SLMC not prepared to stoop to conspirators’ level - Hassen Ali

Rasika Somarathna

Denying recent rumours regarding an about turn by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) at the Budget vote on December 14, party General Secretary Hassen Ali said they had already received positive signals from the Government regarding their grievances and would be meeting the President to sort out matters.

Ali added that his Party was not prepared to stoop to the level of conspirators who fish in troubled waters and added that they were confident of an amicable settlement to their main issue regarding land matters in the East.

He alleged that the disputed land in some Divisional Secretariat divisions in the Eastern Province had been used by the Muslim community for cultivation over the last 35 to 40 years and it was unreasonable for the Forest Department to grab it suddenly denying farmers their livelihood.

He added that even though authorities had given orders to rectify the matter, those orders were not carried out at district level owing to some schemes backed by politically motivated forces.