and object this move they were warned that they could resign from the government if they cannot agree with his policies.

In the Eastern Province, when the atrocities of Tamil terrorist elements against the Muslims, particularly by the LTTE continued to increase and when more than 500 houses were set on fire by the LTTE in Kalmunai, Sainthamaruthu and Maruthamunai areas within two or three days and the Muslim leaders in the then ruling party failed to press the JR Jayewardene government to act, in order to bring peace to the area, Mr. Ashraff transformed the SLMC, a voluntary social organization based in the Eastern Province into a political party in November 1986, only to use it as a tool to fight against the terrorist atrocities and against the UNP government’s complete neglect of Muslims.

President Mahinda Rajapakse (then Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) writing a highly commendable appreciation on Mr. Ashroff to Daily News on 24.09.2000, following his death praised Mr. Ashroff for saving the Muslim youth from terrorist conscriptions and preventing the spread of war to the Southern doorstep.

When Rajiv-JR agreement was signed in 1987, following the Parippu Invasion, interests of the Muslims in the North and East were totally ignored and they were left to the mercy of the Indian Peace Keeping Force who desecrated Muslim mosques and shrines by entering these holy places wearing boots and also taking dogs into the premises.

The terrorist LTTE who wanted to chase the Muslims out of the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and make the areas a mono-ethnic territory, started massacring Muslims in the Eastern Province. These massacres which started in the latter part of the J.R.Jayawardene government increased to a horrendous level during the Premadasa administration. In the Kattankudy massacre carried out on 3rd August 1990, Muslims who were performing Isha Prayers (the night prayers) were sprayed with bullets and 103 Muslims got killed on the sport and 71 were injured. Premadasa government which was having a honeymoon with the tiger terrorists feasting them at Hilton Hotel, Colombo did not take any action against these massacres or provide adequate protection to the Muslims. Even the families and the widows of the dead were not compensated. Over 550 Muslims were killed in this manner between the period from 05.03.1988 to 15.10.1992 the next major massacre being the murder of 171 persons and injuring 83 persons in Palliyagodella on 15.10.1992. These massacres ceased only after the defeat of the UNP and steps taken by Col. Anuruddha Ratwatte to provide security cover to border villages. The number of Muslims massacre by the terrorist LTTE in the Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa districts, without any hindrance from the UNP governments was enormous.

In October 1990 Muslims of all the five districts of the Northern Province, Mannar, Vavuniya, Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, were given notice by the LTTE ordering them to leave the Northern Province within 24 hours. The UNP government of President Premadasa did not take any preventive action to protect these Muslims amounting to nearly 100,000 persons. Ultimately the LTTE forcibly chased them out from their traditional habitats where they used to live for centuries. In this world’s worst ethnic cleansing episode the victimized Muslims were not allowed to take any of their belongings except for whatever the dress they were wearing at that time. Even the ear-rings worn by women and children were forcibly removed. A father who had a child of less than one year explaining the ordeal they underwent told a newspaper at that tune that the tiger terrorists did not even allow him to take the partly used milk food packet he was carrying to feed his baby.

The UNP government of President Premadasa, in which the anti-Muslim UNP leader Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe was a top ranking Minister, did not care to provide some decent shelters to these victimized Muslims. They were forced to put up their own shelters in the coconut lands in places like Ismail Puram, Kalpitty, Palavi, Madurankuliya etc, in the Puttalam District, and several other areas in Kurunegala and Anuradhapura districts, and languish as refugees in their own country living in cadjan huts without any basic amenity for almost two decades. Only now after the defeat of the terrorist maniacs they are being resettled in their original habitats, rightly fulfilling a pledge given in the Mahindana Chintanaya.

The continuous and brutal murder of Iraqi population by the United States and its allies are known even to a Muslim child in this country and need no elaboration. The whole world sans Western countries condemned these massacres.  It is indeed shame not only for Sri Lankan Muslims but for Sri Lankans as a whole to have a person to lead the main opposition party who went to the United Nations and justified the massacres of Iraqis by the Bush Administration.

