Commonwealth and Canada – Why are they barking at Sri Lanka?
Posted on January 14th, 2013
Asada M Erpini
The Commonwealth is a group of 54 nations that were under British rule when Britain held sway over the waters of the open seas and vast swathes of land in Asia and Africa. The current Secretary General of the Commonwealth continues to issue statements against the sovereign independent nation of Sri Lanka: he reportedly is disappointed about the goings on in the island nation with respect to the judiciary.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Then there is Canada, the newly emerged crusader of human rights. There are many in CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s political hierarchy that demand that Sri Lanka puts its house in order vis a vis human rights lest the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”mightyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Canada will stay away from attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting due to be held in Sri Lanka in 2013.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ All that the peace-loving Sri Lankans could tell the individuals representing these institutions or countries is to leave Sri Lanka alone. During the three decade period of violence and human rights violations by the LTTE, the Commonwealth was not known to have been vociferous in demanding the restoration of human rights or carrying out procedures according to the laws of the land, in spite of many governments in the West giving the same recognition to the LTTE as was accorded to the legally constituted Government of Sri Lanka. Going by the statements made by His Excellency the President of Sri Lanka, the impeachment of the Chief Justice was carried out according to the due legal stipulations and in a manner that is in compliance with the constitution of the sovereign nation of Sri Lanka, although the Commonwealth is crying over the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”injusticeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ One can only feel sorry for Canada. From nowhere Canada has burst into the world arena carrying a Human Rights banner demanding that Sri Lanka behaves! ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ This sudden awakening appears to have happened during the period of the past decade or two: a cynic may query whether it has anything to do with the near 300,000 Tamils from Sri Lanka who descended on its shores claiming refugee status and now constitute a dependable block vote for the unscrupulous politicians.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The bogus refuges and their ilk had been sending massive amounts of money to destabilise Sri Lanka and to kill innocents of all ethnicities and religions over the past two to three decades. According to JaneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Defense Weekly, the collection amounted to nearly $ 300 million annually. When tens of thousands of innocent civilians were getting killed, Canada was not concerned at all about accountability issues, and took no steps to stem the flow of funds from Canada to illegal arms suppliers, which ultimately resulted in mayhem and destruction within a powerless small island that was not a threat to any outsider.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Canada, go ahead with your threat and stay away from CHOGM 2013.Take your rich pals from the West with you and leave Sri Lanka alone! You and your friends have plundered the riches of countries in Africa, Asia and Americas for half a millennium. At least now give these countries that had been made poor a chance to recover and rebuild.
January 14th, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Most Canadians/British/Australians etc dont think about Sri Lanka that much. They dont harbour particular ill-will for us. The Commonwealth is not anti-Sri Lanka, however it is dominated by India and the Indian diaspora throughout the Commowealth behind the scenes, especially so far as their policies toward developing countries are concerned. The Ceylon Tamils form part and parcel of the Indian diaspora, linguistically, culturally and religious wise. They mix widely and intermesh mostly with the Indian diaspora. The Sinhalese and other Sri Lankans do not for obvious reasons – the cultural similarities are far less. The paradox for Sri Lanka is that the Sinhalese identify as originating in India (which I believe is not entirely true but they have been brainwashed over the centuries to think this way and we cant change that overnight) yet the Indian/Westtern brand or recipe of unity through diversity or overt plurality based on geolinguistic regions or even equal recognition of non-Sinhalese cultures on the island – appears to be unacceptable to the majority of the Sinhalese (maybe except for a handful of bilingual or trilingual Sinhalese who have moved around widely with those of other nationalities perhaps). This thinking is not present in any other of the developing Commonwealth countries with diverse populations. They have all adopted the plural model – even Malaysia. The more the Sinhalese claim links to any region of India, the more the Indians and the Indian diaspora want to intervene to impose their will on the Sinhalese. The more the Sinhalese are pressured by the Commonwealth or the international community the more they seem to want to establish some remote link with regional India and the more India (and its tools such as the Commonwealth) think they have a right to dictate terms to Sri Lanka. Catch 22 situation.This is dangerous thinking and only we can stop this.
Krishtee ji (“Christie) I look forward to your comment on this one.
January 15th, 2013 at 7:06 am
BECAUSE THEY ARE DOGS!!!