The Editorial The Daily News

Pillay is not coming because Pillai is cunning. Sajin Vaas Gunawardene, Member of Parliament, has, though in understated fashion, stated one of the most devastating truths about the UN establishment, when he laconically observed that UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay should have come to Sri Lanka, the way she was supposed to, as per mandate.

Who or what stood in the way of that visit? Here we have people stating that the Sri Lankan government is less than welcoming to pesky and opinionated people, but when the UN Human Rights Commissioner faces no barriers at all and could have dropped in on Killinochchi via Colombo any time she wanted to, she chooses not to do so.

Navi Pillay has been accused of a lot of things, but certainly she cannot be naive. She would have heard the truth about visits to Sri Lanka by foreign delegations, foreign civil servants and foreign observer missions.

From Julie Bishop to the recent US member of the House of Representatives, and the Indian parliamentary delegation, nobody that had seen the situation on the ground has failed to be impressed.

Navi Pillay knows this. But, she has a certain narrative presented to her, by non-governmental organizations that are now mandated to be resource persons for the UN Human Rights Commission. That narrative comes with spooky horror movie sound effects.

It has visuals that would make Stephen King stiffen. Of course these special effects may be presented Oscar aspirant style, without any kind of effort at authentication.

So it could be said that Pillay has been exposed to UN Hollywood. That has a numbing effect, the kind of lightheadedness that people feel when they come out of a Kung-fu movie, as if they are chopping them up and chopping them down, practicing that handy ancient Chinese art …

It seems very difficult therefore for persons who are dazzled by a celluloid narrative to adjust their eyes to the bright sunlight. If Ms. Navi Pillay came here, from the time she sets foot at the Bandaranaike airport she would be forced to take those blinkers off, even if she chooses to keep her Ray-Bans on, that is.

This seems to be the problem. This sounds ridiculous too. Part of the new UN sponsored resolution on Sri Lanka takes out reams of paragraphs apparently to speak of allowing ‘unfettered access’ to UN civil servant types. But when one of the persons at the top of the ladder is free to come and see for herself, she desists but prefers to take-in the movie version and write rave reviews on it!

This is why there should be a serious move to rotate the venue of the UN Human Rights Council sessions among member nations. That will give a chance while sessions are ongoing, for delegations to get a first hand view of what exactly they are talking about.

Sri Lanka could bid for hosting the sessions and then of course Ms. Navi Pillay has to be here. It is a good bet that all of the heads of states and the delegations that are to be here at the Commonwealth sessions later this year would get the kind of first hand experience that Navi Pillay has not availed herself of.

Full transparency has been the policy of the Sri Lankan establishment, and this was articulated by the President in his Independence Day speech when he said Eva Balawa quoting the ancient texts. Those who have not availed themselves of this opportunity certainly seem to be having some sort of an inability to confront the truth, and under the circumstances it must be mandated that top UN civil servants visit the countries in question before they make pronouncements related to them.

But we have come to this. Here is a country being accused of a lack of reconciliation, lack of this, that and the other regarding post war governance pursuits, that has to implore people to come. Can they expect that from a government that has things to hide, or has not done the job?

Its why, as they say, Pillay has to come and see, and then say her piece — or else hold her peace forever.