Muslims in the Eastern Province experienced the worst atrocities from the tiger terrorists during the Ranil Wickremasinghe government from 2001 to 2003.  The ignominious  ceasefire agreement signed by Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe with the megalomaniac terrorist leader Prabhakaran without any concern for the majority population of Muslims in the Eastern Province, and handing over a vast extent of land areas of the Eastern Province and the Northern Province including the districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu, made life of Muslims in the Eastern Province nightmarish.

The complete transfer of government powers to tiger terrorists under this wicked agreement forced Muslims to become slavish to terrorist diktats.  Cultivable lands of the Muslims were forcibly taken over, rich Muslims were forced to pay huge amounts as extortions, to pay taxes on all earnings, to provide huge portions of their produce or fish and many other intolerable conditions were imposed on Muslims forcing many of them to sell whatever the property or wealth they had and flee to places like Dehiwela, Mt. Lavinia and other parts of the country.

Muslim youth were harassed and subjected to horrendous mistreatment by the terrorists on the strength of power vested on them by Ranil Wickrremasinghe’s treacherous agreement.  The terrorists in order to gain control of the strategic positions in Muttur and its environs attacked the Muslims in Muttur town which resulted in clashes between the terrorists and the Muslims in the Muttur and Vlachcheenai areas during the Ranil Wickremasinhe government. 27 Muslims were killed and several millions worth of Muslim properties were torched. Rauf Hakeem being a powerful Minister of the government did not take any action either to prevent these clashes, to condemn the terrorist atrocities, to protect the Muslims or at least demand compensation to the victims or victimized families.

Representations made by Eastern Province Muslims to the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe against these terrorist atrocities failed to provide solutions since Ranil valued his new found relationship with the terrorist outfit more important than the victimized Eastern Muslims. Racist Hakeem failed to support a No Confidence Motion against the Defense Minister Tilak Marapana brought in the Parliament by the SLFP led opposition, on account of his failure to prevent terrorist atrocities in the East against the Muslims.

When terrorist atrocities against the Eastern Province Muslims became unbearable and reached its zenith and pressure mounted on the government, Ranil Wickremasinghe without exercising his constitutional authority to quell these atrocities directed Hakeem to meet the terrorist leader and sort out the problems as Ranil Wickremasinghe knew that his machan Terrorist leader will buy over this man and make him a dutiful obliging puppet. A bogus agreement was signed between the two individuals and before long it was disowned and snubbed by the terrorist Tamilselvan and others.

How can one expect this hypocrite to represent and safeguard the Muslim community since he was a person who addressing a public rally in Kalmunai during this period urged the Muslim youth to carefully and diligently study the mindset of Prabhakaran, emulate him and mould themselves taking him as an idol.

Mr. Ashroff who realized the hazardous nature the SLMC could lead the Muslim on the basis of communal politics, few months prior to his untimely death, formed the political party National Unity Alliance incorporating all segments of the Sri Lankan polity, with Ven. Watareka Vajira Thero as its Chairman.  The late Mr.Ashraff also vowed that as long as Ranil Wickremesinghe is the driver, he would never get into the UNP vehicle. Unfortunately, the racist Rauf Hakeem who hijacked the SLMC upon Mr. Ashroff’s death has become the worst communalist and racist in this country betraying the Muslim community, destroying the national harmony that existed for several centuries, and becoming a henchman of the UNP, the very adversary of the Muslim community.

During the race to 2005 Presidential Election the treacherous UNP and the racist SLMC made a huge effort to portray Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse as a Sinhala racist and claimed that if voted to power he would impose a ban on Azan calling, pilgrimages to Mecca, slaughtering of cattle and so on.  It was made to look like Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse as a worst enemy of Muslims than the despicable George Bush who was hailed as a great person by Ranil Wickrremasinghe. These hypocrites were deliberately attempting to hide the fact that Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse had always been a dear friend of the Muslims who closely associated many Muslims in the South and other parts of the country.

He has functioned as the Chairman of the Sri Lanka-Palestine Friendship Association from its inception and this Association was formed by him when others (the Western puppets) dared even to mention the name of Palestine. Also, President Mahinda Rajapakse was a close personal friend of Palestinian leader late Mr. Yassir Arafat and he was one of the world leaders who attended the funeral of Mr. Yassir Arafat.  It is in gratification for his friendship, and long service to the cause of the Palestinian people, the Palestinian Government named a major highway in Palestine as President Mahinda Rasjapakse Highway, the only Highway named after a Sri Lankan in the whole world.

