Should Muslims Vote For The UPFA Or Even The ‘UPFA Muslims’?
Minister of Justice Rauff Hakeem
None of the Muslim leaders of yore like T.B. Jayah or Badi-ud-Din Mahmud or Dr. Khaleel would have ever imagined that there would ever be a situation where there would be no Muslim representation from the UNP in parliament from the Colombo district. But that’s exactly what has happened. They had cultivated their political philosophy and fined tuned it as time went by or when new situations demanded course corrections hoping the coming generations would follow their examples. But as matters stand today, the fact remains that there are no Muslims from the UNP from the Colombo district in parliament.
Rizvi mufthi’s stand in open support of the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime did not prevent his (Rajapaksa’s) supporters from attacking mosques or carrying slanderous campaigns against Muslims. Muslims remember with shock and sadness how a procession led by a Buddhist monk carried an ‘effigy’ of Allah with a pig’s picture. The police stood by and did sweet nothing. Neither did the president or his government.The reason for this is not because the UNP did not have Muslim candidates in the fray, but because they were so hopeless and stained with corruption or with stigmas like being more close to casinos than mosques that the disgusted Muslim decided to vote for candidates from other communities. Two of those who gained quite a lot form this situation were Wijedasa Rajapaksa and Ravi Karunanayake. As a matter of fact Mufti Rizvie the head of the All Ceylon Jamayathul Ulema (ACJU) openly supported a SLFP non Muslim politician who had crossed over from the UNP facing the harsh criticism of the governing ‘UPFA Muslims’ as well as from Muslims among the opposition. Whether the mufti’s stand was right or wrong is a different matter. The fact remains he shouldn’t have dabbled in politics. One thing is sure, nobody can accuse Muslims of voting on the basis of religious identity never mind the status of the candidate. By and large Muslims have identified themselves with the UNP and the proclivity stands still even to this day.
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