Opinion:

Pro-Western international media projects gloomy picture

By K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga

Extraneous elements, here and abroad, attempted to gain maximum mileage from the unfortunate incidents in Aluthgama and Beruwala. Things were blown out of proportion by interested parties here and pro-Western international media, which painted a gloomy picture with concocted stories.

The role of the Western media mafia was crystal clear. Once again, they find an isolated incident to make a fearful picture about Sri Lanka.

Disseminating false information on Aluthgama unrest, Al-Jazeera international news network had published unreal and fabricated story in recently updated news (on June 17) wherein it was reported that Christians were also subject to mob attacks.

Several other international news agencies too were propagating false information on Sri Lanka. It was obvious that they trying to serve the agenda of international conspiracies of the pro-separatist Tamil Diaspora. In fact, there was no such incident reported against any Christian Church in Aluthgama area or any other part of the country. Some of the images carried by them were also not related to the Sri Lankan context and the flow of the documentary seems to be intended to highlight as an ethnic tension blowing the prevailing situation completely out of proportion.

Terrorism

The news channel also cheekily stated, "Buddhist majority fights Tamils separatists over 20 years of civil war", thus misleading the viewers.

There was no region based conflict as portrayed by Al-Jazeera for over two decades in Sri Lanka. What Sri Lanka experienced was a threat of separatist terrorism that attempted to carve out a separate state in the North and East of the country covering over 30% of the land mass and 60% of the coastal belt of the island.

The terrorists were comprehensively defeated in May, 2009 and since then there were no major incidents. What happened at Aluthgama was unfortunate but had nothing to do with ethnic tension as the immediate cause of the incident was related to an argument between two parties which then was used by extremist elements as catalyst for widespread violence in the area.

This was not the first time that an external news agency published fake reports of this nature. Earlier too there had been several such reporting of bogus details with a view of portraying minor incidents as massive conflicts.

The petty-interests of numerous interested parties are very clear. The common threat faced by the country is hidden behind the veil of pressure brought upon the Government by several Western countries, international organisations, and international non-government organisations.

Ethnic harmony

Separatists are hiding behind that veil and are exploiting even the minor incidents to achieve their goals. Hence, the peace-loving public who love this country and desire to protect her integrity have to act in unison to create eternal ethnic harmony and well-being among communities for peaceful coexistence.

True that there had been a few unruly acts by interested parties which had tried to spark communal violence so that they could give a push to Western conspiracies. That came at the most appropriate time for them when the UNHRC is being used to meddle in Sri Lanka's internal affairs.

The UNHRC panel appointed to investigate alleged war crimes during the final phase of the battle against terrorism will soon begin its unilateral investigation. Hence, this type of unruly acts by organised parties will provide ammunition to interested international elements to exert undue pressure.

Now that the highest democratic forum in the country, none other than the legislature, has rejected the controversial investigation, the UNHRC investigators would not be permitted here on fact-finding missions. The motion, submitted by several Members of Parliament against the UNHRC investigation, was adopted last week with a massive majority of 134 votes.

Curtailed

Hence, the UNHRC must respect to the mandate given by the people's representatives. Thanks to the timely intervention by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, any further room for the opportunists to capitalise on communal violence was curtailed. Just hours after his return to the country from Bolivia after the G77+ Summit, the President went to Beruwala to meet the people and

religious leaders in the area.

Hence, interested parties and the LTTE rump could not get the maximum mileage they expected. As President Rajapaksa had quite rightly pointed out, one race cannot be strengthened by destroying another. A handful of extremist elements cannot be allowed to destroy our nation or harm the country's hard-earned peace.

President Rajapaksa had vowed that the peace won by the sacrifices of many lives should benefit all the communities and that few elements will not be allowed to rob that peace.

Since the country has been completely liberated from three decades of cruel terrorism and democracy has been established the environment has been created to enable all communities to follow their faiths and live in peace and amity.

Wrong picture

A small group of people which could not bear to witness the unity brotherhood and cooperation existing between all communities were trying to bring the country into disrepute internationally by providing wrong information to the outside world. Hence, a wrong picture about our country has been disseminated abroad. Everybody must act with extreme caution.

The LTTE rump has been using their local contacts to find material that could pamper the so-called UNHRC investigation. But the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) should stick to the objectives and principles of the UN Charter and carry out its work in an objective and just way within its mandate. The OHCHR should increase transparency of its internal management and fund use.

Instead of poking its finger into Sri Lanka's internal matters, the OHCHR should stick to the objectives and principles of the UN Charter, carry out its work in an objective and just way within its mandate, oppose the tendency of politicising human rights issues, oppose double-standards and cooperate with member countries in a constructive way.

Instead of meddling in internal affairs of a member country and exerting undue pressure, the OHCHR should increase its resource in the areas of social, economic and cultural rights, as well as the development rights, and avoid using its resources in the areas which have not gained the consensus of the international community.

The OHCHR should use more resources on human rights technical support, but the support should be provided only with the consent of the receiving country.

Sri Lanka has come a long way since the dawn of peace five years ago. The country has made a steady progress in all spheres, opening new horizons for the people in the North and the East. There are certain quarters here and abroad who do not like to see this progress. Certain Western countries would always prefer to label Sri Lanka as a failed state so that they could meddle in the country's internal affairs in the guise of helping us.

All what baffles us is the UNHRC's decision to pick only the final phase of the battle against terrorism. This is a well- orchestrated move to project the large number of LTTE terrorists killed as civilians. If the UNHRC is sincerely worried about human rights issues in Sri Lanka, it should consider the entire 27-year period during which the world's most ruthless terrorist outfit had unleashed nothing but misery on 21 million people in Sri Lanka.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, in a recent media interview, has pointed out that the UN was having irrefutable evidence that would contradict the much touted allegation that indiscriminate military action had caused the deaths of 40,000 civilians during the last phase of the battle on the Wanni east front.

UN report

Why does the UNHRC only consider the January-May 19, 2009 period as the final phase? Thousands of hapless civilians have been killed by LTTE bombs and suicide attacks for almost three decades. The UN mission in Colombo had estimated the number of deaths at 7,721 from August 2008 to May 13, 2009. The army brought the ground offensive to a conclusion six days later with the killing of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on May 19.

The same report placed the number of wounded at 18,479. Those who had been killed and wounded fighting for the LTTE too, were also listed by the UN.

The UN reports prepared on the basis of information gathered by the UN had been gathering dust, while various interested parties propagated vastly varying figures to justify a war crimes probe. Nothing could be as ridiculous as the claim made in House of Commons in September 2011 that 40,000 civilians and 60,000 LTTE personnel died during January-May 2009 period, as alleged by British Labour Party MP Siobhain MacDonagh.

External Affairs Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris recently declared that the government wouldn't cooperate with UN investigators under any circumstances. Sri Lanka has every right to turn down such controversial requests, especially at a time when it has been rejected by the Parliament with an overwhelming majority.

The UN requested government clearance to visit Sri Lanka during July-November period to conduct investigations. How could UN ignore its own report? The report had been based on information provided by the Regional Director of Health Services (RDHS), national staff of the UN, NGOs and the ICRC, the UN could easily get in touch with them.

The controversial Panel of Experts had recommended that the identities of those who had provided information to the group wouldn't be revealed until 2031, the on-the spot UN report could be the basis for the proposed inquiry. Regardless of Sri Lanka's participation in the inquiry, the UN couldn't ignore the available evidence.

The UNHRC should be sincere and transparent on its dealing with Sri Lanka. It should prove its impartiality, rather than pampering the LTTE rump.

LTTE cadres, in civil attaire, could not be counted as civilians killed in the battle. Those are deliberate plans to discredit Sri Lanka's valiant Security Forces. We must give a better meaning to the sacrifices made bythe true sons of our soil.