TamilWeek - June 26
			Muslims and Post Tsunami Operational Management Structure By D.B.S. Jeyaraj In the first week of March I telephoned a leading Muslim political leader to inquire about the envisaged Post - Tsunami Joint mechanism. My intention was to write an article about how the Muslims were being sidelined in the discussions over the setting up of that structure. The Muslim politicos response was lukewarm and was something like this. A Muslim peace secretariat had been set up and was  interacting  with the Government and Norway over this matter. The President had informed the Secretariat that discussions had not reached a decisive stage yet. If and when the talks reach a decisive phase the Muslims will be taken on board. Moreover Kumaratunga had also assured some Muslim leaders that the interests and aspirations of the community will be accommodated when the mechanism was finalised. I was told that any article at that point of time was premature and could even be counterproductive. In short I was requested not to write then.. So I did not. But now the same person is agitated over what is happening. There are frantic requests for something to be written. Unfortunately it appears that its too late now. Its all over but the shouting. The joint mechanism issue began hotting up over the weeks and began stirring up quite a lot of controversy. Muslim leaders however kept a low public stance on the issue. I do not know whether they were engaged in covert negotiations. Overtly there seemed very little movement on the matter. There were two cabinet ministers, three ministers and two - deputy ministers from North - Eastern Muslim Parliamentarians. Some of them made reassuring noises periodically. A familiar refrain was that President Kumaratunga would be fair by the Muslims. Rauff Hakeem made some critical comments. He issued warnings that the Muslim tsunami victims required urgent assistance. He  said that the Muslims should not be overlooked or sidelined in the setting up of a post - tsunami structure. There were veiled references to those holding office in the present government being ineffective.  As it became clear that Muslim aspirations were being overlooked Hakeem called for broader Muslim unity to address the issue.Yet Hakeem too was not very effective or forceful in getting the hopelessly divided Muslim politicians rally round these views. In short the mainstream Muslim poloiticians seemed apathetic. Some voices among Muslim scribes however were unhappy and alert to what was unfolding. Some writers in the Tamil media constantly referred to the danger of Muslims being short changed. They urged broader Muslim unity and action over this. From these comments by Muslim journalists in the Tamil media one was able to gather that there were three schools of thought. One felt that Muslims will be included in the talks at the appropriate time. The Muslims could voice their aspirations then and obtain their rightful place in the proposed structure then. The second  strand of opinion had a naive almost childlike faith in Kumaratunga. She would not let us down and will ensure that we have a proper role, they felt. Besides the Muslim secretariat was active on this  they believed. The third school was opposed to the joint mechanism proposal. But they felt that the JVP and JHU will scuttle it. Why fret over something that was not going to see the light of day? was their viewpoint. As a result of all this practically very little was done by mainstream Muslim politicians over securing a  proper place for Muslims in the post - tsunami scheme of things. The hapless Muslim victims of tsunami were seething at the slow and tardy progress of relief and reconstruction. The 200 metre limit for the N- E as opposed to the lesser limits for the South was seen as blatant discrimination. The lack of available land was another drawback. The state media kept churning out propaganda about how the South was "progressing" in tsunami reconstruction. This perception that the South was progressing in contrast to the languishing East fuelled much resentment among ordinary Muslim victims of the tsunami. Many demonstrations protesting the slow and discriminatory treatment were held. The most notable being in Maruthamunai where the affected people turned up in huge numbers. An unusually lsrge number of Muslim women participated. This indicated the extent of feelings among even the generally "conservative" Muslim women. Even as these feelings of desperation grew among affected Muslims the powers that be seemed unconcerned. The indifferent   conduct of Athaullah being a striking example. Adding further  worry were the sinister designs to "Buddhisise" Muslim coastal areas. Buddha statues appeared in Pottuvil and Ulla. It was clear that they had the backing of the security forces and the Saffron clad politicians. When a hartal was held in Pottuvil force was unleashed on the Muslim demonstrators. When Hakeem raised the issue in Parliament some MP's in yellow and orange robes responded on chauvinist lines. They said that Sri Lanka was a Sinhala Buddhist Country and that they had every right to implant Statues of Buddha anywhere they wanted. Another source of worry were plans to relocate Muslims. Tourism related Commercial enterprises were eying coastal areas in the Pottuvil - Arugam bay area. Muslim inhabitants were prevented from returning to their homes and businesses while entire tracts of coastal lands were to be given over to tourism oriented businesses. Thus Muslim resentment was building up.Rightly or wrongly there was a general impression that plans were afoot to  use the "tsunami" as an excuse to remove the Muslims from their coastal enclaves and acquire their property. Also relocating them elsewhere would dilute their political strength. These Muslim feelings