West tries to de-stabilise the country - Minister Champika Ranawaka

Technology, Research and Atomic Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said the US , West, Tamil Nadu and neo-nazi Tamil separatist movement are attempting to de-stabilise the country so that they can interfere and rule here. That is their aim. The Minister in an interview with the Sunday Observer said whether we devolve power to the North and East or not , they are now widening their charge sheet. Earlier it was only the accountability issue. Now they are talking about devolution and religious disharmony. I think in time to come, they will talk about violence against women and homosexuals. When we solve one problem, they shift to another. We can’t satisfy them. What we should do is to have a concrete policy to fight this challenge.

The Minister said Parliament is the supreme body where the people’s sovereignty is vested which can decide on our internal matters, not the UN. That way they simply infringe the UN charter which has accepted the people's sovereignty and the autonomy of a country. They are now trying to change our Constitution by force. They are attempting to impose their social values to us on women, homosexuality and religious harmony. This is a kind of social imperialism. As the Ugandan President clearly stated when Uganda banned homosexuality, they imposed kind of sanctions to them. This is unacceptable.

Q: The British Channel 4 is in the habit of producing a new episode on the alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka during the final phase of the humanitarian operation. What have you got to say about this?

A: Actually this is a pre-planned drama that these Anglo-American conspirators are trying to contain and derailed and finally make this country a anarchic place. That is what they need. So they simply produce films, persons, organisations and various kinds of facts and other things which they actually financed. Thereafter based on these pseudo facts, they simply produce resolutions and various other charges against this country. Thereafter , they are going to take actions against us based on these pseudo facts and resolutions. Channel 4 is a pseudo type of helpers of this Anglo-American conspiracy to destabilize this country.

Q: External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L.Peiris has categorically rejected the allegation leveled against us in his initial address in the UNHRC. But even in this backdrop, it is likely that the US will move the resolution against us. If so will there be any negative repercussion on our economy in the near future?

A: I think the US submitted this resolution with the tacit approval of India. Otherwise, the US can't pass this resolution with a majority vote in the UNHRC. What they only need is to pass some resolution in the UNHRC. They all know that no executive arm there in the UNHRC to execute this resolution. What their plan is that take actions individually. EU and US are going to take actions based on this resolution. Some other countries may follow suit. Basically what they need is to move some resolution. The content and other things are not specifically important to them. As an example, they passed a resolution on Libya at the UN Security Council to support Libya in humanitarian issue. Later on they supplied arms to rebels there and they simply toppled down Gaddafi's Government. Therefore they also need some international recognition to justify their action. I think they may target us diplomatically. Basically they are targeting some groups which are very close to the Government. Sometimes they target the entire population. As an example, India is not reciprocating our Visa procedures. But we give India 'on arrival' Visa. Except Sri Lanka, Somalia and Sudan, India has given 'on arrival' visa status to all other countries.

The US and EU countries, specifically target MPs, politicians, some officials and military personnel by telling them that they are not going to issue visas to them. That kind of diplomatic offensive is there to freeze their asserts. They can simply use their investors varying our Stock Market. As an example, lot of US investors are in the Stock Market. Nearly 6 billion treasury bills are owned by the US investors. All these investors can be discouraged to invest somewhere else. They can also use the credit card facility because most of the credit card companies are based in US.

They can tight this need so that our elite people couldn't make transactions using credit card. They used this same tactic against Myanmar and Iran. Through this stock market issue, they simply unsettled and derailed the Indonesian economy in 1996.

They can use that kind of tactics to make a kind of uncertainty in our economy in the eyes of the external people. Now they are doing same thing against Russia to curtail the foreign tours of Russian MPs who voted with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure the Crimea. They are also trying to freeze Russian asserts. Sometimes they are targeting the elite and the general public so that the country is being derailed and finally make a anarchic situation that they can directly interfere.

Q: There are enough and more substantial evidence in other countries such as Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq to prove that human rights violations were committed by the US and EU Forces. Leaving out those, why are they only interested in calling for an international inquiry only against our country?

