Help in reconciliation process, and not meddle otherwise

by K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga

Navaneethan Pillay

Mohan Peiris

It is high time that the international community understands the true ground situation in Sri Lanka. Instead of lending a helping hand for the people in the North, who have begun a new lease of life, certain Western countries and a few Colombo-based diplomats seem to be interested in digging the past and attempt to pontificate on the course of action Sri Lanka should take.

If these countries are sincerely interested in the well-being of the people in the North, they should make a tangible contribution towards Sri Lanka’s reconciliation process, instead of attempting to meddle on internal matters of a sovereign State. For example, location of military camps is entirely a matter of the Ministry of Defence.

On the other hand, the Government’s good gestures to prove its transparency should be taken in true perspective. Taking diplomats on fact finding missions in the North and the East does not mean that Sri Lanka is treating them as arbitrators. We only want to show the world the sincere and ambitious steps the Government has taken to offer a better tomorrow for the Northern people who have been liberated from the clutches of the LTTE terror.

Courageous

Former Attorney General Mohan Peiris should be commended for making that bold and courageous statement that there is no room for any country to walk around Sri Lanka as they like and investigate its internal affairs.

He had said so when asked about the possibility of a UN fact finding team being sent to Sri Lanka prior to a pre-arranged visit to be made by United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Navaneetham Pillay.

As the former AG has quite rightly pointed out, the government has extended an invitation to UN Human Rights Commissioner Navaneethan Pillay to visit Sri Lanka to observe its post-war development and reconciliation efforts. The government has done so in good faith to show its transparency. But the country has not extended any invitation to any fact finding mission.

Bearing

The Government had extended this invitation to Pillay last year and it has no bearing whatsoever with the recent USHRC Resolution. Asked if it was possible for a UNHRC team to pay a visit to Sri Lanka in view of the Universal Periodic Review of Sri Lanka, which will take place in November this year, Peiris said that under the Institution-building of the United Nations Human Rights Council, such action is impossible.

As Peiris had pointed out, nobody can send teams to investigate affairs of another country for it interferes with that country’s sovereignty. Furthermore, the three countries in the troika for the review of Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights’ Universal Periodic Preview process, are among the very same countries who voted against Sri Lanka at the 19th sessions of UNHRC and supported the US-led Resolution requiring the government to implement the recommendation of the LLRC.

But if Pillay is going to be the judge of Sri Lanka’s human rights situation, one must not forget that she is also a complainant against Sri Lanka’s human rights situation. Can a complainant be allowed to be the judge of the same complaint?

In order to support theories hatched in the West, the BBC made a disgraceful attempt of distorting facts and show the world that that the Tamils in the North were threatened by Sinhala settlers. The presenter of the BBC’s flagship news program, Nick Gowing introduced Charles Havilland’s interview with Defence

Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa earlier this week, with a preface about the alleged attempt to change the demography of the North of Sri Lanka.

Clear

Their agenda was crystal clear as Gowing ‘armed’ with his red map of Sri Lanka and pointing to the North as the ‘traditional home of the Tamils’, to pave way for Havilland. The entire program was masterminded to support pro-LTTE Tamils in the UK and elsewhere. Apart from tarnishing Sri Lanka’s image, they also had another agenda – to prevent failed Tamil asylum seekers being deported from the UK to Sri Lanka.

Certain Western politicians, who depend on votes of the Tamils for their survival, too have embarked on a malicious campaign against Sri Lanka. From where does the US Congressman Danny Davis (Democratic-Illinois) receive reports that claimed that “tensions exist between the Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka” even three years after terrorism was eradicated?

Confidence

How does he come to the conclusion - with confidence, that “It is unfortunate that after the hostilities ended in the battlefield they still seem to exist in many of the same ways that occurred before the battle actually broke out,”. These are concocted stories to suite the agendas of the West.

Congressman Davis had made the above observations when he addressed the recent session of the United States House of Representatives to mark the third anniversary of the end of the battle in Sri Lanka. How come this congressman is not fed with correct data and information about the progress and developments in Sri Lanka?

Perhaps, he had been influenced and fed with false information by the pro-LTTE Diaspora agents. Anybody touring Sri Lanka would understand that there is no disparity or conflict among communities living in Sri Lanka.

If there had been any discrimination whatsoever, there can’t be so many Tamils and Muslims holding top positions in the country. It is the West which injected communal ideas before Sri Lanka’s independence.

It is still fresh in our memories the devastation caused by the LTTE terrorists. Certain countries now talk on terrorists killed in action and their human rights. Then what about the human rights of hundreds of thousands of innocent people killed, injured, mained or lost their loved ones due to three decades of terror unleashed by the LTTE?

Blood-thirsty

It is exactly 25 years ago that the blood-thirsty LTTE terrorists massacred 31 bhikkus in Aranthalawa and also brutally killed 11 villages in Kaduwelduwa, Polonnaruwa. This is one of the many barbaric acts of Tiger terrorists.

Countries in the West must have a close look at all those incidents and the human rights violations of LTTE.

They must consider the true ground situations and the harmony that exists among all communities after terrorism was eradicated. People in the North are not demanding for land or police powers. It’s the opportunist Tamil politicians, who acted like LTTE’s puppets who demand those to gain political advantage.

The majority of the people in the North want to lead a peaceful life in peace and harmony. They are enjoying the deviants of peace and are inspired by the mega development activities that are taking place.

The Northern and the Eastern Provinces have the highest growth rate and that is an indication that the people in these two provinces are set for a better tomorrow.

Opportunist Tamil politicians in the North or the Western countries which exert pressure on Sri Lanka should at least at this late stage prove that they are sincerely interested in the well-being of the Tamils in the North.