M. H. Mohamed

Mohamed Haniffa Mohamed (15 June 1921 – 26 April 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician. Mohamed served as the 14th Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka as well as being a former member of Parliament and government minister. Mohamed was the first Sri Lankan Moor to hold office as Mayor of Colombo from 1960 to 1962[1][2]

Hon.
M. H. Mohamed
14th Speaker of the Parliament
In office
9 March 1989 – 24 June 1994
PresidentDingiri Banda Wijetunga
Ranasinghe Premadasa
Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe
Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
Preceded byE. L. Senanayake
Succeeded byKiri Banda Ratnayake
Minister of Western Region Development
In office
2001–2004
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
In office
2007–2010
Preceded byWiswa Warnapala
Succeeded bySumedha G. Jayasena
Member of Parliament
for Colombo
In office
1989–2010
Mayor of Colombo
In office
1960–1962
Personal details
Born(1921-06-15)15 June 1921
Maligawatta, Colombo
Died26 April 2016(2016-04-26) (aged 94)
Colombo, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyUnited National Party
SpouseNoor Naseema
RelationsAjwad Hashim, Saaraa Hameed, Shahir Haniffa, Atheek Mohamed, Faheem Hameed, Salma Hashim, Shahima Ariff, Hafsa Haniffa, Fayyad Hameed, Mariam Ahamed.
ChildrenUmmu Haniffa, Thufa Hameed, Shaha Ariff, Shaul Mohamed, Hussain Mohamed, Hussan Mohamed, Haniffa Mohamed, Azahim Mohamed
ResidenceColombo
Alma materWesley College
ProfessionPolitician

Early life

Born 15 June 1921, Mohamed was educated at Wesley College, Colombo. After completing his schooling, he joined Cargills Ltd., where he became active in trade union activities. Later he joined the family shipping firm, Nagoor Meera and Sons. His grandfather Marhoom Abdur Rahman was a member of the Legislative Council of Ceylon.[3]

Political career

Mohamed entered politics having been elected to the Colombo Municipal Council from the Maligawatte Ward and served as Mayor of Colombo from 1960 to 1962. He contested the 1965 general elections as the United National Party candidate in the Borella electorate and was elected to parliament defeating the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) candidate Vivienne Goonewardena. He lost his seat in the 1970 general elections to LSSP candidate Kusala Abhayavardhana by 16,421 votes to 15,829 votes.[4] He was re-elected to parliament in the 1977 general elections and would retain his seat until 2010 in the consecutive elections that followed. In 1977, he was appointed to the Cabinet by J.R. Jayawardena as Minister of Transport.[3]

Role in anti-Tamil violence

In the Black July pogrom of 1983, M.H Mohammed unleashed his thugs to attack Tamils in Borella.[5] In April 1985, President J. R. Jayewardene sent M. H. Mohamed, along with his henchmen to attack Tamils in the village of Karaitivu (Ampara).[6] Muslim youth with the support of the security forces killed several Tamils, raped several women and burned over 2000 Tamil homes, rendering 15,000 Tamils homeless.[7][8]

References
  1. "PARLIAMENTARY GENERAL ELECTION - 02-04-2004" (PDF). Sri Lanka Department of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
  2. "M.H. Mohomad passes away". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  3. "M. H. Mohamed:The charismatic politician An Appreciation". Island. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  4. "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  5. T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 2, Chapter 3 – The Final Solution (2003)
  6. Rajan Hoole – The Arrogance of Power, Chapter 20, Section 8, Border Aggression and Civilian Massacres – The East Erupts: Mossad Again? (2001)
  7. Police commandos join in violence – Tamil Times, April 1986, p18
  8. Some Critical Notes on the Non-Tamil Identity of the Muslims of Sri Lanka, and on Tamil–Muslim Relations – A. R.M. Imtiyaz a & S. R.H. Hoole, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies (2011), p229-230


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