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The
leading lady of stage and screen In 'Akal Wessa',
Malini was the only female in the four member cast playing the role
of a young wife who bears a child through an unexpected liaison
with a third person. She hit the limelight when she was chosen Best
Actress of the year with Dharmasri Munasinghe ('Daru Duka') carrying
away the Best Actor award. That was the
start. Impressed by her performance, dramatists were behind the
schoolgirl from Gurukula Vidyalaya, Kelaniya. Sunanda Mahendra (he
used his surname 'de Mel' too at the time) picked her for 'Sauyren
Aa Landa', an adaptation of Ibsen's 'A Lady from the Sea'. She then
played in two of S. Karunaratne's plays - 'Eramadu Mal Pottu Pipila'
and 'Malawungen'. In all three plays she played the lead role. There
were more to follow - Ranjit Dharmakirti's 'Maha Gedera', Sumana
Alokabandara's 'Nidikumba' and S. Karunaratne's 'Hiru Awarata Giyado'. Then came her
break in films. Having watched her on stage, award winning director
Tissa Liyanasuriya invited her to act in 'Punchi Baba'. Others followed.
1968 saw the release of three films featuring Malini - 'Punchi Baba',
Kumar Weerasuriya's 'Abuddassa Kale' and G. D. L. Perera's 'Dahasak
Sithuvili'. The following year saw another three - Amaranath Jaytilleka's
'Adarawanthayo', M. S. Anandan's 'Pravesamwanna' and Sudas Masakorala's
'Paravalalu'. Her first film with Lester James Peries was 'Akkara
Paha' (1970) and the first award she collected for herself was in
'Nidhanaya' (1972), Lester's creation which was selected as the
best film in the first fifty years of Sinhala cinema. That was her
14th film and the award she won was the Critics' Award for best
actress. Her 59th film
- Dharmasena Pathiraja's 'Bambaru Avith' (1978) saw her winning
the President's Award for best actress which she won again a year
later with T. Arjuna's 'Vasanthaye Davasak'. Her role in K. A. W.
Perera's 'Hingana Kolla' won for her the Sarasaviya best actress
award. Within her
first 30 years in Sinhala cinema, she had acted in 127 films. Many
were the awards she won. Starting with Vijaya Dharmasri's 'Dandumonara'
(1980), she won a series of OCIC awards - Lester Peries' 'Baddegama',
Pathiraja's 'Soldadu Unnehe' & Sugathapala Senerat Yapa's 'Induta
Mali Mitak'. The role she played in Vijaya Dharmasiri's 'Aradhana'
brought her two awards for the best actress - President's and Sarasaviya
in 1982. Malini has
shown her versatility in the vast array of roles she has played
- from the young romantic to the mature female. Her performance
in Tissa Abeysekera's epic teledrama, 'Pitagamkarayo' spanning three
generations, will be long remembered by televiewers. Malini's cleverness
in adapting herself to the highly commercialised type of roles (the
box office hits) as well as the artistic cinema made her stand out
among a host of 'stars' adorning the Sinhala screen. The
Ceylon Moors’ contribution to peace The war has
resulted in loss and suffering to all communities. All communities
lost thousands of lives, sustained serious injuries and between
800,000 and one million people were rendered homeless. The areas worst
affected were the Northern and Eastern provinces and the areas adjacent
to these provinces. The economy
was in complete chaos. 2001 was our worst year since independence. This dismal
state of affairs changed dramatically in December 2001 when Ranil
Wickremesinghe, a humane and extraordinarily able man became Prime
Minister. With his becoming
Prime Minister, the people of this country once more began to enjoy
freedom. With the signing
of the ceasefire agreement in February 2002 and the successful holding
of meetings between the LTTE and the Government, the peace process
got off to a good start. The initial
steps to have negotiations with the LTTE with Norway as facilitator
were taken by President Kumaratunga. She has a commitment to ethnic
harmony and her co-operation is vital if the process is to succeed.
