Analyzing the Contributions of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and its Founder–Leader to Muslim Politics and Community in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Abstract:Historically, the politics of Sri Lankan Muslims has been identified as moderate and characterized by alliance-making with other major ethnic groups. Muslims rarely considered to form a strong political movement or party to increase their political influence, until the peak of the civil war in the 1980s. This occurrence helped the Muslim community to be facilitated socially and economically, but it also made them vulnerable in terms of rights and power accommodation in national politics. However, the establishment of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and its distinct form of politics progressively revived the Muslim community and its politics. This study examines the contributions of SLMC and its founder-leader to Muslim politics and community in Sri Lanka. The findings of this study reveal that SLMC under its founder-leader uniquely colored Muslim politics, which in turn strengthened popular support and transformed the Muslim community into "queen-makers" in the national politics. Under its founder-leader Mohammed Hussain Mohammed Ashraff, the SLMC greatly contributed to the transformation of Muslim political culture, and to the uplift of the socio-cultural, economic, and political status of the Muslim community, while voicing Muslims' grievances and fighting for their status, rights, powers, and privileges. By contrast, the party and its founder-leader faced considerable opposition and criticisms on communal and racial bases. Nonetheless, the qualities and contributions of its founder-leader continue to be remembered and still have a significant influence on Muslims politics in Sri Lanka.

Minorities, Territoriality and Politics for Autonomy: An Analysis of Competing Ethnic Politics in Eastern Sri Lanka

“…The SLMC has emerged out of the political marginalization and grievances of Muslims of the Eastern [and the Northern] provinces in the early 1980s. The ethnic politics and the vulnerable position of the Muslim community due to violent civil war made the SLMC the major political voice and a representative body for Muslims in the national parliament and provincial councils (Yusoff et al, 2017). Therefore, though the SLMC opposed the merging of the Eastern province with the North, it contested the first election for the merged North-Eastern provincial council held in 1988 and became the main opposition party in the council.…”

“…In the successive elections, with the increase in public support and representations, the SLMC became the major political force that could influence to determine the destiny of national politics. This ultimately made the SLMC as the 'Queen-maker' in 1994 and the successive general elections in the new millennium (Yusoff et al, 2017).…”

Resettlement of Northern Muslims: A Challenge for Sustainable Post-War Development and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka

“…The expulsion of Muslims was followed by the emergence of a new national Muslim political party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), in the middle of the 1980s. The SLMC emerged to protect the Muslim community, particularly those living in the north-eastern region, from the military impact of the civil war and to prevent Muslim youths from resorting to violence and taking up arms to defend their community (Yusoff et al 2017). However, the LTTE leaders suspected the formation of a new Muslim party as it would undermine the LTTE's goal of establishing a monoethnic Tamil state in the north-eastern region.…”

“…Many first-generation displaced Muslims still find that move a great relief to their eviction (FGDs 01 and 02 in Puttalam, 23 July 2017). However, with the sudden demise of Ashraff in September 2000, the party became fragmented (Yusoff et al 2017). Although SLMC's new leader and representative of Vanni electoral district worked with the World Bank housing project for the Muslims, the dissolution of parliament and the regime change in 2004 meant that they could not participate in the implementation of the said housing project.…”

Dayak Meratus Tribe in The Middle of Modernity in Eva Liana's Novel ‘Mawinei’: A Cultural Transformation

“…The research entitled "Transformation of Cultural Values in the Novel Under the Same Sky by Helga Rif (Literary Anthropology Approach)" [13] explores cultural transformation in the form of maintaining cultural values and changing cultural values. Transformation research was also conducted to look at the role of women in India in the novels by Bankimchandra chattopadhyay [14] and also the development of cultural change in the pre-independence period in Sri Lanka [15]; political and cultural changes in Muslims in Sri Lanka [16]; to see cultural differences in the feminine perspective in a male-dominated world [17]; unraveling the literary representation of the transformation of the sexual identity of an Asian migrant in Australia in the novel behind the Moon [18]; measuring the change in the value of a person's social honor in Europe in 20 European novels [19]; see the transformation of traditional culture that is dynamic and conflicting, but more or less stable when influenced by colonialism in Chinua's novel Things Fall Apart [20]; the role of the author and his work in promiscuity in the Netherlands in the 1960s-1970s [21]. Other research related to cultural transformation is also contained in an article entitled "Gender Perspectives and Cultural Transformation in Indonesian Novels with Local Colors of Java" [22].…”