Muslim Grievances Need To Be Heard, Identified And Redressed Properly: Muslim Congress
February 14, 2014
Today, almost five years after the end of the war, the wounds of the Muslim community await due recognition and redress, says the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress.
M.T. Hasen Ali MP
Issuing a statement, its Secretary-General M.T. Hasen Ali MP said today; “Justice has eluded the victims of massacres, thousands of Muslim families remain in IDP camps and many are unable to reclaim their lost assets, including ancestral lands and places of worship. Since the war, in my electorate alone, thousands of acres of land were expropriated by government agencies. Equally worrying is the fact that, in 2013 there were hundreds of attacks against Muslims, many of them violent.”
We publish below the statement in full;
The Muslim community has always strived to live in harmony with all communities in the island. For many generations, the community has produced many loyal citizens, who have served the nation with honour, dedication and a spirit of self-sacrifice. However, the 30 year internal armed conflict in Sri Lanka deeply affected the Muslim community – approximately 20,000 Muslims were massacred, tens of thousands were evicted from their homes overnight and assets worth billions were expropriated.
Today, almost five years after the end of the war, the wounds of the Muslim community await due recognition and redress. Justice has eluded the victims of massacres, thousands of Muslim families remain in IDP camps and many are unable to reclaim their lost assets, including ancestral lands and places of worship. Since the war, in my electorate alone, thousands of acres of land were expropriated by government agencies. Equally worrying is the fact that, in 2013 there were hundreds of attacks against Muslims, many of them violent.
It is a matter of grave concern and regret, that even today, these victims seem all but forgotten. The precise extent and impact of the tremendous losses and continuing prejudice to the community remain unknown, as no systematic, objective official inquiries have been conducted to date. For example, even today, no one knows with any reasonable degree of certainty, how many Muslims died or went missing during the war. Existing government efforts are not fit for this purpose: it is impossible to conduct an accurate assessment of the dead and disappeared in one month – especially as many of the deaths occurred in remote border villages over two decades ago.
It is clear that the nature and extent of the particular grievances of the Muslim community need to be heard, identified, and redressed properly. This requires a special mechanism that is credible, independent and empowered in dealing with these forgotten grievances. Therefore, we call upon the Government to set up such a special mechanism forthwith, to specifically inquire into the grievances suffered by Muslims, so that proper steps may be taken to grant relief to the affected Muslim citizenry.
