The Hon. Mohamed Sali Naleem

¶ 01 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, today we are speaking on the Private Member’s Motion moved by our SLMC National Leader Hon. Rauff Hakeem to appoint a Special Parliamentary Committee to inquire into and report on the cremation of bodies of those who died due to COVID-19, contrary to their burial rites. I urge all Members representing this House to support this motion.

¶ 03 Approximately 70% of Muslims in this country supported the National People’s Power in the last election precisely because it spoke about the injustices committed against Muslims by rulers who used racism, religious hatred, and regionalism as political capital. That is why Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s party today formed a government with 159 seats.

¶ 04 Past rulers, using hirelings like Prof. Meththika Vithanage, claimed that burials would contaminate groundwater and therefore COVID-19 bodies had to be cremated. They inflicted immense suffering on Muslims—with no exception made even for a 20-day-old infant—and cremated all who died of COVID, committing an injustice to the entire society: Sinhala, Christian, and Tamil as well. Those who boasted of ruling for 30 years could not last two-and-a-half; they could not even remain in their homes and fled overseas.

¶ 05 At that time, when Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan appealed to our government and burial grounds were being identified, the people of “Majma Nagar” in Ottamavadi offered about 17 acres of land. They offered it for the burial of not only Muslims but all Sri Lankans who died of COVID-19. While protests elsewhere opposed burial, those villagers gave their land. Today, however, those villagers are in a pitiable state. They are poor daily-wage earners. The land they gave was upland used for cultivation. To date, they have received neither alternative land nor compensation. We must honour and assist them from this august House.

¶ 06 There is no school in Majma Nagar where about 350 families live. Children must travel 8–10 km daily for schooling, causing many to drop out. Therefore, a school should be established immediately, and the people should be given alternative land or compensation.

¶ 07 Owing to governance without economic planning and with racism as the tool, the “Aragalaya” arose. Yesterday, the Minister of Health said around Rs. 1.22 billion in compensation has been paid to those who suffered losses during the Aragalaya. During that period, many youths were arrested—some innocents who were merely present on the streets. In our district alone, over 50 youths were arrested; their passports were seized and their livelihoods jeopardized.

¶ 08 I request that this Parliament instruct the legal authorities to provide relief to those youths and to implement rehabilitation programmes. Their families are in dire straits. Since those who suffered losses in the Aragalaya have been compensated, for the sake of these youths’ future, arrangements should be made immediately to discharge them from their cases. Thank you. Wassalam.