The Hon. Rauff Hakeem, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute on behalf of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress to several former Hon. Members of Parliament whose Votes of Condolence are taken up today.

¶ 02 At the outset, I wish to speak about our party’s one-time Chairman, the late Hon. M. H. Cegu Isadean, who held several Ministries during his eight years in this House. As he was our former Chairman, I have much to say about him, and I will finally speak about him in Tamil. First, I will address the others from several parties.

¶ 03 I wish to begin with the late Hon. P. Dayaratna, hailed as a flag-bearer of Digamadulla since 1977. When my late leader, Hon. M. H. M. Ashraff, entered this Parliament in 1989, Hon. P. Dayaratna, who represented that district as a Minister, despite our differences, conducted himself humbly and with restraint at District Development Committee meetings and Party Leaders’ meetings, addressing issues. Whenever there was a matter to be resolved for the people of the district represented by my late leader and Hon. P. Dayaratna, he resolved them very effectively, regardless of his portfolio. He was such a leader. Especially in border and remote villages of Ampara, he rendered great service in resolving security issues, providing electricity, and solving irrigation problems across the country through various ministries, without any ethnic bias. We express our condolences to his wife and children.

¶ 04 Regarding the former Minister, Hon. Gamini Lokuge, regarded as a standard-bearer of the UNP, he served as a principal leader of the National Employees’ Union and rendered great service to the party. He held ministerial posts under Presidents Ranasinghe Premadasa, D. B. Wijetunga, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He served as Minister of Sports and Public Recreation and as Minister of Power and Energy among others. He can be introduced as a revolutionary character in this Parliament and a very capable political leader. I express my condolences to his family.

¶ 05 Regarding Hon. Indradasa Hettiarachchi of Kalutara, he was an honest and humble person, educated at Nalanda College, who began life as an official and entered Parliament in 1977, serving as District Minister of Kalutara, State Minister of Ports and Shipping, and Minister of Coconut Industries and Crop Diversification. He pioneered starting schools like Royal College, Horana; Prajapathi Balika Vidyalaya; Sri Palee Primary School; and greatly served Buddhism through the Kalutara Bodhi Trust, starting many projects for novice monks. May he attain Nibbana.

¶ 06 I must also speak about Hon. W. B. Ranatunga of Kotmale, to which my maternal village Hapugastalawa belongs. He was fielded as an independent candidate by the renowned businessman Hajiyar. At that time, Hon. Gamini Dissanayake, who oversaw Nuwara Eliya, requested him to withdraw from that election, causing a great stir, which I remember from my youth. Although he lost that election, he later joined with Hon. Gamini Dissanayake and, under proportional representation, was elected in 1989 from Nuwara Eliya and for six years led many development works in that province. I express condolences to his family.

¶ 07 Now, in Tamil, about our former Chairman, renowned poet and the first Leader of the Opposition of the North-East Provincial Council, the late M. H. Cegu Isadean:

¶ 08 I joined the SLMC in 1987. The late Isadean was one who encouraged me to assume various key positions in the party. Though his calm demeanour did not portray him as a firebrand, he was intensely committed to protecting Akkaraipattu and its people. During times when youth were threatened by armed groups, he took them to army camps, ensured they received weapons training, and was recognized as a defender of the village.

¶ 09 In the mid-1980s, when talks with India were ongoing and peace emissaries came and went, with the possibility of the North and East being merged and the Tamil homeland concept gaining recognition, he thought deeply about the future of Eastern Muslims, advocating Muslim self-determination and collective rights. Though M. I. M. Mohideen, an important Eastern Muslim leader concerned with such issues, was not a Member of this House, we cannot forget his efforts. Isadean formed the “Eastern Province Muslim Front,” beginning his political journey. With no election climate due to intense terrorism, he argued for safeguarding Eastern Muslims from political orphanhood by focusing on Muslim nationhood, self-determination, and a Muslim majority unit. He played a seminal role in introducing the term “South Eastern Province,” which later gained wide usage, including for a university.

¶ 10 He fielded our late party member Ali Uthuman, slain by the Tigers, and former Minister Athaullah for the NEPC election, won them seats and served as Leader of the Opposition in that Council. When Chief Minister Varatharaja Perumal clashed with the Government over power-sharing and declared a unilateral independence, Isadean’s speech in the Council became a seminal document on Muslim self-determination and their future in the North-East and remains an important text to be preserved.

¶ 11 Although never elected an MP initially, in the first General Election contested by the SLMC, he polled the second-highest preference votes after our leader, narrowly missing a second seat. Though he had later differences with the leadership, after the demise of our late Leader Ashraff – whose death anniversary falls on 16th September – he rejoined the SLMC at my invitation in 2010, which comforted me.

¶ 12 As Deputy Minister of Information and Media, he launched “BIRAI FM,” a radio service that still serves Muslims well. He also served as Deputy Minister of Highways, Deputy Minister of Small and Rural Industries, and as non-Cabinet Minister for Export Development, doing remarkable work.

¶ 13 As a poet under the penname “Vedanthi,” only a few of his poems were published; many remain unpublished. Among poets I know in Sri Lanka, his verses possess high lyrical beauty and charm. He was steeped in Sufism, lived long in ascetic devotion in Madeenapuram. On many visits to Ampara, I met and conversed with him at length, learning from his rare blend of spirituality and politics.

¶ 14 I convey my condolences on behalf of our party to his wife Nadhira, sons Asar, Asyan, Dr. Subi, and Kadir, and daughters Hasana and Subiya. May the Almighty grant him Jannat al-Firdaws.