Bruce Haigh’s Opinion piece on Sri Lanka
Posted on December 29th, 2012
Asoka Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1 . Canada
28 December 2012
The Editor
The Canberra TimesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ , Canberra, Australia.
Dear Editor:
The Opinion piece by Bruce Haigh, the 1994 Deputy High Commissioner for Australia in Colombo, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Diplomats paint one-sided picture of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ was disingenuous and strange, and I couldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t let it pass by me without a comment.
He says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Bandula Jayasekara, gives a very-one side defence of the Sri Lankan persecution of dissenters.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ His opinion piece which is the flip side of whatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Consul-General for Sri Lanka in Sydney, Bandula Jayasekara had to say as a Sri Lankan diplomat, seems to surreptitiously support the separatist Tamil Tiger terrorists and their Australian rump.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Who on earth would expect a Sri Lankan government official to write a two-sided defence, defending the dissenters who happened to be the Tamil Tiger terrorists, the suicide body-pack inventors, and serial killers who perfected the art of suicide bombing.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I almost wonder whether Bruce Haigh thought that he was posted as a diplomat to a masochist-la la land, where there wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamil terrorist killings almost on a daily basis and he did not find it repulsive and unacceptable.
He says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦and it is only a matter of time before the truth will be out on the treatment of Tamils and the political enemies of the corrupt Rajapaksa regime.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It does seem that Haigh is 43 months behind time, as the truth was out on the treatment of the Tamils on 19 May 2009, as the Tamil Tiger terrorists were militarily wiped out giving back the right-to-life to 21 million people which included all the Tamils, that was hijacked by the Tamil Tigers for 27 years. The truth is out about the Tamils that they are moving around in the North and East freely.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The truth is out that the Tamil mothers are not stand any more at their front doorsteps around 3 oƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢clock each weekday afternoon hoping of all hopes to see their sons and daughters return home after school and not having been kidnapped by the Tamil Tigers for their Baby Brigade.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The truth about the Tamils was out 43 months ago that 295,873 Tamils were given their freedom from the clutches of the Tamil Tiger terrorists when they were liberated by the Sri Lankan Government forces from being used as a human shield for 30 months.
It was a few months before Haigh arrived in Colombo , on 1 May 1993 that the President of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber at the May Day rally, killing 15 and injuring 33 others.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ DidnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t Haigh know that Presidential candidate and Opposition Leader Gamini Dissanayake too was assassinated by a female Tamil Tiger suicide bomber on 24 October 1994.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And with that assassination 56 others got killed including prominent politicians and injuring 70 others.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Was Haigh not aware that on 19 January 1994, a bomb planted by the Tamil Tigers in a bus exploded at Rambewa, Anuradhapura, killing 10 and injuring 51 others?
Haigh says, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Sri Lankan flag has a sword-bearing Sinhalese lion.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Attempts after independence, to adopt a flag with the neutral symbols were rejected by the Sinhalese majority.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Instead two ribbons were added to represent the minority Tamils and Muslims.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ With the advent of the civil war the Tamils adopted a Tiger as their symbol and the Sinhalese army, the lion.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
I am surprised that Haigh has difficulty to recognizeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that these Tamils and Muslims were lucky and blessed compared to many minorities around the world,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ having had a symbolic representation in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national flag when his Australian flag has no representation of a symbol of the Australian aboriginal people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To be fair on the Australian Aboriginal people I hope Haigh will make every attempt to get an Aboriginal symbol of a kangaroo, or a Dingo or a turtle, perhaps as depicted at theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Namadgi National Park incorporated in to AustraliaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national flag.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is too easy for Haigh to be critical of others when he doesnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t see the mote in his own eye.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ For HaighƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s information there is no representation of the First Nation Peoples in CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s national flag either.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The maple leaf on it is no neutral symbol, as beyond the Northern tree-line where the majority of the First Nation peoples live there are no large trees let alone a maple tree.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ArenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t the Tamil and Muslim minorities extremely lucky and honoured to have them represented with orange and green stripes and not being blankedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ out as other minorities in Australia and Canada?