of insecurity were not restricted to the East alone. Even those of Hambantota and Weligama were suspicious about relocation schemes. The relationship with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was another problem. Some attempts were made at rapprochement and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization even completed projects for some Muslims. The LTTE also iniated dialogue wil local Muslim religious dignitaries. Yet the climate did not improve much. The betrayal of the Prabakharan - Hakeem accord of April 13th 2002, the refusal of top LTTE leaders to meet with Muslim political leaders, the friction over resettlement etc were stumbling blocks. More importantly news reports that the LTTE was reluctant to accommodate the Muslims on an equal basis in the joint mechanism structure were extremely troubling. This was seen as a denial of Muslim identity and independence as a separate entity. Fears were also entertained that the tigers too were conspiring to drive Muslims away from the littoral described poetically as :Eluvaankarai" (Shore of the rising sun). Under these circumstances the Muslims particularly those affected by the tsunami began looking forward to the setting up of a special structure for tsunami relief with increasing expectation as well as trepidation. Given a choice the Muslims like most tsunami victims would only have wanted early and speedy relief and rehabilitation. They were not particularly enamoured of a joint mechanism or whatever with the LTTE to be the chief provider of relief. They may very well have welcomed a Government or Non - Government agency to have performed the task. Since the aid providing donor community wanted a Govt - LTTE body to be the accredited mechanism the Muslims too reluctantly opted for it through necessity and not free choice. Even as the community awaited the setting up of such a structure it was anxious about how it was going to work and what role would be given the Muslims. The Muslims felt and quite rightly too that they were entitled to some special status in the tsunami relief mechanism as they were the most affected single ethnic community. Technically this was incorrect. The most affected single entity was the Batticaloa Burgher community. The Batti burghers mostly of Portugese descent were affected in Kalmunai. Komari, Dutch Bar and other places of Batticaloa. According to one survey 58% of the tiny community were victimised. Though this figure is proportionally large the numbers of the community being small made the overall figure minimal in contrast with the Sinhala, Tamil or Muslim victims. Among the three major ethnicities  the Muslims were most affected in number and proportion. It is an incontrovertible fact of life in Sri Lanka that large concentrations of Muslims inhabit the coastal regions. There are historical, geographical and economic reasons for this. So when the tsunami struck the coastal Muslims naturally suffered more. Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Secretary - General and Parliamentarian Hassan Ali in a speech made on May 6th this year revealed some mind boggling statistics in this respect. Excerpts from  what he said then - " The fact remains that it was the Muslim community that was worst affected in the December 26, 2004 tsunami, especially the Muslim community of Ampara district in the Eastern province. In Ampara district of the total 7300 people dead or missing due to tsunami 4292 were Muslims . Similarly of the 27605 houses damaged in Ampara district, 16327 are houses of Muslims . Loss of properties on the same ratio has been suffered by the Ampara district Muslims. Of the total number of 37988 displaced in the district, 24464 are Muslims. It is for this reason that we demand that an equal place should be given to the M uslims in whatever infrastructure facilities are provided. According to 2001 census, in the Kalutara district 84 percent of the total 8.8 paercent Muslim population is living along the coastal areas . Similarly in Galle 88 percent of the total 3.6 percent Muslim population, in Matara 80.5 percent of the 2.9 percent Muslim population an d in Hambantota 92 percent of the total 2.4 Muslim population are living along the sea coast. tage Muslims whatshave 27In the Northern and Eastern coastal belt , 75 percent of the total 41.6 percent Muslims live- close to the sea in fishing villages. In all districts island-wide affected by tsunami 75 to 99 percent Muslims are living along the sea coast. In Ampara district in the North-East, 75 percent of the total 41.6 Muslim population is living along the coastal belt. In Batticalao, 99 percent of the total 36.1 Muslim population is living along the sea coast. In Trincomalee 77 percent of the total 39.6 percent Muslims is living in the coastal belt. It is grieving and shocking to note that the Muslim community which was worst affected in the tsunami is being pushed to third place in post-tsunami relief and rehabilitation assistance , merely due to political reasons. This has shattered our anticipations and hopes that we could rebuild the nation unitedly . The current state of affairs in this regard is quite contrary to what President Chandrika Kumaratrunga , Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapase and other senior government politicians said in the aftermath of the natural disaster. He warned that the Muslim community was receiving step-motherly treatment and if this situation continued the repercussions would be worse than what is being experienced due to the 20 year long civil strife". If this is what Hassan Ali said then some statistics published in the Tamil daily "Virakesari" also provided a picture of the magnitude of the Muslim predicament. Muslims constitute eight per cent  or about 1.7 million of Sri Lanka's 20 million people, but  they account for 40.8 per cent of the dead in the December 26, 2004   tsunami. Out of the total of 30,718 people killed in the island, 12,562 were Muslims. Amparai district in southeastern Sri Lanka accounted for 7258 (58  per cent) of the total Muslim dead, according to statistics published by  the Tamil daily Virakesari .     