Since the commencement in last December of attempts to resolve Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict through peacefulmeans, Sri Lankan Muslims have assumed an important 'third party' role in the related political processes,including the formal negotiations that began in September 2002 between the Government of Sri Lanka and theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Muslims account for about seven per cent of Sri Lanka's total population. About 30 per cent of their totalnumber lives in large clusters falling within the Eastern Province. The others constitute small communitiesscattered throughout the country with the exception of the northern areas.
Rauff Hakeem, leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC), was one of the main government delegates at thetwo negotiation sessions hitherto conducted, but political spokespersons for the Muslims, including those ofthe SLMC, have made it clear that their support to the peace process was conditional on adequate attentionbeing devoted by both the government and the LTTE to the needs and aspirations of the Muslims, especiallythose from the northern and eastern parts of the island that are claimed by the LTTE as the 'TraditionalHomeland' of the Tamils.
The stand taken by the Muslim spokespersons in the current peace process is distinctive as compared to theexperiences of previous spells of negotiation (in 1985, 1989-90 and 1994-95). The earlier negotiations focusedexclusively on contentious issues between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, with hardly any reference to theinterests of the Muslims and with the leaders of the Muslim community opting to maintain a low profile.
The principal demand of the Eastern Province Muslims, articulated mainly through the SLMC, is that anycompromise worked out to meet the LTTE claim for autonomy to the entire 'north-east' as a single unit, eitherin an interim administration or as a permanent constitutional reform, for devolution of government powershould be accompanied by an arrangement facilitating self-government for those inhabiting the main Muslimareas in that part of the country.