By TwoCircles.net correspondent,
Chennai: All twenty DMK MPs have sent in their resignations to the party chief Karunanidhi to force the Govt of India to take steps in halting Sri Lankan forces taking action against LTTE. Prof. Jawahirullah, president of Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) have appealed to Karunanidhi to protect Tamil speaking Muslims too.
DMK has set the deadline of October 29th as the date when all their MPs will resign from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha if India fails to force Sri Lankan put an end to their offensive against LTTE.
TMMK’s letter addressed to Karunanidhi recalls that Tamil speaking Muslims of Sri Lanka have always stood by the side of Tamils in their struggle. Prof. Jawahirullah recalled that Muslims participated in the peaceful struggle for democratic rights of the Tamils. In 1956 A.M. A. Azees, A Tamil Muslim resigned from the ruling United National Party to oppose the enactment of the Sinhalese Language Act that was deemed against the aspirations of the Tamil community of Sri Lanka.
Prof. Jawahirullah in the letter writes that “thousands of Muslims participated in the Satyagraha programme organised in 1960 and filled the Jails. Masoor Maulana, Erukampatti K.S.A. Gafoor leading stalwarts of the Tamilarasu party participated in this struggle. When the demand for Tamil Ezhlam Legislation was put forth in 1977, Samsudeen a Tamil Muslim was the the Candidate of the Tamil freedom party from Kalmunai. At the same time it should be pointed out that just like Tamils had several parties and organisations with varying agenda and policies, Tamil Muslims too had several organisations with different policies and agendas. Inspite of this Tamil speaking Muslims believed that Tamil Ezhlam also belongs to them. This is the reason why that in the aftermath of the 1977 elections and in the post violence year of 1983, Tamil Muslim youths also joined the armed groups in large numbers. In Ambarai District of the Eastern province, a vast majority of the cadres of E.P.R.L.F. were Tamil Muslims. ”
Tamil Muslims are about 17% of the population of the North Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka and the violence in 1985 put a dent in the relations between Tamil Hindus and Tamil Muslims. Now they face violence from both sides of the conflict – Sri Lankan government and Tamil armed groups.
“In 1990, Tamil Muslims were forced to leave from Jaffna and several other places in Northern Province which has been their home for several thousand years. Still this displaced people are living as refugees in their own country. Even after the peace agreement between LTTE and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress, Muslims are being attacked and have to leave their hometowns like Mudur and Valachenai as refugees. When fighting broke out between LTTE and Sri Lankan Army on the issue of Mavilaru Dam, the LTTE used the Muslims of Mudur as human shields against the Srilankan Army as a result of which they face the brunt of the Army shelling and had to abandon their home town. This is just one example of the hardship faced by Tamil Muslims who are confronted and attacked both by the Sinhalese racial army and LTTE,” said the letter.
Prof. Jawahirullah appealed the DMK chief that he should remember Muslims in his effort to bring peace to Tamil regions of Sri Lanka. He recalled the 1987 peace accord signed between India and Sri Lanka, the interests of the Tamil Muslims were not addressed. He said that “it is the need of hour that both Tamils and Tamil Muslims should join together to fight the Sinhala racism. Therefore any step taken to sideline the Tamil Muslims while solving the problem will not be fruitful.”
Formed in 1995, TMMK is a Tamil Nadu based organization of Muslims that champions their social, religious, and political demands.
Link: http://www.tmmk.info/