A: It is not only the human rights issue. They all know we won this war against terrorists in a very humanitarian way. Otherwise we would have simply killed 11,000 LTTE cadres who surrendered. All together in the Northern and Eastern provinces, 24,000 LTTE cadres surrendered to the Army. They know not a single person was killed in Sri Lanka after May 19, 2009. If the war prevailed they know that 4000 people may be killed per annum. That would be the human cost of this war. The human casualty figure is about 2000 to 3000. The UN report on the final days of the humanitarian operation has clearly stated that the human casualty figure is just 8000 including LTTE fighters. Their ulterior motive is the military and economic domination of the Indian ocean. In 1875, the US became world’s largest economy, military power, manufacturer and trader. But in 2010, China surpassed the US as the world’s largest manufacturer, investor and trader. The China would also become the world’s largest economy by 2020. Still the US dominate in the fields of military, space, Dollar trading and internet. These are the four pillars of the US strength now. They don’t have enough economic or financial strength to dominate the entire world. So what they want is to secure maritime dominance in Indian ocean. They know from North Africa, Iran to Indonesia , this region would be the most important region in the time to come. They simply want us to have their military footprint here.

But the Indian strategy is different. They think this part of the world belongs to them. This is their sphere of influence. No one should interfere with their own locality. Finally what they want is a kind of tributary state there in North and East and a vassal type of state in Colombo. They think like Bhutan, they can control our country as well. So they are using this so called human rights to achieve this goal. But Tamil Nadu is having their “Dravidastan” dream. India’s first secessionist movement in the modern time was Dravidayan movement. But Delhi rulers were able to crushed it militarily and politically. They are now badly want to research this goal. Militarily defeated neo-nazis Tamil separatists wanted this international interference to carve out this country using internationally accepted referendum. So these four groups, US and West, India , Tamil Nadu and neo-nazy Tamil separatist movement have their own agendas. There is some contradiction between their aims. But now they all are trying to turn this country into an unsettled state so that they can interfere and rule over this country. That is their real aim. Whether we devolve power to the North and East or not , they are now widening their charge sheet. Earlier it was only on the accountability issue. Now they are talking about devolution and religious disharmony. I think in time to come, they will talk about violence against women and homosexuals. When we solve one problem, they shift to another. We can’t satisfy these forces. What we should do is to have a concrete policy to fight this challenge.

Q: Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ravinatha Ariyasinghe said that the latest draft resolution on Sri Lanka at the UNHRC violates Sri Lanka’s Constitution, its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Is it possible for you to elaborate this statement?

A: They are asking us to give powers to the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Parliament is the supreme body where the people’s sovereignty is vested which can decide on these matters, not the UN. That way they infringe the UN Charter which has accepted the people's sovereignty and the autonomy of a country. They are now trying to change our constitution by force. They are attempting to impose their social values to us about women, homosexuality and religious harmony. This is a kind of social imperialism. As Ugandan President clearly stated when Uganda banned homosexuality, they imposed kind of sanctions to them. This is completely unacceptable.

Q: What have you got to say about the stand taken by the TNA welcoming the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka?

A: TNA is carrying out the LTTE ideology. They are not a democratic alternative. They are a neo-nazy movement now. They do not accept our constitution. They are inviting foreign forces to invade our country. They are openly supporting Tamil Nadu racists to intervene into our internal affairs. Bishop Rayappu Joseph and the TNA are thinking that they are above the Sri Lankan constitution. So we have to punish these people. This is a democratic country. But they should act as per the constitution. They can’t talk about things which are beyond the constitution. The so called legal pundits like Vigneswaran and all these neo-nazis should be punished. Otherwise others may also follow. The same thing happened in the 1970s and 1980s which was notnipped in the bud. Before this spreads like a cancer, we have to suppress and y impose laws against Rayappu Joseph, Vigneswaran and the TNA as a whole.

Q: The main Opposition UNP says that Geneva human rights issues is a smokescreen by the Government to dilute the burning issues in the country. Is there any truth in such allegations?