The overall island-wide figure for the missing is 5815. Out of this, 1980   (34 per cent) are Muslims. Of the 14,998 injured, 7285 (48.5 per cent) are  Muslims.  The tsunami displaced 230,700 persons island-wide. Out of this, 41,671 (18  per cent) were Muslims. 85,833 houses were fully damaged, out of which Muslim houses accounted for  21,751 (25.3 per cent). Out of the 36,616 houses partially damaged, 12,207   (33.3 per cent) belonged to Muslims. Thus it is crystal clear that the Muslims have suffered tremendously > According to one estimate the Muslim lives  lost  amount to one percent of their total population. So it was nothing but just and fair for the community to expect representation in any tsunami related decision making body in proportions commensurate to the loss and damage suffered. Moreover such an arrangement was practical too in more than one way. Yet the Muslim political leaders either due to their "Perunthanmai" (greatness) or "Pelaveenam" (weakness) failed to keep tabs on what was happening and assert their claim. This was a pronounced fault of those Muslim cabinet ministers, ministers and deputy ministers  from the East  - Ferial Ashraff , Athaullah, Majeed, Ameer Ali, Rishard Badurdeen, Anwer Ismail and Segu Issadeen. So when the joint mechanism talks reached a conclusive stage the Muslims found themselves short changed considerably. The mechanism is heavily weighed in favour of the LTTE as opposed to the heavily affected Muslims. In the first place it is not going to be a tripartite agreement according to Vidar Helgessen. Only the Government and LTTE will be signatories. The tigers are being given a role in areas in the East that are not under LTTE control. An important tier of the mechanism the regional community will have ten members. These will be five LTTE nominees, Three Muslim party nominees and two government nominees. Thus the Muslims affected more in the East proprtionally will not have  representation accordingly in this crucial tier which will approve, reject, prioritise and allocate projects. The Muslims will be on par with the Govt and LTTE in the high level committee that allocates and monitors finance. This will have a representative each from all three entities. Then there are the district committees which will formulate and implement projects. There the committees will reflect the population affected. So the Muslims are entitled to their share theoretically at least. Besides there are some minority safeguards. The high level committee  must work by consensus. If that is not possible a "suspension of cooperation" state is possible. If this state continues all money allocated will revert back to the fund and ultimately to the treasury. In the case of the regional committee two members can veto a decision. If it is re - submitted then a seven membermajority is required. Despite these safeguards the Muslim community is extremely unhappy. Ever since Norwegian deputy foreign minister told a Muslim maulavi delegation very bluntly that  the joint mechanism agreement is not tripartite and that Muslims cannot be  a signatory the Eastern Muslims are bitter and angry. Various demonstrations, meetings, seminars etc are being held. Eastern Muslim Politicians are frantically appealing to the Government and LTTE. Kumaratunga is telling them to trust her. Thamilselvan tries to deflect blame on Kumaratunga and Colombo in turn blames Kilinochchi and Oslo. It is clear from Thamilselvans statement that they will see to the Muslims interests after signing the agreement with the Government that the tigers are not in favour of any tripartite set up. Likewise Kumaratungas statements also indicate that  Muslims will not be signatory to any agreement. This is what hurts and angers Muslims most. As Rauff Hakeem observed to the BBC the issue now is not about equal representation alone but about equal status and respect. The Muslims affected most in the tsunami feel they are entitled to third party status in this mechanism They have a genuine grievance that they were deprived of separate third pary status in the peace talks. Now even in the tsunami mechanism they are being denied equal status despite being the most affected single largest community in the disaster. Another worrying aspect in this is the expectation that the tsunami structure principle may be extended in the future to any interim arrangement connected to the peace process. The Muslims do not want to be left out again. The Muslim position in the post - tsunami mechanism is certainly an improvement on the community's state in the Indo - Lanka accord or the ceasefire agreement. The former ignored them totally. The latter took specific note but failed to provide any particular status. During peace talks Hakeem participated in the first round as part of the Government team. Thereafter he represented Muslims at the talks. The Hakone declaration guaranteed third - party status for the Muslims. From Wickremasinghe to Pirapakaran the Muslims were promised a lot. But very little was delivered. The Muslim problems were not taken up. And then the talks collapsed. Compared to that situation the Muslims are relatively better off. This time the Muslims have been recognized as a viable entity. They have an equal position in the high level committee and an equitable share in all district committees. It is only in the regional   committee that they have been deprived of their due place. Even there some safeguards are in place. It is also possible