The large scale
killing, wounding, disappearances and torture in the Northern and
Eastern Provinces came to an end. Over 200,000 people returned to
their homes. Economic management too greatly improved. The Muslim
community has benefited by the peace process that has ensured the
free movement of people. However, during
the period of the ceasefire the important question of human security
needs to be addressed. In his excellent paper on "Enhancing
human security in the Eastern Province", Dr. Kumar Rupasinghe
has defined human security stipulatively as "freedom from fear
from man-made physical violence, also referred to as direct personal
violence". This definition
would include freedom from fear, the returning of Internally Displaced
Persons, protection of war affected children and the removal of
land mines. All Muslims
should help to deal with the situation in the Eastern province although
only 1/3 of the Muslims in Sri Lanka live in that province. At one
time, distinguished Muslims from the South served the Muslims of
the East. In 1931, Sir
Mohamed Macan Markar was the member of the State Council for Batticaloa
South. As Minister of Communication and Works he helped to develop
the East. His son A.H.
Macan Markar was the member for Kalkudah in the House of Representatives
elected in 1956. There are two
sets of figures relating to the ethnic composition in the Eastern
Province. One is the 2002 figures of the Ministry of Eastern Development.
The second
is the official position of the Department of Census and Statistics.
The ethnic composition of the population in the Eastern Region consisting
of Ampara, Batticaloa and Trincomalee according to the Ministry
of Eastern Development is as follows. Sinhalese -
15.6% of the population, Tamils - 41.6%, Muslims - 35% and the others
- 2%. Altogether there are 510,329 Muslims in the Eastern province. According to
the 1981 census, the Sinhalese are 25.8%, the Tamils 40.3%, the
Muslims 32.2% and the others are 0.6% and there are 320,221 Muslims
in the Eastern Province. Whichever set
of figures one accepts, the central question which has to be addressed
is that the Muslims will be the biggest minority in the Eastern
Province, as well as in the North East. Consideration
should be given to the constitutional arrangements, which should
be formulated to safeguard Muslim interests. A question,
which should be addressed, is the question of security threats.
In June 2002 in both Muttur and Valaichchenai over 12 people died
and over 235 shops belonging to the Muslim and Tamil communities
were destroyed. The ceasefire
agreement was followed by an agreement between the leader of the
LTTE Mr. Prabakaran and the leader of the SLMC Mr. Rauf Hakeem who
issued a joint statement stating that all issues between the Tamils
and Muslims would be solved. On 13th April
2002, Dr. Balasingham together with Mr. Tamil Chelvam and Mr. Karuna
came to an agreement with the Muslim leaders that the land taken
from the Muslims would be returned to their original owners. This was implemented
at the fifth meeting in Berlin by the setting up of appropriate
machinery for the return of the land namely by setting up three
joint committees each consisting of six nominees of the SLMC and
the LTTE. It is important
that a mechanism should be set up in the Eastern Province particularly
betwen the Tamils and the Muslim communities for consultation and
communication with the leaders. The trustees
and Katheebs of Mosques enjoy significant respect; the Federation
of the Mosques Institution is also powerful. The Muslims are prolitically
represented by the SLMC, the NUA and the UNP. Unfortunately
there is no consensus between the political representatives. In fact from
time to time there is division even within the SLMC. Organizations
like the Ceylon Moors Association should play an important role,
firstly in bringing about unity within the Muslim community in the
Eastern Province and secondly bringing about good relations between
the Muslims and Tamils in the Eastern Province. On the question
of land, committees consisting of six Muslim members and six LTTE
members have been appointed for each of the districts in the Eastern
Province. The Muslim
Rights Organization which is headed by Mr. M.I.M. Mohideen is doing
a splendid job in formulating a register of Muslims who have been
evicted together with supporting documentation. Once this register
is complete the land will be once more be restored to the original
Muslim owners. The LTTE promised
to return the land after the harvest. The harvest is now almost
over. However, the compilation of the register is not yet over.
This is indeed
a daunting task. I would suggest to the members of the All Ceylon
Moors Association that they should contribute their services or
finances to the Muslim Rights Organization. It is only
after the Mulsim farmers have been given back their land that they
will be able to enjoy the full peace dividend. It is important
that the All Ceylon Moors Association should have discussions as
to what sort of political unit the Muslims of the Eastern Province
should have. They should
also consider the question of how best this should be done without
any adverse repercussion on the two thirds of the Muslims who live
outside the Eastern Province. The All Ceylon
Moors Association could also play an important role in guiding young
Muslims in the Eastern Province who might otherwise be tempted to
follow an extremist course. In conclusion I would request the Association and its members to support the peace process. |
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