“Intelligentsia must represent Muslims at peace talks”- Athaullah faction

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 25 December 2002, 13:06 GMT]
Athaullah faction of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) held its eighteenth annual convention Wednesday at Akkaraipattu where delegates unanimously adopted a resolution that expressed the need for sending a group of independent Muslim intelligentsia to represent Muslims in the peace talks between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said sources.

More than two thousand delegates from districts in the northeast and including Galle, Colombo and other areas in the south attended the convention called by Athaullah faction, rival group sources said.

Minister and leader of the rival group of the SLMC Mr. A.L.M.Athaullah presided.

Resolutions adopted unanimously at the convention are:

• The SLMC welcomes the steps taken by the United National Front (UNF) government and the Prime Minister Mr.Ranil Wickremasinghe to bring permanent peace to the country thus evolving a lasting solution to the conflict by providing equal rights to Tamils and Muslims and also pledges its continued wholehearted support to this effort in future.
• An independent self rule unit should be offered to Muslims not less than what is to be enjoyed by Tamils when a political solution to the ethnic conflict is found on the basis of a permanently merged northeast province under a federal set up or in any other form of political solution arrived at the peace talks.
• Action should be taken to ensure the right of all displaced and forcibly removed Muslim people from the northeast province to return to their lands and also the GOSL and LTTE should take immediate steps to resettle those displaced and forcibly removed Muslims in their areas with full compensation.
• The SLMC expresses its solidarity on behalf of the Sri Lanka Muslims with the people of Palestine who are fighting for the last fifty years for their basic rights.
• The SLMC vehemently condemns the proposed war against of Iraq and also requests the party concerned to abandon waging war against that country and to ensure the rights of people of Iraq.

Mr.S.Subairdeen was elected national leader of the SLMC (Athaullah group) and Mr A.L.M.Athaullah as its chairman. Dr.A.L.M.Hafrath, national list parliamentarian was elected Secretary General and Mr.Hafiz Nazeer Ahmed as general Treasurer. Mr.T.K.Azoor, parliamentarians and Ministers Mohideen Abdul Cader and Noordeen Mashoor were elected Deputy Leaders and Dr.A.Uthumalebbe as Senior Deputy Leader.

National list parliamentarian Mr. M.B.Abdul Aziz was elected Additional Propaganda Secretary. Mr.S.Z.M.Mashoor Moulana is National Propaganda Secretary. Mr.A.J.Musammil was elected National Organizer of the SLMC(A)