Lankan Muslims feel neglected: Tsunami aid distribution
By Frances Bulathsinghala
COLOMBO: The question of Muslim representation in the Sri Lanka’s joint mechanism with the LTTE rebels towards equitable distribution of tsunami relief assistance is fast becoming a thorny issue. The Norwegian deputy foreign minister Vidar Helgesen visited the LTTE-controlled Kilinochchi on Wednesday for what was expected to be a crucial meeting. However the LTTE website quoted its political wing leader SP Thamilselvan as saying that “facilitators did not bring any decisive message”.
The LTTE sources confirmed that no significant breakthrough had been achieved at the meeting which was used by the LTTE for clarification of some contentious issues regarding the proposal. The Muslim community affected by tsunami has demanded parity in the proposed joint mechanism known as the post-tsunami operational management structure (P-TOMS).
They have demanded for them the status of a signatory. President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s office in a statement earlier said that “Vidar Helgesen has already been requested to convey the concerns and aspirations of the Muslim community to the LTTE when he meets them on Wednesday, 22nd June”.
The Norwegian facilitators angered the leader of the main Muslim party the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Rauff Hakeem, when he told him that the P-TOMS agreement had been finalized and there was no room to accommodate the Muslim representatives as a signatory.
Kumaratunga, however, went on to console her Muslim allies in the government on Tuesday “that the rights and security of the Muslim community would be safeguarded and pledged that they will be given their rightful share,” a statement from Kumaratunga’s office said.
The LTTE sources however said that the rebels had agreed to settle the issue of Muslim representation once the mechanism was set up and started functioning. The Sri Lankan President, who has already suffered a huge setback in her bid to set up the mechanism with the Tigers is playing another gamble with the Muslim issue. Her main coalition partner, JVP, left the government last week over her joint mechanism with the LTTE and her government is now a parliamentary minority because of the exitof the JVP from the coalition government.
She can ill-afford to lose the support of her Muslim allies with her government already reduced to 80 seats in the 225-member parliament, 33 short of a working majority.
Any decision to quit by her Muslim legislators who number 8 in her government, the president would find herself in the most awkward position. It would be seen as an endorsement of the the JVP’s quitting and the opposition came from the influential Buddhist clergy. The president cannot be expected to have any relief from the LTTE on the Muslim issue either.
The LTTE-Muslim issue has a history as long as the separatist armed coflict. Nearly 100,000 Muslims were expelled from the northern Jaffna peninsula by the LTTE in 1990 as part of their ethnic cleansing effort. They are yet to return to Jaffna and are still languishing in refugee camps in the north western town of Puttalam.
Violent clashes erupted between the LTTE-backed groups and the Muslims in the Muslim-dominated areas in the eastern province after the current ceasefire agreement was signed in February 2002.
Not even a written agreement between the LTTE leader Prabakaran and the Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem was able to prevent Muslims’ harassment by the LTTE.
