New Justice Minister President’s Counsel Ali Sabry has made a plea on behalf of the Muslim community. In his first interview as Minister, Sabry urged the main parties to welcome the Muslim community who extend their hand for a political journey which is based not on racial lines but chiefly on policies.
The senior Attorney-at-Law had also in the recent past called for a change in heart by his community on the way it viewed the majority community and vice versa. He was a firm advocate for the integration of the Muslim community with the rest of the polity and deplored ethno-religious politics that has led to divisions based on communal lines.
In other words, political parties should not be identified by a particularly race or religion but join the mainstream which would in turn lead to racial harmony, and what is more, allay suspicions entertained by the majority community against minority parties and communities.
This is a clear reference to parties such as the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) which self-evidently only identifies itself with the Muslim community and religion. By implication the SLMC will necessarily be only appealing to and courting the support of the Muslim community to the exclusion of the rest of the communities which is not conducive for national unity and integrity. Prior to the advent of the SLMC, Muslim politicians held their own in majority dominated areas and won their affection and lasting support. Politicians like A.C.S. Hameed, M.A. Bakeer Markar, Haleem Ishaak, A.H.M. Fowzie and M. H. Mohamed readily come to mind.
They contested in majority dominated electorates from the UNP and the SLFP and won handsomely beating their Sinhala rivals and went on to serve all communities alike. Minister Sabry was envisioning exactly this scenario where Muslim politicians were welcomed by the majority community with open arms, and not viewed with suspicion.
Sadly, ethno-religious regional parties had ruined this trust and harmony and gone on to exacerbate suspicions as was clearly evident in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings where all Muslims came to be ostracized. Hence, it is time for Muslim leaders to disband parties carrying ethno-religious tags and integrate with the rest. Such calls have gone out often in the past by eminent Muslim leaders and personalities.
Perhaps parties such as the SLMC have reasons for sticking to the status quo. Until now it wielded much clout in Parliament placing itself in a position to bargain with the main parties by offering its support to make or break Governments. This way the party was able to hold Governments to ransom and obtain for itself all benefits by way of Ministerial posts and other favours. The Proportional Representation system stood the party in good stead. It contested only in the Muslim areas where it was guaranteed a large number of seats district-wise and thus held the key in forming Governments.
This was the case even with the Estate Tamil vote where the Thondamans and Digambarans held sway. It was the SLMC and the CWC which propped up the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Government in 1994 which had only a one seat majority.
Although the present Government won an outright majority at this election obviating the need for support from minority parties the time has come for a rethink on the PR system if future Governments are to break this vicious cycle. Dispensing with the PR system could also see Muslim and Tamil politicians contesting from majority dominated electorates like in the past that would go a long way in healing wounds and dispelling mistrust. There are already signs that Muslims and Tamils (in the North) have realized their folly in keeping faith in communal parties.
The ITAK or TNA had been given a severe jolt by Tamils in the North and the East that they cannot take their community for granted anymore and that the party’s monolithic status is now crumbling. Ditto for the SLMC in the East which suffered a grave setback with most Muslims opting to vote for the national parties. This is a sign that could see an end to communal politics in this country and an integration of all communities under one umbrella. It also appears that Tamils in the North are no longer enamoured by the separatist slogans of sections of the Tamil parties. The popular refrain coming from the North even before election was that they were living it up in Colombo and only visited the Tamil community during election time. The reversal the TNA suffered at the election is perhaps a reflection of the mood of the Tamil community.
The party had now gone into panic mode and is to set up a committee to probe what went wrong. There certainly is no need for committees but a through introspection would give its leaders a clear insight of the cause for the shift in the mood of the Northerners. The future lies with the national parties, not the communal ones.
