The Hon. M.K.M. Aslam

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you. During the remarks by Hon. Rauff Hakeem, we wholeheartedly accepted the points he raised concerning the motion presented today.

¶ 02 Despite the WHO, the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka Ms. Hanaa Singer, Dr. Thusitha Wickramanayake, our party’s Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe, and many other experts expressing varied views—and despite 189 countries permitting burial—an egregious injustice occurred in this country. No Muslim living here, myself included, can accept it. We regard this as an unforgettable historical event.

¶ 03 Was the decision scientific, or was it taken with political intent against a particular community? It appears clearly to have been the latter. Not only the decision to cremate those who died of COVID-19, but several other decisions were also taken for political gains. Consider the Easter Sunday attacks—political gain was seen even there. Who knows what else will be done for political advantage?

¶ 04 Leaders who should unite the nation have created divisions for their political benefit. Yet we can be glad that today, without divisions of North, East, or South, we all sit together—whether our brothers from the North like Hon. Ramalingam Chandrasekeran, our sister from the Hill Country Hon. Ambika Saminathan, or our brother from the South Hon. Sunil Handunnetti—to bring about a conducive environment to implement the plans our people and country need.

¶ 05 Looking at other parties—Muslim, Tamil, or Sinhala—we see many struggling over leadership. Those who were in one party have split into multiple factions. Even among our Muslim leaderships who give voice for Muslims, we observe leadership ambitions. If each group works separately as Muslims, Tamils, or Sinhalese, we cannot resolve the country’s problems. We must formulate many appropriate policies for this country.

¶ 06 Even regarding those who died of COVID-19, there should have been a proper, health-policy-based plan for Sri Lanka—just as we need clear agricultural and economic policies. We will introduce new policies to prevent a repeat of what happened during COVID-19. We pledge that henceforth there will be no space for such atrocities affecting minorities or majorities alike. Fifteen years ago, our foremost prayer as Muslims was simply to be able to work and practice our religious matters in peace. For the past 15 years, governments had Muslim Cabinet Ministers, yet no Muslim enjoyed peace; our people did not live peacefully. In this government, there are no Muslim Cabinet Ministers, yet Muslims live peacefully and without ethnic strife. We say with conviction that Allah has granted our people the environment to live in this country.

¶ 07 Therefore, when we implement essential policies for the country, the opposition must cooperate with us. Our leaders in the past formed coalitions with Mahinda Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe despite branding them racists, and they obtained hundreds of thousands of votes. Today, when our MPs have secured 60,000–64,000 votes, we see others clinging on with 30,000 votes to enter Parliament.

¶ 08 Finally, the Private Member’s Motion brought today by Hon. Rauff Hakeem is very important. We will act upon it and develop the necessary policies. Thank you for the opportunity.