A: This is very unfortunate situation. When Kashmir issue was raised at the UN Human Rights Commission against India in 1991, then Indian Prime Minister was Narasimha Rao. He simply dispatched his political rival, then Opposition Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee to go to Geneva and submit the proposals on behalf of the whole India. It was the Opposition Leader who represented India. When anti-Sinhala riots were being carried out in India in 2013, India dispatched their Opposition Leader Sushma Suwaraj to Sri Lanka. Can our Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe be our leader there in Geneva on behalf of Sri Lanka? Can he deliver on behalf of our heroic soldiers and our country? Ranil Wickremesinghe and his cohorts betrayed this country in 2002. Fortunately our people simply dislodged that traitorous campaign. They are actually following Ahelepola Nilame. Ahelepola Nilame believed that he can dislodge king Rajasinghe and become a king with the help of the English people’s support. Finally what happened was he lost his life and family and we lost our country as well. The UNP and other parties are now dreaming when Western countries contain this country, this Government would be toppled down using external forces so that they can come to power. But the normal UNPers know that Ranil Wickremesinghe’s strategy is not acceptable. That is why the UNP has turned into a 20 percent small party now. Because all these people rejected this strategy. The UNP’s problem is not the leadership, but the policy they adopt. It is a complete anti-Sri Lankan policy which provokes and incite separatists and fundamentalists against this society. That is why they get defeated all the time. Their strategy should be defeated this time as well.

Q: Inter-religious or inter-racial conflicts and scuffles are a common place occurrence in most of the developing countries. How is it that a few incidents in Sri Lanka had been blown out of proportion to be internationalized by hostile elements?

A: They are acting with these international forces. The international forces wanted to implement the concept of responsibility to protect. To do that, they want to portray this country as a place where religious disharmony prevails. So they submitted pseudo reports to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. One of the charges against me in their report is to promote vegetarianism. Some kind of fundamental sector in the Muslim society attempt to promote religious disharmony. When the LTTE chased out Muslims from the North and massacred Muslims in Ampara, 26,000 Sinhala soldiers died to protect Muslims. But no gratitude of that sacrifice and no mention about the LTTE atrocities. They are now trying to implore religious disharmony and the radical elements within the Muslim society are trying to create a fear psychosis among the moderate Muslims there by they can carry out their radical and extremist movement. Because the society at large is in a kind of psychosis. We should be aware about their strategy. Moderate Muslims should know that. This kind of things should be rejected by the majority of this country. I accept the fact that some people think they are above the law. They are trying to destroy things and assault the people. These people should be brought to book and punish them. Otherwise we would not be able to prevail peace in our country. The Muslims should think that this internal threat is real, not the external one they are trying to implicate.

Q: The main Opposition UNP is trying to bring a no-confidence motion against the Government citing various irregularities. What is the reason for them to bring in such a motion at this crucial moment in the country?

A: The UNP is trying to engage in popular politics. They always talk about the cost of living. This cost of living issue is being exploited during our political history. Even former leaders who ruled the country also gave various popular promises to the people from time to tome. Every time the main opposition charge about these commissions, omissions and corruptions. What we actually need is a real program to improve the living standards and income level of the people. That is the only way to fight with this cost of living issue. We can talk about anti-corruption. But we don't practiceit. We proudly say from 2007 up to date, we manage our ministries in an exemplary way how to govern this country without any charges of corruptions, malpractices or inefficiency.

Q: The National Drug Policy is to be introduced shortly mainly based on Senaka Bibile's recommendations. Will there be impact on drug imports, manufacture and distribution which has direct bearing the health of the nation?

A: That is an important Bill that we should pass. Because it y stipulates our drug policy. Otherwise this drug mafia may dominate this country and the people's health. I think we have to salvage our people and their well-being from this drug castle and mafia. It is long-term. We can't have drastic or revolutionary measures. First we should have a policy. Then there should be a strategy based on the policy. Finally there should be an action plan based on strategy. I think this is a very important step in this country's history to implement Senaka Bibile's policy.

Q: Now that the JHU is an integral part of the UPFA Government, how do you explain the prospects for the Dharma Rajya in the country?

A: Its not our concept. When Ven. Arahath Mihinda thera came to this country, king Devanampiyatissa asked a question “where do you come from?” Then Ven. Arahath Mahinda thera replied that they were disciples of Dharma Rajya. From Arahath Mihinda thera, our Buddhist society is trying to achieve this Dharma Rajya. It is not the JHU's concept. It is actually underlined the goal of this nation throughout the history of this country. We proudly say without our interference, this country would have been dominated by LTTE terrorists and other extremist groups. We preserved and protected this country's unitary status. This country would have been a federal country without our interference. We set an example on how to govern this country in a transparent manner without corruption, malpractice and inefficiency. I think middle class people, the educated, academics and professionals admire our way of doing things.