Third party interference complicates issues further - Faiszer Musthapha

Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha who was among the Sri Lankan delegation to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva says there are issues in any country, when majorities and minorities live together.

Such issues can only be solved through dialogue. Any third party intervention makes the issues more complicated and totally destroys countries. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc have been destroyed due to third party interference. They faced destruction due to foreign intervention," the deputy minister said

He said Sri Lanka can find a solution through a home-grown strategy and does not need orders from the international community.

We do not need others to tell us what to do and what not to do. Sri Lanka has a democratically elected government which respects and protects human rights irrespective of race or religion. Priority will be given for the betterment of Sri Lankans. That is why the resolution is unwarranted," Musthapha said.

Sri Lanka was affected by terrorism for 30 years. Sri Lanka always respects human rights. I believe the Geneva resolution is unwarranted because we are in an era of national reconciliation and I would interpret this resolution as a mechanism which could create polarisation on an ethnic basis. It is because we need time and space for national reconciliation. If you look at the voting pattern in Geneva, we can understand that this resolution was brought by certain interested parties. The majority of the countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa voted for us.

The countries which voted against us considered the fact how it could affect their internal matters or issues if they went against the world's super power. This is the fact they considered when voting against Sri Lanka. The countries which voted against, did not consider the content of the resolution. The conduct of the UNHRC in connection with the Geneva resolution against Sri Lanka, raises the question whether right is right or might is right. It clearly showed that might is right and right is not right. The double standards of super powers were clearly visible when the

issue of Israel and Palestine came up at the UNHRC.

LTTE supporters

I was a member of the Sri Lankan delegation at the UNHRC sessions in Geneva. The diaspora protests in Geneva and other parts of the region were carried out by Sri Lankans who went abroad as economic refugees and their children, which is the second generation of Sri Lankans living abroad.

They do not know anything about Sri Lanka. They have only heard the name Sri Lanka. Some have not been to Sri Lanka even once. There were political science and law graduates among LTTE supporters who had been hired to spread lies among the voting nations.

They had told the representatives of these countries that Sri Lankans are killers. They said they left Sri Lanka to save their lives and that the situation in Sri Lanka was still the same.

They publicised this in a professional manner and the Sri Lankan delegation explained the real situation in Sri Lanka.

Arun Thambimuththu who took part in the UNHRC sessions explained how he lost his parents due to LTTE violence and how LTTE violence affected the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.

The diaspora supported the LTTE to kill their own Tamil community including democratic Tamil politicians like A. Amirthalingam and Lakshman Kadirgamar and scholars like Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam.

The TNA is able to voice their own views without fear today because of the non-existence of the LTTE. Whenever the sovereignty of the unitary state came up in 2005, most TNA MPs said they are coming from their homeland 'Tamil Eelam'. The entire Tamil community can now move forward freely because the country is free from the LTTE terror.

Visionary leadership

Muslims in the world, including Sri Lanka, are tied together by their religion, Islam. In Sri Lanka, they expressed their solidarity against the resolution. It is because President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a young MP supported the Palestine cause. Most Muslim countries stated they were against the resolution because of President Rajapaksa's visionary leadership. Seven out of 15 countries which voted for us are Muslim countries. The majority of the countries which abstained from voting such as Malaysia, Djibouti etc are Muslim countries.

I thank the Muslim countries for their support to Sri Lanka at the UNHRC sessions. They voted against the resolution amidst pressure from the West and Europe. We are grateful to them.

President Rajapaksa is a champion among the Sri Lankan Muslim community and other Muslim nations. Muslims worldwide have a close relationship with Sri Lanka because they arrived in Sri Lanka centuries ago and got married to Sri Lankan women. There is a very strong cultural, social and economical link between them and Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan Muslims are peaceful and mind their own business. For the first time in history, Muslims stepped into the

streets to protest against international interferences. They did that because they believe in President Rajapaksa and have faith in him. He is a champion of human rights, especially for minority rights.

Unlike some politicians who thought that our sole survival was based on foreign relations with the West, President Rajapaksa believed in regional powers and works closely with them.

International arena

We must thank Russia and China for supporting us and standing by us. Pakistan did not have a vote, but it mobilised to get support for Sri Lanka. They proved the famous saying 'A friend in need is a friend indeed'. They clearly showed that they are the true friends of Sri Lanka.

The vote clearly showed that even though Sri Lanka is a tiny island with a small economic clout, it has a place in the international arena. Twenty four countries voted for and 15 voted against the resolution in Geneva. Eight countries abstained from voting. When you calculate the total, the resolution was passed with only one vote. This is one more victory for Sri Lanka.

The LLRC report is produced by a commission appointed by President Rajapaksa. They produced their findings in a report to the President. The government will look into the report and implement what is best for Sri Lankans. We are a democratically elected government and it is unfortunate that the persons raising allegations in connection with war crimes has forgotten the 100,000 Muslims and Tamils who had been ethnically cleansed

by the LTTE. Nobody talks about thousands of Muslim IDPs living in Puttalam.

They are talking about relocating. The government will not distinguish between the IDPs who lost homes during the last few days of the humanitarian operation and who lost their homes 30 years ago when the LTTE brutally murdered their family members and chased them away from their homes. The government will look after the interests of all communities. The government will implement what is best for all. The TNA and other political parties which do communal politics, talk about the devolution of power in the North and East.

When you travel to the North and East, and ask the people what they want, they say they need food, housing, school, hospitals and roads. The TNA is using race and religion as a political platform to woo voters.

I think the government overlooked the people in the upcountry and other regions and did more for the people living in the North and Eastern provinces. The government is trying its best to bring back development it lost during the past 30 years.

Child soldiers

The diaspora is supporting the TNA to win what the LTTE failed to win during the past 30 years through their barbaric war and brutal murder. They are working overnight to get international support to intervene in Sri Lanka's internal affairs.

They try to portrait Sri Lanka as a bad state. But they will never succeed. This is because the entire world knows that we destroyed the LTTE which recruited child soldiers, destroyed the Tamil community, murdered Tamil politicians and scholars, destroyed the economy and the country's resources, killed Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and tried to destroy Sri Lanka as a whole.

The world knows Sri Lanka needs time and space for the reconciliation process and that the government is doing everything possible to do this. The world also knows that we will punish anybody who violated human rights during the humanitarian operation.

The diaspora is spending billions of dollars on anti-Sri Lankan propaganda. This is to destabilise Sri Lanka internationally which will help them achieve Eelam. It is unfortunate that they are spending their resources for this because Sri Lanka is need of funds to rebuild the loss and damaged caused by the LTTE.

International community

I call upon the diaspora to be a part of the nation building process because some continue to be economic refugees in foreign countries and carry out agendas against Sri Lanka.

In any country, there are issues when majorities and minorities live together. Such issues can only be solved through dialogue.

Any third party intervention make the issues more complicated and totally destroy countries. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc were totally destroyed due to third party intervention. They have faced destruction due to foreign intervention.

Sri Lanka can find a solution through a home-grown strategy and do not need orders from the international community. We do not need others to tell us what to do and what not to do.

Sri Lanka has a democratically elected government which respects and protects human rights irrespective of race or religion. Priority will be given to the betterment of Sri Lankans. That is why the resolution is unwarranted.