Al-Haj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried o ...

Meeralebbe Poddy Mohamed Mustapha (10 July 1924– 3 October 2000) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. Meeralebbe Poddy Mohamed Mustapha was born in Nintavur on 16 July 1924, the son of Meeralebbe Podi

Vanniar The Vanniyar, also spelled Vanniya, formerly known as the Palli, are a Dravidian community or '' jāti'' found in the northern part of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. From the 19th century, peasant castes typically classified under Shudra ca ...

and Meera Ummah. He received his early education in Nintavur, before attending Batticaloa Methodist Central College. Following which he graduated from the

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

. Mustapha then passed the Inter-Law Exam at the

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...

. In 1948 he began practicing law in

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

. Mustapha married the eldest daughter of

Gate Mudaliyar Mudali (or Mudaliyar) was a colonial title and office in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) which was part of the native headman system. The Portuguese colonials created the Mudaliyar class in the 17th century by enlisting natives of different castes from ...

Mohammed Samsudeen Kariapper, the chairman of

Kalmunai Kalmunai ( ta, கல்முனை, translit=Kalmuṉai; si, කල්මුනේ, translit=Kalmunē) is a major city in Ampara District. It is the largest city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. It had a total population of 106,780 as of 2011. I ...

Town Council and the member for

. He first ran for

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the

1952 Ceylonese parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. It is notable for being the second and final election overseen and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Elections before its merger in 1955. Background Prime Minister D.S. Senanay ...

in the Pottuvil electorate, held in May 1952, running as the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) candidate. He was narrowly defeated by the sitting member, Meerakuddy Mohamed Ebrahim, with a margin of 559 votes. At the 3rd parliamentary election, held in April 1956, Ebrahim chose not to run due to poor health and Mustapha was successful in securing the seat for the Federal Party, receiving 8,355 votes (51.8% of the total vote) defeating his nearest opponent, M. I. M. Abdul Majeed, by 3,729 votes. He resigned from the Federal Party in 1958 as he opposed the party's proposed

satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone w ...

movement. In June 1959

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

appointed Mustapha as the Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. Following Bandaranaike's assassination in September,

Wijeyananda Dahanayake Wijeyananda Dahanayake ( si, විජයානන්ද දහනායක ta, விஜயானந்த தகநாயக்கா; 22 October 1902 – 4 May 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Prime Minister of Ceylon from Septe ...

who took over as Prime Minister appointed Mustapha as the Minister of Finance in November, becoming the first Muslim Minister of Finance. At the 4th parliamentary election, held in March 1960, Mustapha contested the newly created seat of Nintavur. He failed to get elected and was defeated by M. I. M. Abdul Majeed by 4,627 votes. He re-contested the seat at the subsequent parliamentary elections in July, where he lost again to Majeed, this time by 7,776 votes. He was ultimately successful at the 6th parliamentary election, held in March 1965, as the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

candidate, defeating Majeed by 4,3899 votes. Following the election he was appointed by Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Mi ...

as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Social Services. Mustapha was re-elected at the 7th parliamentary election, held in May 1970, by only 75 votes, securing 13,481 votes (49% of the total vote). He switched political allegiances and joined the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

. In 1976 he was appointed as the deputy

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

by Prime Minister

Sirimavo Bandaranaike Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...

after she elevated

Ratnasiri Wickremanayake Ratnasiri Wickremanayake ( si, රත්නසිරි වික්‍රමනායක, ta, ரத்னசிறி விக்கிரமநாயக்க; 5 May 1933 – 27 December 2016) was a Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Mi ...

to the position of Minister. At the

1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 21 July 1977. The result was a landslide victory for the United National Party, which won 140 of the 168 seats in the National State Assembly. Background Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike had b ...

he contested the Pottuvil electorate as the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate. Whilst he polled 22,378 votes (25% of the total vote), he was defeated by the United National Party candidate, A. M. Mohamed Jalaldeen, who received 30,318 votes (34% of the total vote) and the

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

candidate, Mylvaganam Canagaratnam, with 23,990 votes. He was a member of the Eastern University Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mustapha, M. 1924 births 2000 deaths Alumni of Methodist Central College Ceylonese advocates Finance ministers of Sri Lanka Parliamentary secretaries of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Sri Lanka Freedom Party politicians 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers United National Party politicians