By Skandha Gunasekara Deputy Minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Parliamentarian Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana, opining on several issues including the statement made by President Maithripala Sirisena while addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), told The Sunday Morning that he agreed with the sentiments of President Sirisena’s remarks, and that assistance by foreign nations into affairs of a sovereign state always came along with certain conditions and hidden agendas. He pointed out that reconciliation must come from within Sri Lanka and its diverse communities, and should not be influenced by foreign interference. Below are excerpts from his interview with The Sunday Morning. Q: President Sirisena, while addressing world leaders at the UNGA, called on the international community not to interfere with internal matters of Sri Lanka, and to give Sri Lanka the freedom to carry out its reconciliation process unhindered. Do you agree with the President’s statement? A: My personal opinion on this matter is that if reconciliation is done within Sri Lanka, and if we are to go one step further, even within each other, then there is no need for foreign interference. When you seek foreign assistance, that assistance is always conditioned with something. Those giving the assistance will always have an agenda they want accomplished. Therefore, while they may give assistance, it may affect the reconciliation process and other internal matters within the country in a negative way due to the conditions that come with this assistance. For example, I was in Rwanda recently. This is a country that during the 90s had one of the worst genocides the world has witnesses, where hundreds of thousands were killed. However, now the country has completely healed and moved on from the past. The nation is one of the most developed countries in the African continent. All this progress was made by Rwanda because they were left alone to carry out their reconciliation and accountability process without interference or influence by external forces. I believe Sri Lanka could do the same given the right political will. Q: Do you think this Government has done enough with regards to human rights? What more could be done? A: Everybody; every single citizen in Sri Lanka must have equal rights in accordance with the Constitution. We must all be given the freedom of speech, religion, and the freedom of movement. I think the Government has definitely made progress on this front, and expect it will continue further. Q: We are seeing a trend where ethnic minorities are aligning themselves more and more with the ethnic-minority-based political parties, while distancing themselves from the mainstream national political parties. Why do you think this is? A: We have a diverse society in Sri Lanka. Every group has different ways of addressing issues. In this context, to address issues, ethnic minorities move closer towards parties of their own ethnic background to find solutions. They prefer to go towards regional parties and parties representing their own ethnicity in hopes of having their issues solved in a fair and just manner. ‘Unity in diversity’ – that is the key to maintaining a harmonious society. Q: A lot is spoken of the issues of the Tamil people and the Northern Province. Has there been enough effort to address the grievances of the Muslim population and the Eastern Province? A: The thing is, while in general the Government’s policies on reconciliation, accountability and resettlement are sound, the implementation of these policies by the administrative side sees a lot of discrimination against Muslims. They tend to overlook the Muslim community. In areas like Batticaloa, for example, 27% of the population is Muslim, 72% is Tamil and only around 0.6 % are Sinhalese; however, when it comes to land distribution, the Muslims are living only on 2% of the land area in Batticaloa. This is very unfortunate and disappointing. Another example would be Eravurpattu in the Batticaloa District where resettling is currently taking place. However, the Government officials there discriminate when it comes to giving lands to the Muslim community. This is very unfortunate. In addition, when the Ministry of Housing and Construction wanted to give houses to Tamils and Muslims, the divisional secretariats would not corporate with the Muslim people. Despite having the necessary deeds and documents, the Muslims were not given fair treatment, while the Tamils were accommodated. Such issue are unfortunate and disappointing. We have brought this issue to higher authorities in hopes of it being resolved soon. Q: How is the development process in the Eastern Province progressing? A: Development work is being carried out in a very rapid manner. The beautiful thing is that now there is a perfect environment for us to develop the region. Especially, sustainable development projects, most of which have already started. Reconciliation process, too, is ongoing in a very inclusive manner.