Haigh is being mischievous when he charges Sri Lanka of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”genocideƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perhaps Haigh would like to explain to your readers, why on earth did the Sri Lanka government who has been accused of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-genocideƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, liberate 295,873 Tamils on 19 May 2009, from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers who were using them as a human shield and shooting at them when they tried to escape.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Perhaps Haigh should explain to your readers why on earth did the Sri Lanka government prepare one million meals a day to feed these liberated Tamils a hearty breakfast, lunch and a dinner, to keep them alive, contrary to HaighƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s charge of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”genocideƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, and not kill them of starvation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This Bruce Haigh , the ex-diplomat with his mischievous fairy tales certainly colours himself as a self-rightousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ humbug.
Haigh goes on to say, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦in September 2012, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, warned that he may refuse to attend the November 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Colombo, unless the Rajapaksa government addresses the allegations of Sinhalese atrocities during the closing stages of the civil war.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
What Haigh has omitted in his Opinion piece is to tell your readers that Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada was disingenuous when he made that statement, because Canada has no moral right to point its finger at Sri Lanka when the Human Rights Report by Amnesty International about Canada tells the world that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Globally, CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reputation as a reliable human-rights champion has dropped precipitously.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ AndƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that he has no moral right to point his finger at Sri Lanka when he ought to be concerned about human rights of the Attawapkisat First Nation Peoples when their Chief Theresa Spence is on a hunger strike since December 11 wanting to speak with him to clearƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Treaty relationships with the First Nations.
Haigh has very little understanding to point out the real reason why Prime Minister Stephen HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s refusal to attendƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Commonwealth Heads Meeting in Colombo in 2013.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This is all tied up with domestic politics wanting to hang on to the nine critical ridings the Conservatives took away from the Liberals at the last federal election in the Greater Toronto Area.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ By winning those ridings his Conservatives formed a majority government.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Those ridings are peopled by immigrant and refugee Tamils.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Of the 300,000 Tamils there must be at least 150,000 votes going begging, and the majority of them still dream of their mythical separatist state, Eelam.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prime Minister Harper is playing to the Tamil gallery, and if he goes to the summit in Colombo, he knows that there will be 30,000 Tamils protesting, invading the streets of Ottawa inconveniencing the Ottawans for days and weeks as they did in early 2009, when they wanted the Canadian government to intervene and stop the decimation of their Tamil Tiger leaders.
There was obviously a good reason why Bandula Jayasekara was appointed as the Consul-General in Sydney.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This diplomat is forthright with the truth of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ground reality as he has always been for his government and his people. By and by, this Consul-General will make a few members of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Australian Tamil Tiger rump unhappy and their fellow supporters like Bruce Haigh and his friends at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies who have already spoken ill of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s success story of getting rid of the Tamil Tiger terrorists and marching forward with their commitment for reconciliation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But, unfortunately for people like Bruce Haigh, they just have to accept this change in Sri Lanka as that is how the cookie crumbles after winning a 27 year Tamil Tiger terrorist war.
Asoka Weerasinghe (Mr.)
December 29th, 2012 at 7:52 pm
Recently I was reading article how Australia trying to change its discrimination against minorities. According to that article Australian Government never given Minorities to higher positions. It was quiet strange for me. Because Australia is part Asian continent benefiting from Asia. According to that report Australian government fighting how to keep there tradition.
December 30th, 2012 at 1:13 pm
We should not take Bruce Haigh so seriously. Here is a passage from Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens that shows his ancestry on their way to Australia.
……..”Hold your noise!” cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch. “Keep still, you little devil, or I’ll cut your throat!”
A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head. A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.
“O! Don’t cut my throat, sir,” I pleaded in terror. “Pray don’t do it, sir.”
“Tell us your name!” said the man. “Quick!”
“Pip, sir.”
“Once more,” said the man, staring at me. “Give it mouth!”
“Pip. Pip, sir.”
