Reconciliation and Muslims of Sri Lanka
Attempts to isolate Muslims here on false accusations of violent extremism will adversely impact on national integration Excerpts from the Colombo, Zahira College Founders Day Oration delivered by President’s Counsel M.M. Zuhair, former Member of Parliame
We have gathered here today on the 125th Anniversary of the founding of Zahira College. To be invited by the management of Zahira, to deliver the College Founders’ Day oration on such a milestone of an occasion as the 125th Anniversary of the College, is a great honour for me. I feel truly humbled, more so because I am an old boy of this unique educational institution.
Let us see the then background briefly. By the time Zahira was founded in 1892, there were already in existence in the country, 61 colleges of repute, 50 of which were established by the American missionaries, the Methodists, the Anglicans and the Roman Catholics who appeared to be in competition with each other, while the British Empire was firmly in the saddle, in the then Ceylon. The Buddhists had by then established only six schools, including Ananda College in 1886 and the Hindus had established a mere four schools including the Jaffna Hindu College in 1887.
That the Sri Lankan Muslims were being left behind in the competitive quest for quality education, pursued by others actively, could not have been lost on the community and its then leaders. It was in this background that an inspiring speech delivered in 1891 at the Maradana Mosque by that legendary Muslim activist of that time M C Siddi Lebbe, a lawyer by profession, which led to the establishment of Zahira College the very next year.
Let us remember now, those great founders by name: M C Siddi Lebbe, A M Wapiche Marikar, Orabi Pasha, N D H Abdul Ghaffoor, N H M Abdul Cader, I L M Abdul Azeez, Careemji Jafferjee and P B Umbichy. Support for enhancing the infrastructure facilities continued from benefactors such as Muththu Wappa, Pallak Lebbe & Co., M I M Naleem Hadjiar and more recently on my own initiative from Al Makthoum Foundation of Dubai, UAE, followed by Deshamanya Professor M T A Furkhan, who donated the Prof. Furkhan Building. The Swimming Pool project and the renovation of buildings were completed with the enthusiastic support of the old boys, parents and well-wishers, initiated by Mr. Fouzul Hameed, the present Chairman of the Board. There is now a dedicated team led by the Principal, Mr Trizviiy Marikkar, working under the guidance of the Board of Governors struggling to restore Zahira to its past pristine glory.
This historical process of establishing Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim schools over the past 150 years undoubt- edly played a major role in uplifting educationally our communities. Indeed the standards introduced by the American and British missionary schools upgraded the quality of life of all Sri Lankans. We are no doubt appreciative of these colonial time rewards.
But, did this colonial process also result in undue divisions and excessive communal compartmentalisation, amongst us Sri Lankans? Did it also damage even partially, the prospects of establishing healthy co-existence among the different communities and unity amidst diversity? Did this process together with other factors also contribute negatively towards advancing the Sri Lankan identity and national integration? Jane Russel, the British researcher, in her thesis ‘Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution’ refers to nearly a hundred years of communal politics in this country, which had distanced communities, each from the other. There are also those who argue that the British policy of ‘divide and rule,’ led to the present ethnically divisive and at times confrontational politics in our country.
Zahira had always accommodated a recognisable percentage of students from the Sinhala and Tamil communities. During the stewardship of A.M.A. Azeez as principal, of the 138 Zahirians who entered the faculties of the then Ceylon University, 37 were Sinhalese while 21 were Tamils. Eighty or 58 percent were Muslims. Like Zahira, there are other schools which also accommodate a fair number of students from other communities.
But there are also leading national level schools which accommodate students virtually from a single ethno-religious group only. Such practices violate the fundamental rights provisions in the Constitution. These, indeed require political decisions to pave way for rea- sonable integration while respecting diversity. Ethnic and religious coexistence must begin from classrooms. Respect for other beliefs and cultures must echo from schools.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga articulated this effectively when she addressed the Royal College, and on another occasion, the Ananda College staff and students at meetings organised earlier this year, by the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation under the guidance of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. She said it is impossible to achieve national integration, unless every school opens its doors for admission of a reasonable percentage of children from other communities.
When I spoke at Ananda College on the same occasion, I urged the Anandians, past and present, to give leadership to uniting the people of this country as Sri Lankans, without sheltering any longer within enclaves. I also referred to the then Mr. T B Jayah and Mr C. Sundaralingam, who were highly respected teachers at that time at Ananda College. I told the Anandians that when Jayah, who was ‘your teacher’, was invited to head Zahira as its Principal, Ananda’s teacher Mr Jayah declined the prestigious offer, unless Ananda’s Principal Mr Kularatne agreed. When Mr Kularatne heard about the offer, though Ananda was going to lose a competent teacher, Mr Kularatne readily agreed to the mosque authorities to release Mr Jayah to head Zahira.
You will note the high level of cordiality and respect the two leaders showed each other and thereby to the two institutions -- Mr Jayah not betraying the trust that Ananda had reposed on him and Mr Kularatne rewarding Zahira with the most illustrious Principal that Zahira ever had. We need to remember this as an encouraging example of fostering national unity while respecting diversity.
