Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana (born 25 June 1956) is a Sri Lankan politician, former diplomat and local government activist.
He was previously elected as a Member of Parliament for the Batticaloa District, under the United National Party from August 16, 1994, until his resignation on June 23, 2004.
Owing to the rise in popularity of the sectarian Sri Lanka Muslim Congress led by its founder leader M. H. M. Ashraff in the region,[9] his dissent towards communal politics and interest towards pursuing a national identity for the Muslim community led Moulana to accept the invitation, and he subsequently contested and won the 1994 General Election with the UNP for the Batticaloa District, and was an opposition Member of Parliament.
[11] Around 5:40 pm on December 9, 1995, Moulana and another UNP MP Jayalath Jayawardena were travelling to Batticaloa from Colombo, when their convoy was ambushed along the A15 highway in Kiran by around 40 members of the LTTE.
[15] By building good relationships with the LTTE, the UNP government was able to provide the general populace amenities that they were deprived of for decades.
[19][20] In early 2004, Colonel Karuna began lamenting to Moulana of his displeasure with the LTTE leader on the insufficient distribution of resources and power towards the Tamils resident in eastern Sri Lanka.
[21] Moulana saw this is an indication of a possible significant split emerging within the LTTE, and informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe of this development.
Moulana then over a series of meetings with the Colonel began to convince him to defect from the LTTE and enter the democratic mainstream where he can voice his opinions on behalf of his people on a political platform.
[27] On April 9, 2004, large numbers of LTTE Sea Tigers and ground forces landed on the banks of the Verugal river in Vakarai, Batticaloa, and in clear violation of the Ceasefire accord signed with the Sri Lankan government began attacking and killing civilians and cadres loyal to Karuna alike in a brutal offensive.
Karuna did not intend any harm to befall any civilians and withdrew all his troops and heavy artillery machinery to his main base in the Thopigalla jungles.
[29][30][31] Intelligence reports later revealed to the public said that Moulana and Karuna had managed to escape from the advancing LTTE forces by a mere 10 minutes.
After the end of the Civil War in 2009, Moulana returned to Sri Lanka after living in self-exile in the United States for over 5 years in December 2009.
[42] Subsequent to becoming Chairman of the Eravur Urban Council, Moulana was unanimously elected as the President of the Federation of Sri Lanka Local Government Authorities (FSLGA).
[45][46] Following the dissolution of Parliament in June 2015, Moulana joined the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG).