UN should respect people’s voice

Terrorism in any part of the globe is terrorism and should be eliminated in equal fashion. There are no good terrorists and bad terrorists. Terrorism should be crushed at any cost.

This was emblazoned by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the United Nations General Assembly two years ago. This thought-provoking statement should be echoed and re-echoed to the United Nations (UN) and its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon should be called upon to prove his sincerity in supporting the eradication of global terrorism.

Sri Lanka is vehemently opposed to the appointment of the UN Expert Panel by Ki-moon in New York last week and called the move ‘unwarranted and an unnecessary interference with a sovereign nation’. Moreover, as pointed out by the Ministry of External Affairs, the latest UN interference has potential for exploitation by vested interests hostile to the process of reconciliation taking place in Sri Lanka.

The UN Chief should bear in mind that Sri Lanka is a sovereign state with a democratically elected executive and legislature and a robustly independent judiciary that has a tried and tested system for the administration of justice.

Should the UN treat a sovereign member nation on par with the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world which had brutally killed thousands of innocent people through mass-scale bomb explosions targeting civilians?

The Government of Sri Lanka has consistently and steadfastly promoted and protected human rights. This unblemished record has been explicitly acknowledged by legitimate organs of the UN system.

The Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UNHRC) formally adopted, after the cessation of the conflict, a resolution commending, inter alia, the commitment of Sri Lanka for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Moon and his UN top brass are supremely aware that Sri Lanka was ravaged by the scourge of terrorism for over three decades and the people of Sri Lanka have during the past 30 years, suffered untold hardships and privations due to violence and terror of unimaginable proportions, unleashed on them by LTTE terrorists.

Sri Lanka’s valiant Security Forces rescued around 600,000 innocent civilians, who had been forcibly held by the Tigers. This was not merely a battle against terror but also the world’s biggest human rescue operation. After a protracted and difficult struggle, the Government successfully rid the country of terror, and is currently in the process of rebuilding the lives of its people.

What should the UN and the international community do at this crucial juncture? If the UN and the so-called guardians of human rights are so concerned about the well-being of the Tamil community, they should warmly extend their support to Sri Lanka and its democratically elected Government which is making a sincere and dedicated effort to usher in a better tomorrow for over half a million people who had been rescued from the jaws of LTTE terror.

If the UN and the international community are sincerely interested in finding a better tomorrow for displaced persons in the North and the East, they should financially support the resettlement process and infrastructure development projects in the North and the East.

In keeping with the reconciliation process, President Rajapaksa has already appointed a Commission on “Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation” under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, a statutory regime under the law of the land. We are confident that the Commission would make the most significant contribution to the further strengthening of national amity, through a process of restorative justice.

The joint statement issued by President Rajapaksa and the Secretary General of the UN issued at the conclusion of Moon’s visit to the country last year, makes no reference whatsoever to the so-called “allegations of violations of international humanitarian law committed during the military operations against the LTTE”. This was framed against the country subsequently.

Even when the LTTE targeted civilians and forcibly held innocent people as a human shield, the so-called champions of human rights did not utter a word. Apart from the gross human rights violations by the Tiger terrorists here and violations perpetrated by the Western forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, these godfathers of human rights sought to favour the taciturnity.

However, when it comes to Sri Lanka’s courageous battle against terror, which is indeed a good eye-opener to the Western forces which are still battling it out in Iraq and Afghanistan, the UN, certain countries and a few INGOs have taken a different stand altogether. Is the definition to terrorism in Afghanistan or Iraq different to that of Sri Lanka?

Has the UN by any chance deviated from its original goals and objectives? Has Moon got his priorities mixed up due to his unswerving loyalty to the West? In any event, the stand taken by the UN against Sri Lanka is totally unacceptable and unwarranted.

At a time Sri Lanka’s valiant Security Forces should be commended by countries who voice strongly against terrorism, certain interested parties, with the connivance of a few international organisations, are hell-bent on discrediting Sri Lanka and its exemplary Security Forces which had the strong will power and indomitable courage in risking their lives to battle against the most ruthless terrorist outfit in the world.

Perhaps, the so-called ‘big countries’ must be feeling bashful to accept the bitter truth, that Sri Lanka had become the first country to eradicate terrorism. At a time when the Western forces have been struggling for years in Iraq and Afghanistan, the brave sons of our soil have performed their task in the most laudable manner. Else, we see no reason as to why the UN should take Sri Lanka to task without any concrete evidence.

As a sovereign nation, Sri Lanka has an inalienable right to combat terrorism and separatism and defend her sovereignty and territorial integrity. The UN or any country for that matter, could not question the right that Sri Lanka enjoys as a sovereign nation.

The Government’s unequivocal stand on the issue is commendable. The fearless stance taken by the President and his Government is undoubtedly the majority wish of the masses. The UN should respect the majority voice of the people in Sri Lanka.