The point I wish to make here is the need for Zahira to revive closer relations between not only Zahira and Ananda, but also similar warm relations with the Hindu, Catholic and Christian schools around Zahira. This will help unity and reconciliation and overcome deficiencies that compartmentalisation had brought about.
Sport is another arena which could become an effective unifying platform. Sportsmen undoubtedly etch an unforgettable aura of friendship that generally lasts a lifetime or more. I wish to commend a few friendly matches to be considered for inclusion in the College calendar, in which students from Zahira and neighbouring schools form into one team and play versus other similar teams.
Our duty is to create a friendly environment for sustainable security for every child. We need to overcome the forces that seek to divide us. There are serious attempts worldwide to isolate the Muslims, labelling them as fundamentalists, terrorists and violent extremists. While we condemn all forms of terrorism and violent extremism, we need to be fully alert to the reprehensible attempts to blame the criminal acts of a few on Islam and on whole communities of Muslims.
Criminals need to be punished, irrespective of ethnic, caste, religious, regional or national persuasions. We need to be alert and cooperate with the authorities to apprehend and deal with such criminals. We need to be also alert to external elements which can create conflicts. We need to be aware of warmongers, dealers in weapons and traffickers in narcotics. We owe this to every child in this country. We owe this to our motherland.
We need to be fully aware that the threat to national reconciliation could come from those attempting to blame whole communities of people for the criminal acts of a few. Attempts to extend the blame for the acts of criminals on any religion or community of followers have no place in any civilised country or legal system. Of course one who conspires or abets the commission of an offence is also an offender. But by no means could that be extended against a whole community of people.
We need to be watchful of sinister attempts to castigate whole communities and malign a particular religion, under cover of false allegations, as for example, that Islam incites violence. Nothing is further from the truth. These allegations are a cover for militaristic invasions of other countries. These falsehoods are also spread to justify interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The fear mongering helps the sale of weapons and security equipment. Countries with high percentages of poverty are compelled thereby to waste funds, which make the poor, poorer. What I have referred to briefly is the international perspective, but of great relevance to our future. Any attempt to isolate the Muslims here, based on false propaganda and false allegations of violent extremism, will adversely affect the process of national integration and reconciliation which are top priorities for development and economic advancement.
Internally, the Muslims of Sri Lanka have to be watchful of current developments. Left under the carpet, some of these issues can cause serious harm. During the past eight years following the end of the war, several issues concerning our community have been raised by extremist groups in the country. These groups are a small minority. The issues raised are based on false fears, unfounded utterances, fanciful fabrications and mind-boggling myths. There are also others trying to echo these myths.
We need to recognise two important factors. Firstly, lies and untruths repeatedly uttered by those making the allegations have created a spectrum of prejudices against the Muslims, among a wider section of the people. We need to understand the feelings of this wider section, some of whom genuinely believe the allegations to be true. There is a need to address this group differently from those who spread the lies and deception. We need for instance, calm and convincing responses. Some responses in the social media are counter-productive and often abusive.
Secondly, we need to understand that highly respected members of the Buddhist clergy have, since July 20th that is about a month ago, raised in a dignified manner some issues that relate to our community as well. Regretfully, sections of the media have reported their views in an anti-minority perspective. We need to be mindful of the genuine concerns of the Buddhist clergy, even though most of them are based on false fears and past prejudices.
Appropriate steps must be taken to ensure that the trust and confidence in our loyalty and patriotism to our motherland, meticulously built by our forefathers over the past 12 centuries, are not damaged or dented. There are attempts to damage this bond of friendship. It is originating from vested interests outside our borders. We need to be vigilant. We learnt when we were students here, Wendell Phillips’ famous quotation, that, ‘eternal vigilance is the price of liberty’.
There is an eerie feeling of insecurity within the community since the end of the war in May 2009. The initial post-war euphoria shared by all communities, began to evaporate within months of the end of the war. Muslims’ contributions to the success of the Sri Lankan war on terrorism were soon overlooked.
This war was certainly not against any community. It was against terrorism. It was against the division of our country. The entire country needs to be repeatedly reminded of the patriotic role of the Muslims in firstly not supporting the division of the country, secondly that Muslims of the North and the East thereby paid a heavy price for not supporting the racist division, being evicted from the North, murdered in mosques in the East and subjected to extensive destruction of properties and livelihood; thirdly that Muslims particularly in the intelligence units of the armed forces such as Major Muthalif, Col. Lafir, Col. Nizam and hundreds of others, played a key role in the war fronts sacrificing their lives and fourthly that Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Libya played significant roles in assisting the government in its war efforts. The point is this war was never won by any single man. We need to demonstrate that the patriotic role of the Muslims of Sri Lanka had also contributed immensely for the victory of all the people of this country. We as a community will never allow our patriotism to our country to be ever questioned.
This I believe is vital to help cement our traditional bonds of friendship and unity with all communities. Amity is the foundation upon which national reconciliation and integration with respect for diversity could be built.