The President in all the speeches he made at the UN General Assembly has advocated for justice for the Palestinian people and for the establishment of a Palestinian people. In addition to this he is providing financial and expert assistance for the development of educational activities in Palestine.  He was the only leader of the non-Muslim world who provided financial assistance to rebuild areas in Gaza which were destroyed by recent air strikes. It is in gratitude to these moral, financial and diplomatic assistance being given by President Mahinda Rajapaksa that they felicitated him recently granting the highest honour of that country “The Star of Palestine”.

Another fact they were deliberately trying to hide was that it was the SLFP led government of Mr. S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike that made possible to relay Azan call using loudspeakers in mosques throughout the country. Surpassing this gesture, and nullifying the bogus allegation made by the UNP/SLMC hypocrites President Rajapakse had made Azan call to be relayed five times a day through the SLBC and through Lakhanda Radio.

Every year the President has made special efforts to get the quota of visas issued for Haj by the Saudi Arabian government to Sri Lanka increased.  Also, without any restriction whatsoever, Muslims are being allowed to travel to Mecca for performing the Umrah pilgrimage and finding Sri Lankan Muslims proceeding for Umrah pilgrimage is a common sight in all flights bound to Saudi Arabia, and Middle East. Recently, realizing that poor Muslims face inability to perform the Haj pilgrimage due to its enormous cost, the President has taken a historical decision to send a certain number of poor Muslims on Haj pilgrimage at government’s cost.  Even the ban on cattle slaughter they predicted was a blatant lie which has boomeranged on them.

The treacherous UNP leadership and their associates of bankrupt politicians attempting to rise from their political dustbins, the dollar slavish NGO vultures, and the perfidious elements in the media and other clandestine outfits nurtured and sustained by reactionary western nations and terrorist Tamil diaspora are making every attempt to mislead the masses against this patriotic government and freeze its people friendly development activities.

It is only under President Mahinda Rajapaksa a large number of Muslims were appointed as Cabinet Ministers for the first time in the history of Sri Lanka, most of them representing far away and remote areas making it possible for them to develop their areas and serve the people of their localities.   Percentagewise the number of Muslim Ministers amounted to 27% which is in far excess of the percentage of Muslim population in the country. Despite a Supreme Court ruling to dismiss the veteran Muslim politician Mr. A.H.M.Fowzie, from his Ministerial portfolio, President Mahinda Rajapakse used his prerogative not to act according to the SC ruling as such an action could hurt the feelings of the Muslim community.

When the tiger terrorist closed the Mavil Aru anicut and invaded the Muslim majority areas of Muttur and Kinniya, killing several Muslims and forced the Muslims to flee these habitats, unlike the UNP government which ignored the Muslims evicted from North in 1990, President Mahinda Rajapakse, as Commander in Chief of this nation, led our heroic forces to defeat the terrorists, free Muttur and Kinniya and graciously resettled the Muslims within a period of 40 days and provided all the facilities they required.

According to highly reliable sources the main reason for the dismissal of former Foreign Minister Mr. Mangala Samaraweera from his ministerial portfolio by President Mahinda Rajapakse was due to the fact that Mr. Mangala Samaraweerra made Sri Lankan representative in the UN to vote for a resolution against the Palestinians.  This had been done without the knowledge of President Mahinda Rajapakse and the incident had infuriated the President very much that led to the replacement the UN representative with veteran foreign service officer Mr. Palihakkara.  Mr. Samaraweera is considered to have made this meticulously calculated move against the Palestinians to damage the cordial relationship President Mahinda Rajapakse was having with the Palestinian people, the Middle East countries and other Muslim countries and thereby deny funds being received by the government from the Muslim countries.

