ASHRAFF A SAMAD
COLOMBO : Leaders are born everywhere in the world and the services rendered by them for the good of their communnity and country,are often remembered.
The South- Eastern University in Oluvil remains an everlasting memory in his name and it will be considered as Sadakathul Jariya in his name.
Funny how his vision is misconstrued to suit the objective of the speaker even after 21 long years after he left us never to return. His vision was simple . An independent voice for the Eastern Muslim that could be heard and accepted with dignity by the legislative.
M. H. M. Ashraff would have been 69 year 23rd October 2021. Late M H M Ashraff, one time Cabinet Minister, Member of Parliament, and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and National Unity Alliance political party founder, Leader , died on 16th September 2000. while on his way to his native soil in the Ampara District in a Sri Lanka Air Force helicopter which crashed in a blaze of flames in Aranyake.
MHM Ashraff, a great and worthy son of the Eastern Province was born in Sammanthurai. He was indeed not born with the proverbial silver spoon but at the time of his untimely death, he had established himself as a silver lining the political establishment of this country. Indeed within a very short spell of half of dozen years he was Cabinet Minister.
Being a son of the Eastern Soil he had his Primary education at Wesley College , Kalmunai and had to leave his home region to pursue further studies at the metropolis. In 1970 he joined Law College where he excelled and manipulated powers in the field of Constitutional Law by writing the first book on constitutional Law in Tamil with particular reference to 1972 Republican constitution of Sri Lanka ,
Natural Nursery
At Ceylon Law College the natural nursery of many a political leader he was the president of the Law students Muslim Majilis and of the Tamil Mantram and was a influential members of the student community. nearly missing the coveted position of President of the Law Students union.
In 1974 he joined the Attorney General’s Department as a state Counsel, and worked there to get himself acquainted with the law to become an eminent Lawyer. He practiced in Kalmunai and Batticaloa.
He completed his Mastesr Degree in Law prior to becoming a Senior Minister. He was honored with the title President Counsel.
Milestone
The declaration on November 19,1986 naming the SLMC national Political party was a milestone in Ashraff’s political career, as the annals of Sri Lanka Muslim politics.
The Symbol of his party was the tree. The tree was planted and nurtured in the Eastern and Northern Muslim areas in Sri Lanka.
In 1989 he contested the Parliamentary election and entered parliament as an M.P. In the 1994 general election he returned to parliament with seven MPs from this party.
Two SLMC MPs were appointed deputy Ministers. After the demise of Ashraff. His party was divided into four groups, and started their own agenda. own political parties and they became as Leaders, but
Ashraff fulfilled his responsibilities as a minister with utmost dedication and efficiency. The Colombo Port made vast strides under his leadership towards achieving the government’s vision of becoming one of the Asia’s leading ports.
His dedicated efforts have transformed his home district of Ampara from a backward rural districts into a fairly developed area, moving rapidly towards modernism. His single handed dedication to established the South Eastern University will be recorded in letters of gold.
