By F. F Mushfika

“May all living beings be happy.”

This was quoted by Sajith Premadasa in an interview with the New Indian Express in 2022. Why this is essentially important to refer to, is because Sajith Premadasa is a man who frequently voiced his support for the minorities and marginalized groups. He has been “People friendly” and constantly identified as someone among the crowd. He has become one of the emerging characters in the domain of politics in Sri Lanka at-present. He is also a person who was successful in securing the second highest number of the votes during the 2019 Presidential Election – leading him to assume responsibility for his country as an Opposition Leader.

Sajith Premadasa rose to power with an approximation of 2,771,984 votes securing 54 seats in the Parliament, respectively. The Muslims and the Tamils of Sri Lanka widely supported him. It is also essential to recall that the entire Northern and Eastern side of Sri Lanka devoted their votes to him- which are dominant areas of minorities. The Muslims confided unto him based on his representation to the constant injustice towards them. They also looked upon his father Ranasinghe Premadasa – former Prime Minister and President, who has been a role model for Sajith Premadasa since his childhood days. He belonged to a subaltern class and therefore spoke the language of equality to all. People – significantly Muslims entrusted their trust on him due to several reasons. For instance, he was a well educated and an intellectual person with a dominant sense of genuine empathy towards people who are discriminated.

Muslims were a targeted community for political agendas throughout history. The Sri Lankan Muslims were victimized enormously after the Easter Bombing in 2019. It fueled racism all around the nation. They were constantly “Othered,” and this decided the fate of the Presidential Election. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa assumed Presidency- implying that he shall constitute the national security stronger and will provide justice to the Easter victims. In addition, he sided with the voters, stating “I am Sinhalese Buddhist Leader, and I will never hesitate to state so. I govern this country in accordance with Buddhist Teachings.” This was the major difference that the Muslims distinguished with Sajith Premadasa- who often united the people as One, regardless of ethnicity and religion. This powerful contradiction rose Premadasa into publicity. He is also dignified among the Muslims.

Moreover, he championed himself by fighting with the Muslims for their basic rights during the Pandemic in recent past. The forced cremation became one of the sensational news bulletins everywhere. Disregarding the scientific claim – the rights of the Muslims were greatly denied by the current government. Yet, Sajith Premadasa held onto their fundamental rights by organizing campaigns and awareness among the public. He held demonstrations in-front of the Borella General Cemetery at Colombo, demanding to not cremate the bodies of the Muslim Covid patients. He was diligent in safeguarding the rights as a Sri Lankan than that of any ethnicity. He became the Peoples’ voice on such sensitive issues and thereby stood in the position to stand with justice than of a particular society.

In fact, the Muslim community believes that a leadership under Sajith Premadasa shall be peaceful. The prejudices that are built during the Easter attack and the coming of the Rajapakshas with promises that partially include the Muslims, felt threatening for the peace that is expected from a ruler. This paved the Sri Lankan Moors to look upon Sajith Premadasa with immense support. Despite his soft-spoken nature, he has been the most scholarly person who addresses several issues in harmony to the people. His major concern is to build the nation with collective and diverse support. He is commonly called as a “real patriot”- who stepped into politics due to his father’s sudden death.

Even during the crisis today, Sajith Premadasa lays down hope with visionary strategies that include political stability and unity. He said, “We can unite under a progressive banner, a modern out of the box approach. The time has come for everyone to unite”

He has also successfully attracted the support from several other Ministers of SLMC- Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and ACMC- All- Ceylon Peoples’ Congress on 14^th of May 2022. The parliamentarian Ministers that came forward with their ultimate pledge were H.M.M Harees, M.S Thowfeek, Faizal Cassim and Ishak Rahuman. These Ministers are currently have determined to support SJB- Samagi Jana Balawegaya party which is led by Sajith Premadasa in seeking remedies to help Sri Lanka from its dire need of economic stability. When commenting about it by Madduma Bandara – the General secretary of SJB said that this would probably be an example to others to join SJB in future.

His remarkable attitude with integrity and discipline increases the support of the Muslim community even more. He outshines as a person backed-up with candidates of intellectuals and professionals with multiple experiences to politics. This gives the impression that he is sufficiently capable to lead a country. His marvelous character which has been on display is open to criticisms and his constructive measures that were openly declared in public arenas deserve an opportunity.

“Within crisis, are the seeds of opportunity”

This is a famous quote by Marilyn Monroe which emphasis the need of grasping the opportunity for a fruitful growth. Regardless of the circumstances in Sri Lanka, Sajith Premadasa has tirelessly worked along with the public. He has tremendously supported the people in attempting to oust the Rajapaksa. He has openly declared to withdraw support if there were any corruption or “dealings” made unto them or the members of his party. He has not been desperate in assuming the power of the Prime Minister when he was requested for the position. Even then, he declared conditions which integrated that the President be resigned within a time span. This has further ensured his genuine motive that travelled along with the Peoples’ mandate. This has increased his supporters even more as well.

In short, Muslims have been the pioneers to support Sajith Premadasa- with an assumption that he will do better and more to the country than any others did in the past. Although, this remains to be a proven question, Sajith Premadasa has received the shoulder and assistance from Muslim Community to Muslim Ministers. Let us also assume that he would maintain his ethical conduct and sustain “unity” as goals.