“Show us where you live,” said the man. “Pint out the place!”
I pointed to where our village lay, on the flat in-shore among the alder-trees and pollards, a mile or more from the church.
The man, after looking at me for a moment, turned me upside down, and emptied my pockets. There was nothing in them but a piece of bread. When the church came to itself – for he was so sudden and strong that he made it go head over heels before me, and I saw the steeple under my feet – when the church came to itself, I say, I was seated on a high tombstone, trembling, while he ate the bread ravenously.
“You young dog,” said the man, licking his lips, “what fat cheeks you ha’ got.”
I believe they were fat, though I was at that time undersized for my years, and not strong.
“Darn me if I couldn’t eat em,” said the man, with a threatening shake of his head, “and if I han’t half a mind to’t!”
I earnestly expressed my hope that he wouldn’t, and held tighter to the tombstone on which he had put me; partly, to keep myself upon it; partly, to keep myself from crying.
“Now lookee here!” said the man. “Where’s your mother?”
“There, sir!” said I.
He started, made a short run, and stopped and looked over his shoulder. “There, Sir!” I timidly explained. “Also Georgiana “There, sir!” I timidly explained. “Also Georgiana. That’s my mother.”
“Oh!” said he, coming back. “And is that your father alonger your mother?”
“Yes, sir,” said I; “him too; late of this parish.”
“Ha!” he muttered then, considering. “Who d’ye live with – supposin’ you’re kindly let to live, which I han’t made up my mind about?”
“My sister, sir – Mrs. Joe Gargery – wife of Joe Gargery, the blacksmith, sir.”
“Blacksmith, eh?” said he. And looked down at his leg.
After darkly looking at his leg and me several times, he came closer to my tombstone, took me by both arms, and tilted me back as far as he could hold me; so that his eyes looked most powerfully down into mine, and mine looked most helplessly up into his.
“Now lookee here,” he said, “the question being whether you’re to be let to live. You know what a file is?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you know what wittles is?”
“Yes, sir.”
After each question he tilted me over a little more, so as to give me a greater sense of helplessness and danger.
“You get me a file.” He tilted me again. “And you get me wittles.” He tilted me again. “You bring ’em both to me.” He tilted me again. “Or I’ll have your heart and liver out.” He tilted me again.
I was dreadfully frightened, and so giddy that I clung to him with both hands, and said, “If you would kindly please to let me keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn’t be sick, and perhaps I could attend more.”
He gave me a most tremendous dip and roll, so that the church jumped over its own weather-cock. Then, he held me by the arms, in an upright position on the top of the stone, and went on in these fearful terms:
“You bring me, to-morrow morning early, that file and them wittles. You bring the lot to me, at that old Battery over yonder. You do it, and you never dare to say a word or dare to make a sign concerning your having seen such a person as me, or any person sumever, and you shall be let to live. You fail, or you go from my words in any partickler, no matter how small it is, and your heart and your liver shall be tore out, roasted and ate……..
http://www.literatureproject.com/great-expectations/index.htm
December 31st, 2012 at 2:24 am
“Hillary Clinton in hospital with blood clot in head.”
LOL!! GOOD ON YOU B*.
This is what happens to LIARS.
She had this blood clot in her head for years. They discovered it only now.
December 31st, 2012 at 7:58 am
I wonder wether LTTE will demand a refund of all the donations for they made to her if Hilary is unable to continue her SriLanka Bashing crusade after she steps down from her job a Secretary General at end on 2102.
December 31st, 2012 at 3:31 pm
Bruce Haigh is VICIOUSLY anti-SL. I wish something bad happens to him too.
It is only a few like these in LTTE payroll. They fall ONE BY ONE!
December 31st, 2012 at 5:17 pm
We want “peace in Sri Lanka” not “a piece of Sri Lanka”. Thanks to MR, it is a free, peaceful nation today. The terror network remnants, leftovers and hangers-on still dream of days when $300 million per year was collected as Kappan. Well, that will never dawn again….not in thousand years.