Nizam Kariapper

Hon. Mohamed Nizam Kariapper MP
මොහොමඩ් නිසාම් කාරියප්පර් மொஹமட் நிஸாம் காரியப்பர்
Member of Parliament for National list
Incumbent
Assumed office 17 November 2024
Personal details
Nationality	Sri Lankan
Political party	Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Samagi Jana Balawegaya

Mohamed Nizam Kariapper (born 1963) is a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician, and poet. He currently serves as a member of parliament and is the secretary general of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC). In recognition of his contributions to the legal profession, he was appointed as a President’s Counsel in 2017. Kariapper previously held the position of Mayor of the Kalmunai Municipal Council and is also a published Tamil poet.

Early life and education

Kariapper was born in 1963 in Kalmunai, in Sri Lanka's Eastern Province, into the historic Kariapper family. He is the son of M. H. Kariapper (also known as Zahir Kariapper), a former district judge, and the youngest grandson of ‘Vanniyar’ Abdul Latheef Kariapper.

He began his primary education at a pansala school (a small Sinhala Buddhist temple school) in Kalmunai. He was one of three students to pass the Grade Five Scholarship Examination, which secured him admission to D. S. Senanayake College in Colombo. He later pursued Advanced Level studies in the Mathematics stream.

After completing his secondary education, Kariapper focused on law. He passed the entrance examination to Sri Lanka Law College and completed his attorney final examination with honors.

Legal career

Kariapper was enrolled as an attorney-at-law in the mid-1980s and began his legal practice in Colombo. In November 1986, he joined the Attorney General’s Department as a State Counsel, where he served until 1991. He then established his own legal chamber in Colombo, specializing in civil appeals and fundamental rights litigation before the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

In 2001, he briefly served as a member of the Public Service Commission of Sri Lanka. He later pursued postgraduate studies and obtained a master's degree in public law from the University of Colombo in 2011.

In 2017, Kariapper was appointed as a President’s Counsel, the highest recognition awarded to a practicing lawyer in Sri Lanka.

Political career

Kariapper is a founding member of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and currently serves as its Secretary General. He has been a longstanding member of the party’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, representing SLMC in constitutional reform discussions both nationally and internationally.

He served as the mayor of Kalmunai in 2014 and was elected to the Sri Lankan Parliament in December 2024.

Literary work

Kariapper is also a poet and published his first collection of Tamil poems, Kalmunai Kudy Naatkal ("Kalmunai Kudy Days"), in 2024. The book explores themes of memory, place, and identity, reflecting his deep cultural and emotional ties to Kalmunai.

Personal life

Kariapper is married to Sithy Nafeesathul Misria Kariapper. They have one son, Ahamed Ilham Nizam Kariapper, a practicing lawyer and the founder and managing partner of INK Chambers.

Kariapper is trilingual and fluent in Sinhala, Tamil, and English, enabling him to engage with Sri Lanka’s diverse communities. He is widely respected for his advocacy of reconciliation and unity among the country’s ethnic and religious groups.