Due to the cordial relationship President Mahinda Rajapakse is having with the Middle East and other Muslim countries, they have become the major funding source for our development projects at a time the double-tongued western nations, on whose dictate the treacherous UNP work, impose restrictions and chastise Sri Lanka instigated by the reactionary enemy elements.  Pakistan was one of the major arms supplier in our war against the terrorists.  Saudi Arabia funded the construction of Sri Lanka’s longest bridge from Trincomalee to Kinniya, a Muslim habitat which was hitherto accessible only by sea and the Saudi Development Fund and the Kuwait Overseas Development Fund are assisting Sri Lanka in many major development projects.

Iran has emerged as one of the biggest lenders to Sri Lanka, displacing traditional top donors Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It provided interest free credit facility to the Sri Lankan government to purchase its oil requirements before western sanctions were imposed on such activities.  It also finances the Uma Oya multi-purpose hydro-power and irrigation project, facilitates the provision of electricity in remote rural areas by the Ministry of Power and Energy, finances the building of the second oil refinery at Sapugaskana which would eliminate Sri Lanka’s need to import any refined oil, aviation fuel, bitumen and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), building the Mahinda Rajapakse Sports Development project in Homagama, and funds several other development projects.

The treacherous Ranil Wickremasinghe who is very much envious of President Rajapakse receiving aid from non-western countries and the country becoming free from western domination strongly criticized the visit of Iran’s populist President Dr. Mahmoud Ahmednejad and made a despicable attempt to create disunity among the Muslims over his visit.  Speaking at a political rally in Kinniya sometime ago Mr. Wickremasinghe claimed that Dr. Ahmednejad had come to Sri Lanka to compel President Mahinda Rajapakse to drive away the Sunni Muslims from the Hambantota District.

Libya was another country that came in a big way to assist President Mahinda Rajapakse in his determined efforts to build a new Sri Lanka for the benefit of the posterity.  Kuwait assist Sri Lanka in several development projects and it has signed an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement with Sri Lanka facilitating Kuwaits to invest in Sri Lanka.  United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia and Malaysia are other Middle East and Muslim countries which are involved in assisting President Mahinda Rajapakse in the implementation of various development projects.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) represented by all Muslim countries in the world has also come forward to assist Sri Lanka in its development activities following discussions held by President Mahinda Rajapaksa recently with the Organization’s Secretary General Sheikh Abdulazia Al Madani and OIC Secretary General is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka during the next few months. In addition to this, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Prince Faisal is also due to visit Sri Lanka shortly and President Mahinda Rajapaksa has been invited to visit Saudi Arabia.

It is the bounden duty of the Muslims to pay their sincere gratitude to President Mahinda Rajapakse for ending thirty years of war, liberating this country and putting a permanent end to the atrocities faced by the community from tiger terrorists. If it was anyone else other than the stone willed, Lion of the South Mahinda Rajapakse who gave leadership to the war, he or she would have run away from the country similar to what Mr. Dudley Senanayake did when he was faced with 1953 Hartal,  or genuflected like what J.R.Jayawardene did in 1987 in the face of Parippu Invasion, because of the enormous and continuous pressure mounted by western nations, NGO vultures, media poodles, and treacherous political elements to halt the war and rescue the terrorist leadership.

No sane Muslim could support the racist Hakeem, the treacherous UNP, especially under the leadership of Ranil Wickremasinghe who had continued to ignore Muslim grievances and had always acted against the Muslim interests.

The prat-fallen politically discarded, jealous and revengeful old hag Chandrika Kumaratunge, the treacherous UNP, and a hodgepodge of western slavish political desperados including racist Rauf Hakeem who makes the Muslim community as a commodity for sale for his personal gains, and extremists such as Champika Ranawaka who has even disparaged the Holy Quran in an unholy alliance have brought forward an ungrateful puppet devoid of any principle and agreeing to any form of agreements to stand against the Muslim friendly President Mahinda Rajapakse in the forthcoming Presidential Elections.

As the patriotic Muslims at the times of Kings Mayadunne, Wimaladarmasooriya and Senarath, joined the Sinhala army in their thousands and valiantly fought the Portuguese enemy, and   sacrificed their life in thousands in places like Matara, Galle, Beruwela and Colombo to defend this nation, it is the bounden duty of Muslims to join hands in their thousands and come forward to protect the Muslim friendly President in the forthcoming Presidential election.  (End)