Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana

Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana (born June 25, 1956) is a popular Sri Lankan politician. He has been politically active since 1988, and was Member of Parliament from August 19, 1994 to December 05, 2001, and from April 09, 2004 to June 23, 2004, under the label of the United National Party.

He is most noted for his extensive contribution to the peace process of Sri Lanka, especially in the Eastern region of the island nation, and also for his controversial role of aiding the renegade LTTE commander Colonel Karuna in fleeing from the east to the capital city of Colombo, and his resignation from the Parliament of Sri Lanka thereafter. His role in the Karuna affair has now proven to be a key component to peace in Sri Lanka, as the renegade leader Colonel Karuna, has moved into the democratic mainstream of Sri Lanka by starting up his own party, the TamilEela Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal.

Early Life & Family

Moulana was born in Eravur, a village about 9 miles east of Batticaloa, and was educated at St. Michael's College in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka, and gained fame early as a star soccer player, captaining the district side to several championship wins, and then went on to become a founding member and first captain of the Young Stars Sports Club, a soccer club in Eastern Sri Lanka. He then pursued his higher education at Jammal Mohammed College, in Trichy, India. Upon receiving his diploma as a Bachelor of Commerce, he returned to Sri Lanka, where he joined the family business in the gem trade. In the mid 80's, Moulana emigrated to the United States, with his wife Tanuja. There he pursued a degree in Computer Science at the University of Santa Clara, California, and also promoted the family business. He then returned to Sri Lanka, five years later with the intention to aid the hapless victims of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, especially in the North Eastern region. His close association with the public won the hearts of the people, and they urged him to enter the political stream, as their representative.

Moulana is the seventh in a family of eight, and is married to a lady from Batticaloa, Tanuja, and they have a son, Seyed Amjad, and a daughter, Shereefa Amana.

Political career

Moulana initially contested the local elections of 1989 under the banner of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, but lost.

1994 Elections

But, in July 1994, Moulana contested under an independent group and had a landslide victory over major political parties and was elected as the Chairman of the Eravur Town Pradeshiya Sabha. Having held the office of the Chairman for a short while, following the public's recommendation, he contested in the General Elections which were held in November of the very same year. Moulana won yet again, but this time he contested under the United National Party, a conservative major political party. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time. During his decade-long tenure as an MP, his charisma and strong public relationship skills allowed him to gain supporters in the tens of thousands who thronged to witness him during meetings and rallies. During the most volatile periods of hostilities between the Sri Lanka Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Moulana has been noted to stand by with the people and has been most recognized for resolving matters before communal clashes would have most likely erupted or for ensuring the security of his people when there were certain situations where there would have been a mass loss of lives during the heavy conflict.

1999 Presidential Elections

Moulana's campaign for his party and its leader, Ranil Wickramasinghe, who was the candidate for the presidency of Sri Lanka, acquired around 110,000 votes from the Batticaloa district and the incumbent President only managed to acquire half of that number. Mr. Wickremasinghe however, lost that election overall to the incumbent, Chandrika Kumaratunga.

2000 Elections

Once Parliament was dissolved by the President, Chandrika Kumaratunga, in 2000, Moulana contested yet again as a nominee for the United National Party, and once again gained victory and was elected to Parliament for the second time.

2001 Elections

Moulana entered the race once again as a nominee for the United National Party, when Parliament was dissolved yet again, only 10 months after the previous election. However, despite intense campaigning Moulana lost the 2001 election due to an act by the Government to block all voters entering from the uncleared areas, and more than 70,000 people were deprived of their franchise. A quick follow up resulted in Moulana filing an election petition case, and several other voters filing fundamental rights cases, which resulted in the Army Commander and several other officials compensating for their actions on that day. However, this election resulted in the United National Party winning the majority and securing the position as the Government. This cut some slack for Moulana, who functioned as a private citizen, until his appointment as advisor to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickramasinghe.

Ceasefire and Development

Following a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire in 2002, which resulted in the cessation of hostilities between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army, Moulana used this period of time to develop the Batticaloa District and provide the deprived. This resulted in the reopening of the A5 Highway, the restoration of train services to Batticaloa, providing electricity to several villages, assisting the rebuilding of the livelihoods of the internally displaced persons in the area etc. This required intense negotiations with high officials belonging to the LTTE. [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=7145] [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=7188]

Karuna Controversy, Reappointment to Parliament & Resignation from Parliament

During this period of time, when Moulana was involved in negotiations with the LTTE in rebuilding the lives of the people, he worked closely with many officials of the LTTE including its Eastern Military Commander, Colonel Karuna. It was then that he first met the Colonel, and was not acquainted with him before the ceasefire came about, according to several media speculations. This close-working relationship between the two resulted in many developments in the East, in favor of its people, and also in maintaining a commendable relationship between the Muslims and the Tamils, the two biggest ethnic groups in that area. When Colonel Karuna split from the mainframe of the LTTE, and requested Moulana safe passage to Colombo, Moulana did give him safe passage, according to his press release: "on humanitarian grounds and also as Colonel Karuna was going to enter into the democratic mainstream." During this time, in April 2004, another General Election took place, but this time Moulana was nominated to Parliament for the third time through the National List of the United National Party. However, when details of his involvement in Karuna's escape to the capital city came to light, in mid-June 2004, Moulana tendered his resignation to the Secretary General of Parliament, as the threat to his life from the dreaded LTTE assassination squads increased dramatically. In his resignation letter, he stated that he carried out his actions in aiding the renegade LTTE commander without consulting his party or its leadership, and it was solely his decision and actions, based purely on humanitarian grounds, and accepted total responsibility for it.

Assassination Attempts

Due to the importance of his position and the significance of representing a war-torn area in Parliament, Moulana has been subjected to numerous threats on his life. He has narrowly escaped several assassination attempts, one of which took place when the convoy he was travelling in was ambushed by LTTE cadres along a lonely strip of the Pollonaruwa-Batticaloa highway. Amidst extremely heavy firing for over 10 minutes, between the rebels and his personal bodyguards, his bullet-riddled motorcade managed to enter the security of a nearby army camp. Although Moulana escaped unhurt, multiple injuries and two deaths were reported among his bodyguards, and Moulana's own cousin was killed in the attempt.

He has also been caught between several crossfires between the Army and Tigers numerous times, but has escaped unhurt on all occasions.

Present

Moulana was away from public life, after his resignation, and according to media speculations had emigrated from Sri Lanka to the United Kingdom. However, Moulana reemerged in the United States where he was recently appointed as a high-ranking diplomat in the Sri Lankan Embassy in the United States by the present Government, after almost four years of maintaining a low profile.

External links

* [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=12270]
* [http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=12272]
* [http://www.priu.gov.lk/Election/Batticaloa/batti1.pdf]
* [http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004/jul2004/sril-j08.shtml]
* [http://www.spur.asn.au/News_2004_June_26.htm]
* [http://www.spur.asn.au/News_2004_July_21.htm]
* [http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=91331&category=Frontend&Country=sri%20lanka]