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| Thursday, 13 May 2004 |
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A true leader of the nation - Deshamanya Al-Haj M. A. Bakeer Markar by Rasheed M. Imthiyaz, National General Secretary, All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts "I am a firm believer in democracies and rights of man. It fills me with grief to see the hardships, circumstances beyond people's control. I am particularly happy; therefore that Parliament in discharging its duties to the nation has not lost sight of the individual whose final Court of Appeal is Parliament."
These are words of Former Speaker of Parliament late Deshamanya Al-Haj M. A. Bakeer Markar, the renowned Muslim leader of this country. Incidentally, he was the last Speaker of the old Parliament building at Colombo and the first Speaker of the new Parliament at Shri Jayawardenapura, Kotte. Al-Haj M. A. Bakeer was born on May 12, 1917 in "Hakeem Villa" at Maradana, Beruwala. He was the son of the late Hakeem Alia Marikar Mohamed Marikar, who was a successful businessman while being an Ayurvedic physician and Mrs. Rahila Umma Marikar. He received his education both at St. Sebastian's School at Hulfstdorf, Colombo and Zahira College, Colombo. When he was at Zahira College, he was highly impressed by Dr. Tuan Burhanudeen Jaya, then principal of the College, Sri Lanka's best known educationist who later became the veteran Muslim political leader of this nation. At Zahira College, the young Bakeer Marker was the editor of the college magazine, president of the Muslim Majilis and also the president of the Tamil Literary Association. He was not only looked upon as an able orator but also had a good command of Sinhalese, English and Tamil languages. He was selected to second the vote of thanks to the late Sir Andrew Caldecott, who was then Governor of Ceylon, on the occasion of his visit to Zahira College for the prize giving ceremony. After obtaining, a good result in the London Matriculation Examination, Bakeer Markar joined the Ceylon Law College in 1940. While he was a law student, he also joined the Civil Defence Services. Here too he showed his colours; he was one of the few selected for civil defence training at Hyderabad, India. Though the Second World War had disrupted his law studies he completed his law studies and took oaths as a proctor of the Supreme Court towards the beginning of 1950. Bakeer Markar was an active member of the All Ceylon Muslim League, the oldest Muslim political organization of Sri Lanka which fought hard for the freedom of our nation. He became the Speaker of the All Ceylon Muslim League Senate and President of the All-Ceylon Muslim Students' Movement. He was the chief spokesman of the All Ceylon Muslim League delegation led by the late Dr. M. C. M. Kaleel that made representations to the Thalgodapitiya Delimitation Commission in 1959. It was on account of the representation made by him that the Beruwala constituency was created which he later represented in Parliament. The late Bakeer Markar first entered politics in 1950 when he was elected uncontested as a member of the Beruwala Urban Council. During the first year of his tenure there, he became the chairman of this Council, which is a record in local government politics. Thereafter he continued to be a member of the Beruwala Urban Council for a long period representing his people. He implemented various programs for the developments of the area. In 1960 he moved from local politics to national politics. In March that year the United National Party nominated Mr. Bakeer Markar to contest the Beruwala constituency at the general election. He was elected first Member of Parliament to represent Beruwala. However, that Parliament was dissolved in April 1960 and he contested the general election held in July 1960. People of Beruwala re-affirmed their confidence in him. He was re-elected Member of Parliament to represent them. At the 1970 general election he lost his seat with a small margin, but was able to retain the seat with an overwhelming majority at the general election held in 1977. On August 4th 1977 Bakeer Markar was elected Deputy Speaker of the National State Assembly and he was elected unanimously Speaker of Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. He was the first Speaker in the Parliament under the 1978 constitution. Incidentally he was the last Speaker of the Old Parliament in Colombo and the first speaker of the new Parliament at the new administrative capital, Sri Jayawardenapura, Kotte. As the Speaker he discharged his duties in great style with his trilingual command to the utmost satisfaction of the Members of Parliament. According to the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka the Speaker ranks third in the precedence table. In the absence of the President and the Prime Minister the Speaker acts for the President as the leader of Sri Lanka. This has happened only once in the history of this country since the introduction of the Executive Presidency. That was in early 1980s when the President J. R. Jayewardene and the Prime Minister R. Premadasa both were out of the country to attend the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Diana. Bakeer Markar as the Speaker acted for the head of Government and Head of State for two weeks. Thus, in our constitutional history, the only Speaker of Parliament who has acted for the head of Government and Head of State is Bakeer Markar. On 31.08.1983, Al-Haj Bakeer Markar resigned from the post of Speaker and on the same day he was appointed Minister without Portfolio. He was in the legislature for 16 years and more than five years as the Speaker and five years as a Minister. In 1988 he was appointed Governor of Southern Province. Bakeer Markar was always ready to help people. When a cyclone devastated the Eastern Province in late 1970s, Bakeer Markar visited the affected areas along with ambassadors from Muslim countries. He fulfilled their urgent needs. With the sponsorship of the Iraq government he built for the victims the "Saddam Hussain Village" in Eravur in the Baticaloa district. In the early part of 1980s a plane load of Haj pilgrims crashed in Sri Lanka on the way back to Indonesia. There too Bakeer Markar rushed to the scene of the accident. He took personal interest in having the bodies of the pilgrims sent to Indonesia without any delay. As a token of appreciation, the President of Indonesia invited him to visit his country. The Indonesian Hajj memorial building at Katunayake was also initiated by him. Al-Haj Bakeer Markar is the founder of the All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts which represents the totality of the Muslim youth in Sri Lanka. He was the founder president of this union which is a coordinating force of over 500 Muslim Youth Fronts spread through the island. He devoted most of his valuable time to make this movement a unique one. He visited almost every Muslim village from Hambantota to Jaffna, from Kalmunai to Puttalam and familiarized himself with the Muslim youths and their living conditions. Through the All Ceylon Union of Muslim League Youth Fronts he guided the youths towards the right political path. Whoever take active part in the movement becomes a political leader representing various political parties. He trained the youths from the remote village to become the leaders at the national level. His vision was achieved. Thus Alhaj N. M. Ameen is the National President of this union who comes from a small village called Thalgaspitiya in the Mawanella electorate, Alhaj Rasheed M. Imthiaz Attonry-at-Law is the National General Secretary, who comes from a remote village in the Kandy District known as Ududeniya and the Treasurer, Alhaj M. M. M. Jiffry, from Viyangalle of Kalutara District. It is worthy to note that before the escalation of war in the North-East, Bakeer Markar was the last political leader from the South who was accorded a civic reception in the North by the Jaffna Municipal Council when he visited the peninsula. This ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Jaffna, community leaders and almost all Tamil parliamentarians of that time and distinguished people of the peninsula. The "Impact International" once wrote, "Bakeer Markar was a devout Muslim, leaning towards orthodoxy, even though his attire was Western he did not find himself out of place in the company of those whose ways were Western. He hailed from a minority community but he had earned for himself the good will and respect of all communities. He represented a predominantly Sinhalese electorate, the majority community in which members of his community from only 26% of the population." It is worthy to quote some words of Deshamanya Al-Haj M. A. Bakeer Markar, "I am a Muslim and proud to be one, I am proud to be a Sri Lankan, for here in Sri Lanka a man can freely worship God in his accustomed fashion. Ishlam regards all mankind as one. "He is to be most respected who best serves God and man. We Muslims extend our hand in friendship to all communities whom we regard as being of one nation, so that together we can march forward towards that one divine event to which the whole creation moves." |
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