South Asia » Sri Lanka
Monday, December 5, 2005
LTTE punishes Muslims for voicing their aspirations
PK Balachandran
Colombo, December 5, 2005
The LTTE is currently on a rampage against the Muslims of Sri Lanka's Eastern districts for supporting Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) in the November 17 presidential election and voicing their political aspirations, observers say.
According to estimates, 11 to 12 Muslims have been killed in a series of incidents since the election.
The Muslims, like many Tamils in the East, had voted for Wickremesinghe because he stood for peace, federalism and a negotiated settlement with the assistance of the international community. Wickremesinghe is also believed to have promised the Muslims that they will get a separate self governing enclave in the South East with a system to include geographically non-contiguous areas (on the Pondicherry model).
In addition to that, some Muslim leaders like Athaullah of Akkaraipattu had said that the Northern and Eastern provinces must be de-merged. This is like a red rag to the LTTE for which the unity of the North and the East to form a single "Tamil Homeland" is the very cornerstone of the Tamil liberation struggle.
The LTTE, on the other hand, had wanted Wickremesinghe defeated because it feared that the international community would become a millstone around its neck under his Presidency. The international community, the LTTE feared, would force it to accept a solution it might not want.
Though its thinly veiled call for a boycott of the presidential election applied only to the Tamils, the LTTE would have wanted the Muslims also to take the hint and stay away from the polling booth. A Muslim boycott would show that the community is with the Tamils and the LTTE, and voting would show that the Muslims have an independent agenda unrelated to that of the Tamils and the LTTE. By taking part in the election massively, the Muslims of the North East had clearly shown that they were not to be confused with the Tamils or the LTTE. This could not have been to the liking of the LTTE.
Muslim party blames LTTE for attacks
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), the largest Muslim party in Sri Lanka and an ally of the UNP, on Sunday accused the LTTE of instigating the recent attacks against Muslims in the Eastern districts.
A press release from the party said that the LTTE was attacking Muslims in order to create Muslim-Tamil tension and blame the Muslims for spoiling the peace process.
"The local population in places where violence has been unleashed unambiguously points the finger at the LTTE as the perpetrators, and the LTTE has not done much to allay their involvement," the SLMC release said.
Giving a list of incidents in the past few days, it said that a grenade had been hurled into the Akkaraipattu mosque at prayer time. Akkaraipattu is the home constituency of minister Athaullah who wanted the North and East to be de-merged.
Two Muslims of Eravur had been killed and their bodies dumped in Valaichenai; a Muslim couple was killed in Meeravodai; and Mr Faleel, Divisional Secretary of Kathankudy was shot. Later, Faleel succumbed to his injuries. Four Muslims of Thoppur in Trincomalee district had been abducted and three of them were subsequently killed.
"These calculated attacks on the Muslims compel us to view with suspicion that orchestrated attempts are being made to disrupt Tamil-Muslim relations in the East," the SLMC said.
The LTTE was angry with the Muslims because they were voicing their own political aspirations. It was angry with the Tamils of the East also, because these too were for peace and a negotiated federal settlement, and had voted in the election defying the diktat against it.
According to the SLMC, the LTTE wants to quash these tendencies among the Muslims and Tamils, wreck Tamil-Muslim unity, and blame Muslim antagonism for the failure of the peace process.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.