DR M. HARIS Z DEEN- It is three years on August 29, that Marhoom Al Haj A.H.M. Azwer was called to Allah. When I commenced writing this remembrance message, I am reminded of what Melvolio says in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night that “some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them”. None of these figures of speech is applicable to Azwer though, as he achieved greatness by his absolute determination.
He was not born great, but was of great “stock”. His father hails from one of the Colpetty Basses from the lineage of Badulla Kostapel, while his grand mother comes from the ancestry of Sheikh Fareed who was also Sir Razik Fareed’s grandfather. Azwer’s birth is certainly amongst the Muslim gentry. He nevertheless was a very simple man and as in Kipling’s words “he walked with crowds and kept his virtue and also walked with kings without losing his common touch”
No other politician can boast of having met and mixed with almost all the leaders of the countries of the United Nations. That itself is a record that Azwer never took advantage of for personal gains nor did he show vainglorious pride when moving with normal crowds nor visiting and joining family or family functions. When on any visits for political reasons he would ensure to seek out his poor relatives and inquire about their well – being.
It is indeed sad that, today we do not have any politician that had the qualities of Azwer. I do not apologise for saying this, admittedly this is fact that will be shared by all in our present parliament.
In the Sri Lankan parliament, the records that Azwer set will take a long time to be broken. He was the only MP who can claim to have been appointed to parliament without contesting for a seat at any time. The only MP as we know who was multilingual and equally fluent in all those languages as are recorded in the Hansard time after time. Equally eloquent was he in composing poetry in all three languages, surprisingly ad-hoc and relevant to the subject he was debating. Being a Muslim he certainly espoused Islamic causes in and out of parliament and most certainly ensured that he also supported causes of other faiths in equal vein. He was endeared to the Buddhist, Hindu and Christian priests and attended their events without affecting his own belief. He used his private members budget to help all causes irrespective of religious faith. Computers and furniture to the Buddhist temple in Maththegoda, furniture to Hindu temples and mosques are only some of the contributions Marhoom Azwer made from his parliamentary budget.
A peace loving individual who always believed that, through tolerance, co-existence between the different faiths in Sri Lanka is possible despite the irreconcilable differences that existed with the religious practices of the different religions. There are no instances recorded of Azwer having confronted any other religious groups that openly condemned Islam and the Muslims of Sri Lanka. However, when any insult is thrown at the Prophet of Islam, Azwer was the first one to raise his voice in protest as recorded in the Hansard of September 18th 2012 as follows:
“Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem,
?Sir, at the outset, I would like to place on record our revulsion and protest not only of Muslims but of the entire Parliament against a Yu tube video that is in circulation which vilifies, defames and insults our Holy Prophet of Islam, Muhammed (Sal). I am getting SMS’s from the Centre of Islamic Studies urging all brothers of Islam to protest against the US Diplomatic Mission for continuing with the film that was made in the United States.
When the Bahaman statues in Afghanistan were damaged, Alhaj Moulavi Niyaz Mohamed and all of us took to the streets of Pettah and other places protesting against that. That is a distinct feature of all religionists whatever religion one may follow” (end quote).
That was Azwer, he was there to ensure that Muslims are not racialist but are more a nation of tolerative people towards all religions, race or cast.
Another quote that is most relevant in today’s context is recorded in the Hansard of 12th July 2013 Azwer in an emotional speech says:
“Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Mr. presiding member before I commence my speech, permit me to lodge our strongest protest in this House about the bomb blast at the sacred Mahabodhi Temple in Budha Gaya in Bihar State.
Sir, His Excellency the President, while opening a mosque at Seenawatte Dharga Towm last Sunday stated that his government had always acted to ensure religious co-existence with firm determination and a clear commitment to national unity.
Today, we find that such co-existence is under attack even in a great country, the Bharath, where the Buddha was born. I place on record a vehement and an unequivocal condemnation of this dastardly act of bomb blast at this sacred place”. (end of quote)
A journalist of exceptional writing skills, he has written on many subjects in the tabloids and broadsheets and has compiled many biographies of politicians during his lifetime.
Very devoted to the leader of any party that he was a member of and dedicated to his own faith and a Sri Lankan through and through Azwer’s memory will live forever and his eloquence will certainly be missed for a long time.”