Oxford Union episode:

President Rajapaksa stands tall

By Shanika SRIYANANDA

The conduct of some United Kingdom authorities during President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to the UK on the invitation of the Oxford Union for a speech last week, could spark serious doubts whether they also had a hand in this hidden agenda, Minister of Media and Information and Government Spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said.

In an interview with the Sunday Observer, the Minister said it is difficult to believe what they preach about terrorism while allowing pro-LTTEers to openly display Prabhakaran’s picture and LTTE flags on their soil, where the LTTE is a banned outfit.

“They humiliated themselves by cancelling the President’s speech and also by allowing pro-LTTE groups to demonstrate freely, but President Rajapaksa who talked about terrorism and dealt with it, stands tall”, he said.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: How do you view the demonstrations held against the President’s visit to the UK and the decision of the Oxford Union to cancel his speech?

A: President Rajapaksa went to the UK as the invitee of the Oxford Union to deliver a speech. We believed that an institution with that reputation would have carried out their own investigations and discussed the issues with their government authorities, particularly about the security of a visiting Head of State before extending the invitation.

We accepted the invitation and moved towards working on it. But, it is questionable why they said at the eleventh hour that the speech was cancelled.

This leaves some room for serious doubts whether there were certain other pressures and considerations involved. We regret to make this comment, but I think, when looking at the overall picture within those 24 hours, it points to some grey areas and leaves a question mark, ‘Was it due to pressure or due to some consideration with vested interests?’ We did not expect such conduct from such an institution.

Q: Do you think, to some extent, it was done to insult President Rajapaksa?

A: Look at this issue this way. You invite a Head of State and behave like this; more than humiliation for the Head of State, it is a humiliation on themselves.

A country which exhorts discipline and five-star democracy, with all that, they could not provide the basics required for freedom of speech. They are now facing greater embarrassment than us.

They insulted themselves by their inefficiency and inability to maintain what they preached.

Pro-LTTE groups

Q: But, there were some warnings by pro-LTTE groups before the President left the country. Knowing the situation, why did he accept the invitation?

A: There were no official warnings. The President expected a democratic sovereign nation which preaches about five-star democracy and freedom of speech, to take the necessary steps to ensure his safety and freedom to make use of that invitation. As I said earlier, their behaviour is questionable.

Q: This proves that pro-LTTE groups are active internationally. How do you think we can control this?

A: On a prima facie basis, what you see is that countries which were severely affected by terrorism believe and pronounce that the pain of terrorism should be stopped worldwide.

Terrorism is the most serious and cancerous menace for humankind. They themselves have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation.

Especially this incident shows that the LTTE is involved in this episode. Then, the efficiency of their intelligence services is also questionable. Having said all these, it appears to me, that they have two different agendas and stands on terrorism for the sake of votes.

David Miliband has been exposed by ‘WikiLeaks’, that his party had worked with the Tamil Diaspora in the UK to get 300,000 votes.

It shows how their policies have degenerated to such an extent; they who are vocal against terrorism and destruction due to terrorism have given up all their principles just to grab some votes.

Here, the President of Sri Lanka stands tall. He talked about terrorism and dealt with it. Come what may, he dealt with it as he promised.

Banned outfit

Q: Though the LTTE is a banned outfit in the UK, the protesters openly displayed LTTE flags?

A: Yes, the LTTE is a banned organisation there. However, the protesters displayed Prabhakaran’s pictures and LTTE flags, but what action did the authorities take? The intention and also their double standards are obvious. When you look at it on a prima facie basis, we have serious doubts whether they also had a hand in this hidden agenda.

Q: Channel 4 has again aired a fresh video and it was said they telecast it to coincide with the President’s UK visit. Why can’t the Government take tough action if they continue to telecast fake videos?

A: We have dealt enough and more with Channel 4. We proved the earlier video was fake through technical data and experts’ advice, but they have not answered any of those. Instead, they keep on taking Sri Lanka to task. We are quite aware of it and we can lodge our protests and apply pressure through the Ministry of External Affairs.

Q: How do you expect efficient counter-action, while the foreign mission in the UK was also accused of poor ‘homework’ before the President’s visit to the UK?

A: It is too early to comment on this, but the Government will investigate the entire incident in all aspects. On the surface, what you see is that so many people would be responsible for this issue.