Muzammil urges Muslims to rally around President Gotabaya for united, secure and prosperous SL

• Claims pseudo-Muslim leaders think selfishly of their interests, not those of community they are elected to represent

Newly-appointed North-Western Province Governor A.J.M. Muzammil yesterday urged the Muslim community and the other minorities to rally around newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at the upcoming General Election to build a united, secure and prosperous country. 

Following is the full text of Muzammil’s statement. 

As a Muslim who worked hard towards ensuring this historic victory, I offer my heartiest congratulations to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his monumental mandate. In his inaugural address to the nation from the holy city of Anuradhapura, His Excellency made the following statement as an honest leader: “Though I was aware that I could win the presidential election with only the support of the Sinhalese community, I requested the Tamil and Muslim communities to be a part of my victory. However, their response did not meet my expectations. As the new President of this country, I request everyone to unite as Sri Lankans.”

This reference was undoubtedly about the electoral results of the North and East.

The conspiracies against his candidacy began from the moment Gotabaya Rajapaksa was named as presidential candidate of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. Never in my political career have I witnessed such deplorable levels to which the mudslinging campaigns against him stooped, on Facebook as well as posters and leaflets. It was admirable how he patiently bore all this in a dignified manner without a single personal counterattack, focusing instead on taking his policies to the people. However, as a Muslim, I am saddened by the malicious campaigns carried out by some leaders of certain Muslim parties to mislead our innocent Muslims. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the brave brothers and sisters who resisted such pseudo-Muslim leaders, and chose instead to do their duty towards our motherland at this election.

I would also like to reflect on the resounding answer given by the people to our Muslim leaders who wrongly believed for so long that they were the kingmakers of Sri Lankan politics.

As we live in a Sinhala Buddhist country, the minority should not attempt to rule the majority. As Muslims, we must co-exist in harmony with our Sinhala brethren, and join them in working towards the betterment of our nation. We have a responsibility to seize this opportunity to build such a society with the Government of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Extremist communal politics has to be stopped now. It is abundantly clear from the election results that our pseudo-Muslim leaders think selfishly of their interests, and not those of the community they are elected to represent.

These leaders have only interested in building their own personal fortunes by obtaining the Ministries they want, instead of serving the people. We must change this racist political culture that has become a curse to our country. I would like to impress upon you the importance of conducting ourselves in a manner which helps us gain the trust and favour of the majority Sinhala population.

Just as Prabhakaran attempted and failed to divide this country by taking up arms, we must seriously ponder if a similar attempt was made this time with the votes. As Muslims, we can no longer afford to indulge in those dark days of politics.

Our serious attention must be drawn to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s statement about the conduct of minorities during the elections. I respectfully urge my Muslim community to seize the upcoming General Elections as an opportune moment to rectify our mistake. During the Presidential election campaign, we repeatedly highlighted the sufferings of our community, the threats we faced, and the poor treatment meted out to us under the Yahapalanaya Government. We educated Muslims about how we were treated unfairly. In spite of our efforts, it saddens me that a considerable section of our community chose to be misled by the pseudo-Muslim leaders, instead of prioritising their duty towards our motherland. I repeatedly implore my people not to repeat the same mistake at the upcoming General Elections.

It is my firm belief that religion as a basis for political party divide, needs to be eradicated, and we must all integrate into mainstream politics of the leading parties. That is my humble wish from my beloved people.

As we live in a Sinhala Buddhist country, the minority should not attempt to rule the majority. As Muslims, we must co-exist in harmony with our Sinhala brethren, and join them in working towards the betterment of our nation. We have a responsibility to seize this opportunity to build such a society with the Government of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Extremist communal politics has to be stopped now

It is my firm belief that religion as a basis for political party divide needs to be eradicated, and we must all integrate into mainstream politics of the leading parties