Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader, Rauf Hakeem yesterday called on all Muslim parliamentary representatives to present a "united front" at the peace talks.
He made this appeal while meeting Norwegian peace envoy, Eric Solheim at his residence yesterday.
During the discussion he reiterated the stance of the SLMC to present a united front to have more weight in gaining the rights of the Muslim community and not to dilute the effect by representing them in individual capacities.
"We are told that there is no likelihood of an immediate resumption of peace talks but the SLMC will be discussing with other Muslim parties in the event we are summoned for peace talks. Even the President has expressed interest in considering the views of other parties before resuming peace talks. Therefore we will continue to hold meetings with the other parties and fulfil the people's mandate together," he said.
He also criticized the media for "blowing out of proportion" incidents in predominantly Muslim areas as the work of "Muslim extremists" and called the international community not to fall prey to such "sinister moves".
"This is the work of certain interested parties who wish to divert the sympathetic view of the international community towards other negative issues. Thus these sporadic events are exaggerated and blown out of proportion.
Given the prevailing international atmosphere, the local incidents are not of much significance but they are damaging for the political dimension. Moreover our status as Muslims suffer because of these reports," he said.
Mr. Hakeem then focused attention on the handover of cultivation lands by the LTTE to Muslim farmers and expressed concern over the apparent "slowing down" of the process.
"One positive result of our previous talks with the LTTE was that we were able to persuade the LTTE to help Muslim farmers to cultivate their lands un-harassed. However that situation has lately been deteriorating to the extent of forcibly retaking farming land. Especially incidents in the East have become disturbing. We hope that the LTTE resumes the dialogue soon so that these issues can be addressed," he said.
The SLMC Leader noted that Eric Solheim had expressed relief that no serious disruptions had occurred to disrupt the peace process and that this was a routine visit to gain the different views of all the parties involved.
