SLMC for North-East merger, NPC should do more for Tamil-Muslim unity: SLMC Vanni Wing

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 July 2016, 10:39 GMT]
Muthalip Bawa Farook, a former parliamentarian representing Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) from Vanni electoral district, SM Sagee and Noor Mohammed Alam from Mannaar, who also represent the executive committee of the SLMC in North on Thursday said that their party, which has been struggling to maintain its integrity amidst the dividing politics of Colombo, has never been against the Tamil demand for a unified North-East. In fact, the SLMC’s stated party position was that there should be a distinct mechanism to ensure the rights of the Muslims in a unified North-East, the SLMC Vanni district representatives said. At the same time, the SLMC’s northern wing was seeking Northern Provincial Council (NPC) Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and the NPC to do more in order to establish Tamil-Muslim unity at the provincial level.

Mr Farook, who also hails from Mannaar said his personal position was that only an international investigation would bring justice to the issue of the missing persons.

The clarification from the Vanni district SLMC representatives comes following a controversial remark from SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem, who is a minister in Maithiripala regime, that Tamils demanding international investigations against the SL military would not be conducive for ‘reconciliation’. The SLMC Leader and SL Minister had made the statement at a memorial event of the first TNA leader M. Sivasitharamparam.

The SLMC Northern Wing representatives were also seeking active NPC engagement in protecting the rights of Tamil-speaking Muslims who have been uprooted from their settlements in the areas bordering Vilpaththu in Mannaar district, said Noor Mohammed Alam from Mannaar, who has been active in giving leadership to the affected Tamil-speaking fishermen in the North.

Apart from the controversies and criticisms on Mr Hakeem, the SLMC representatives were backing him as the leader of the SLMC for his contribution in keeping the integrity of the SLMC amidst the dividing politics from Colombo, they said.