Reposing faith in PSC vital
Over the past five years LTTE
sympathisers have invariably timed their anti-Sri Lanka campaigns prior
to the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) sessions. This
time around, there is no exception as the next UNHRC session comes up in
Geneva next month.
A section of the Tamils outside Sri Lanka, LTTE sympathisers and
several INGOs are making a concerted effort to sully Sri Lanka's image
and bring the country's Security Forces into disrepute. They have
already set their hidden agendas in motion in a well orchestrated
manner, in the hope that they could impress the UNHRC by projecting a
gloomy picture of Sri Lanka.
Only last week, it was reported that Amnesty International (AI) had
received 50,000 Canadian dollars from the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC),
widely considered a front organisation of the LTTE, which was crushed
militarily in May 2009.
The controversial donation to AI was made known officially by CTC
Chief Suntharamoorthy Umasuthan at a recent Thai Pongal dinner at the
Grand Baccus Banquet and Conference Center, 2155 McNicoll Ave.,
Scarborough.
It was disclosed that there were over 500 guests, each forking out a
neat 100 Canadian dollars. Politicians representing major political
parties, including the ruling party were among those present. Ontario's
Premier Dalton McGuinty was a special guest at the fund-raiser, along
with Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran. At
a time AI has descended to its lowest ebb by guzzling monies collected
through LTTE shadow organisations, could anyone expect impartial conduct
from the international human rights watchdog?AI is one of the few
vociferous organisations campaigning for an international inquiry into
alleged human rights violations and accountability issues in the final
phase of Sri Lanka's relentless battle against terrorism. Surprisingly,
some INGOs such as the AI and certain countries seem to be unduly
perturbed over the human rights of LTTE terrorists who were killed,
rather than the thousands of innocent civilians who had been harassed
and brutally massacred by the same ruthless terrorists.
CTC has been spearheading a campaign in Canada to move a resolution
against Sri Lanka at the forthcoming UN Human Rights Council sessions in
Geneva over accountability issues. Nevertheless, CTC's intentions became
abundantly clear after its lavish contributions to AI.
Rather than making a sincere effort in Sri Lanka's reconciliation
process, AI continues to level baseless charges against the Government
with loads of false allegations and concocted stories merely to satisfy
the CTC and other shadow LTTE organisations. AI, which is hand in glove
with the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) and International Crisis
Group (ICG) turned down an invitation to testify before the Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).
The CTC Chief, in his address, thanked Canadian Premier Stephen
Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird for supporting their
'cause'. One could well and truly understand the conduct of Harper and
Baird who targeted Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Heads of Government
(CHOGM) in Perth last year. At the time Canada raised Sri Lanka's
'accountability issue' at the UNGA and opposed Sri Lanka being the host
of CHOGM 2013. Thanks to the majority support of Commonwealth member
countries which firmly stood by Sri Lanka, crafty moves to take the 2013
CHOGM out of Sri Lanka were stifled.
Nevertheless, LTTE ghosts, backed by their international
sympathisers, spared no pains in exerting pressure on Sri Lanka. A few
countries, which project themselves as the godfathers of human rights
and champions of the global battle against terrorism, seem diffident to
come to terms that Sri Lanka was the only country to eradicate
terrorism. They infer that the country's strong political leadership,
which received clear mandates from the masses at every given
opportunity, is the key to the country's success in all spheres.
Certain international organisations are flexing their muscle to
create a political leadership that would dance to their whims and
fancies. Knowing only too well that the masses have pledged unflinching
support to the President and his Government, these 'elements' are doing
their utmost to destabilise the country. By this, they are attempting to
rob Sri Lanka's hard-earned peace, achieved amidst immense sacrifices by
the valiant Security Forces.
All ethnicities in Sri Lanka should face this hidden challenge
courageously and expose it to the international community. Sri Lanka's
steadfast unity would send a strong signal to the international
community. As President Mahinda Rajapaksa highlighted in Sri Lanka's
64th Independence Day address, the conspiracies and terrorists' overseas
propaganda have still not abated. When such things happen abroad, some
people resort to various tactics to destabilise the motherland. They
look forward to achieve in Sri Lanka certain results similar to those
countries. These groups are one and the same. The fuel and nutrition for
this struggle in Sri Lanka are received from separatists active in
foreign lands.
Sri Lanka would certainly not benefit by trying to appease the
separatist groups which receive foreign funds. In the same vein,
solutions cannot be secured by implementing the proposals of extremist
groups of whatever persuasion, as emphasised by the President. The need
of the hour is the formulation of policies based on a vision that is
commonly applicable to the entire country.
The international community should let Sri Lanka solve its internal
problems through a home-grown solution. They should not attempt to force
any solution down our throat. When terrorism was at its peak,
threatening to destroy the island, none of these countries, which shed
crocodile tears over human rights issues here, uttered a word in support
of Sri Lanka. But thanks to the indefatigable efforts of a few friendly
countries which sincerely stood by Sri Lanka in its battle against
terror, Sri Lankans today enjoy the dividends of peace.
As a democratic state in Asia, Sri Lanka has practised universal
suffrage irrespective of gender discrimination for the longest period.
It is committed to defend the rights of people to make and break
governments through universal suffrage. Parliament, with its elected
representatives from various political parties, ethnic communities and
religions, is the supreme democratic institution.
Hence, the mechanism to meet the aspirations of all communities lies
entirely with the Parliament. Sri Lankans, irrespective of caste and
creed should repose faith in the proposed Parliamentary Select Committee
in a true spirit of democracy, rather than relying on imported solutions
and foreign influences. |