that the Government or LTTE or possibly both could nominate a Muslim. If so the level of representation could increase. Despite the flaws there is no doubt that the Muslims have for the first time been accepted in practice or at a de facto level by the Government and LTTE as a third party in North - Eastern affairs. But the crux of the matter for the Muslims is their being ignored as a signatory to the agreement. This relegates them to an inferior status. The hurt felt by the Muslim psyche is to a great extent symbolic but it certainly goes beyond that. The rationale in keeping Muslims out of initial discussions during the peace talks was that preliminary talks had to be between warring parties . The Muslims were not a warring party. But now it is all about tsunami relief. The Muslims are the most affected. How then can the community be left out as a signatory? Moreover the Muslims are also the single largest ethnicity in the Eastern Province as well as the Trincomalee and Amparai districts. A great injury has been done to the Muslims in this respect. Adding insult to injury is the stupid remark made by Vidar Helgessen that the Muslims are divided and so there is a problem as to who should represent the community in signing the document. It is certainly correct that the Muslims are divided greatly. This lack of unity leading to a weakening of the most authentic Muslim party the Muslim Congress has been a major impediment to the community's strong assertion of its rights in the tsunami set up. But then this lack of unity cannot be an excuse to deny the Muslims their rightful place and share. Deciding upon their representative is up to the Muslims. It is certainly not Vidars business. The disunity argument will not wash either. However divided they may be all Muslim politicians are of one mind in this matter. Be it Hakeem. Ferial, Athaullah, Rishard, Najib or Myon Mustapha all Muslim factions want the community to be an equal signatory. There are no contrary views here. Therefore when it comes to signing an accepted choice is quite possible. For one thing there is ex - diplomat and Human rights commissioner Javid Yusoof. He is the Muslim peace secretariat director and acceptable to all shades of Muslim opinion. He is the most obvious choice as the other signatories too will be Government and LTTE officials and not those of the hierarchy. Failing this Muslim clerics could decide on someone. Furthermore the seven  directly elected 9not national list)  Muslims from the North - East could vote on someone. In any case some Muslim consensus is necessary to nominate representatives to the mechanism. The Muslims must decide on their representatives. Neither the Govt or LTTE can be allowed to do so. The Muslim political leaders began stirring only at a very late stage.  Some Muslim leaders like Hashim and Mustapha have observed that Muslim leaders  woke up too late. Meetings between Kumaratunga and Ashraff and Hakeem have not been successful in this regard. The Muslims have been presented a fait accompli. What the Muslim leadrs will do now remains to be seen. They could unite and protest vehemently. Ashraff and Athaullah and others could leave the Government which I very much doubt they will. Instead of resigning on principle they would in the words of Dr. Colvin R de Silva resign themselves to fate. Hakeem may engineer some protest. But his position in the community is rather weak. Unless the Muslims unite and present a common front on this matter no change is possible. On the other hand the Muslim leaders could accept what seems inevitable and adjust accordingly. They should unite and ensure that strong and efficient Muslim nominees are appointed to all tiers of the proposed structure. The community could harness all available resources and back the Muslim representatives in the mechanism. At the same time they should keep on pressuring the Government and LTTE to recognize their rightful share and rights. For this some real unity is necessary. The divisive Muslim politics should cease. If they do not take heed I would not be surprised if other forces cut the ground from under their feet. It is possible that the Muslims may adopt a pragmatic approach to the exercise despite their heartburn over being deprived of proper status in the signing of the mechanism. Given the Muslim representation at ministerial level the Muslims could focus on the mechanism and see that it works well. If the P-TOMS gets going and the  Muslims get their fair share of tsunami relief and reconstruction their grievance over equal third party status may diminish over a period of time. On the other hand if the Muslims find themselves being sidelined in the P-TOMS implementation then theur anger will increase. They would attribute this sorry plight to the fact of being denied their rights at the inception of the P-TOMS itself. This no doubt will have its political repercussions. Though the P-TOMS document has been signed and tabled in Parliament the matter does  not over as far as the Muslim community is concerned. Nothing is ever settled unless it is settled right.Whatever the reasons given denying the Muslims an equal stastus in the proposed mechanism is unjust and unfair. It is morally. legally and even practically wrong. The Government, LTTE and Norway even at this late stage should revise their stance. The Muslims do not want Sinhala or Tamil charity but only what is legitimately due to them. Besides there is the question of Muslim self - respect and related symbolism. All right thinking Sinhala and Tamil people must prevail upon the power structures to award equal status to the Muslims. It is no concession but an inherent right of the tsunami affected Muslim people that needs to be recongnized and honoured.
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