Athaullah commends President for efforts to help Muslims

"We should not forget President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's efforts to accommodate as much as possible the aspirations of the Muslims under the P-TOMS Agreement, unlike what had occurred under past agreements.

At this instance it is appropriate to remember the injustice perpetrated on the Muslims by the Agreement entered into between the UNP Government and the LTTE," states Minister of Infrastructure Development in the Eastern Province A. L. M. Athaullah.

People will never forget the Muslim leadership that fully backed the then Government to enter into that Agreement. We pointed out to that leadership at that time that the Agreement was detrimental to the Muslim community and pleaded that some remedial measures be found.

In fact, we made appeal with intense grief to that leadership that in any future settlement of the ethnic problem, Muslim interests would be in jeopardy on the basis of that Agreement," he said.

"Since that leadership did not respond to our appeals and took no notice on the representations made, we had to leave our party under unpleasant circumstances. The people would not forget all that which occurred. But that same leadership is raising hue and cry on the P-TOMS Agreement, feigning great interest on the welfare of the Muslims", Athaullah said.

People are well aware that these moves are aimed for their own political advantage. Some others seek to use that situation to get elected to Parliament at the next election making every effort by confusing and causing panic among the people, he said.

"I make an earnest appeal to the Muslim community to be very cautious of the prevailing situation and make every effort to act very wisely," the Minister said.

The Minister further states that the belief of the LTTE and the Tamil chauvinists that the temporary merger of the North and East should be made permanent for ever, has been shattered by the stand taken by them with regard to the P-TOMS. He said: "The Tamils and the Muslims of the East who have now realised the sinister motives of the LTTE and the Tamil chauvinists behind this stance are now determined that the North and the East should be de-merged.

The Tamils and the Muslims of the East are continuously betrayed by the activities of the LTTE which surface in their real nature with plots hatched by them from time to time ignoring the aspirations of the Muslims and the Tamils in the East.

It is for this reason that the Muslims and their political leadership have from time to time emphasised that the rights of the Muslims must be duly given to them if the North and the East are to be merged permanently. History will prove that there has been negotiations in this regard during the past but only to find that they have been vain hopes.

Having realised the clandestine activities by the LTTE and the Tamil chauvinists during the past, we were compelled to divulge the truth that the North and the East should be de-merged. Although it was viewed by some, at first as a weak theory, now the time is ripe to accept it as the unanimous stand of the Tamils and Muslims in the East.

In actual fact it would have been a just act on the part of the LTTE to have created a friendly atmosphere for the Tamils and Muslims of the East to enjoy their legitimate rights and to have given due respect to their justifiable feelings, if they cling on to the view that the North and the East has to be permanently merged. The LTTE has never had this attitude.

Nevertheless, sections of the leadership of the Muslims and the Tamils believed that with effluxion of time, the LTTE would change their attitude and provide such ways and means to negotiate with them on contemporary issues.

But such belief has again shattered due to the stand taken by the LTTE on the P-TOMS.

At this juncture, I call upon that leadership to stay put in the resolve that the North and the East should be permanently de-merged.

The Tamil chauvinists who hold the view that the demands of the Muslims need not be met because they have not fought for the cause, have known the fact that Muslims too were adversely affected by the ethnic problem but pretended possessing such knowledge, making it very emphatic that the Muslims need not be conceded any rights because they have not involved in fighting for the cause.

On the basis of those reasons they have ignored the reasonable demands of the Muslims, involved in fighting for the cause.

But today the country is affected by the devastation of the tsunami, specially the North and the East regions being very badly damaged, causing havoc to the people irrespective of being fighter or coward, haves or have nots, or any other division based on caste, creed or religion.

The need for a committed brotherhood has now been proved in the aftermath of the devastation when disregarding ethnic division all communities helped one another in their need for humane assistance.

The Muslim community has suffered loss of many lives and valuable properties as a result of this devastation. Although the Muslims suffered more in the tsunami, it does not mater if the devastation caused to the Muslims is considered to be of the same magnitude as that suffered by the Tamils.

If the LTTE had conceded the request for the Muslims too to be a party in signing the P-TOMS, it would have gone a long way to establish the fact that the LTTE policy for merger of North/East has the blessings of Muslims as well and that they too concur for the proposal of the merger of the North and East.

Having accepted that the P-TOMS National Council has three members to represent the three Communities, that the other communities in the P-TOMS Regional Council having an equal representation to their number of five on that Council making it clear that the LTTE has conceded that other communities enjoy a share equal to their's, and being aware that the International Community has also been made conversant of the terms of the agreement, and taking account of the fact that the concession for a Muslim signatory to the Agreement would be to the advantage of the LTTE itself, their denial of a Muslim representative as a party to the signing of the P-TOMS Agreement, is purely a denial based on the ground that the signatory happened to be a Muslim.

Eventually, fortuitous circumstances paved way for retrieving the difficulties facing the Muslim community in regard to their position.

The request by the LTTE to locate the P-TOMS headquarters in Kilinochchi has torn asunder the face-mask hitherto worn by them. Now, the affected Tamils, Muslims and the Sinhalese in the East have been driven to realise that the policy for de-merging East from the North. These circumstances provide a firm foundation for de-merging the East.

The LTTE has been forced to sign the P-TOMS on the basis of their fear that they would not receive a proper share of the rehabilitation effort to redeem the damage caused by the tsunami devastation. In case the need occurs, it would not be a major problem for the Muslims as well to enter into a similar agreement with the Government. Such a course is obviated by the trust the Muslims have in the capacity of the Government to rationally distribute resources in the rebuilding effort.

The Muslims are worried that the P-TOMS arrangement does not provide for due status for them. These shortcomings have laid a firm foundation to march forward towards our goals. Therefore, rather than worrying over what had occurred, we should divert our attention in the right direction."