N.A.de S. Amaratunga Courtesy The Island

July 24, 2017, 8:29 pm

There are three factors, the management of which at this crucial moment, would decide the future of our country; Western imperialism, regional hegemony, and Tamil separatism. Their inter-relationships and interactions are crucial to our very existence at this juncture, when the government is weakened due to inherent internal strife, general bungling and chronic inaction. For instance, the fact that both Western imperialism and regional hegemony support Tamil separatism, is of existential importance to the country and its people. The government in desperation assumes many postures depending on the situation and the audience. It will tell one thing to the people in the South, another to the North, yet another to the Sangha, an entirely different thing at Geneva, and then go down on its knees before the visiting UN racketeers who come in the guise of rapporteurs.There seems to be no shortage of such visitations, and the government says they have been invited. If Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was alive today, this government would invite him to come and do the honours.

We are in a pathetic state. The president has to please one set of local and foreign players, the prime minister has to please another set of local and foreign players, and they also have to please each other and also their entourages separately, while keeping them out of reach of each other’s throats. All this they have to do while making an appearance that everything is hunky-dory though they and we all live on top of a collapsing garbage heap, so to speak. The US/UN duplicity is aided and abetted by the government, which cannot but obey orders due to its inherent weaknesses. It cannot but genuflect before the US/UN imperial presence. Both the president and the prime minister are obliged to the US/European powers, for they helped them to come to power, and to the UN, their vassal. The UN officials who visit this country and lord over us are not distinguished by their honesty, impartiality, sense of justice or any such good human qualities that make them suitable to hold such posts, which sit on judgement and decide the future of people. They have been given these jobs for they have proven their ability to destabilize and dismember countries. They are experts in stoking the fires of separatism on the pretext of reconciliation.

Take for example the UN Special Rapporteur, Ben Emmerson QC, who visited Sri Lanka recently and told us to fall in line – or else. He had been accused of sexual abuse in an elevator and had to resign from a panel that was inquiring into child abuse in the UK. He was acquitted of the charges but they say Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion. Let us leave this personal matter aside and look at his track record in areas relevant to us. His mandate here was to see whether the implementation of the UNHRC Resolution on Sri Lanka is on track and progressing satisfactorily. This Resolution calls for an independent enquiry into the alleged killing of civilians by our armed forces. What is the past experience of Emmerson in this area? He had used his legal acumen to obtain the acquittal of Raush Hardinaj or “Rambo” the terrorist leader of the Kosovo Liberation Front and two others, who were accused of genocide of Serbian civilians. What was his argument? He asked the pertinent question; if genocide has been committed where are the bodies? In Sri Lanka did he ask this question? If 40000 civilians have been killed during the final stages of the war in the North, where are the bodies? He had spoken to LTTE terrorists held in custody, NGOs, Tamil politicians and government ministers. Did he raise this question with any of them? More importantly did our government raise this question with him? The government had an excellent opportunity to shoot him with his own ammunition, but our disabled government, excepting Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, preferred to capitulate. Our prime minister agreed to set up an Office of the Special Prosecutor, probably to prosecute the cases against the armed forces, what else could it be? He should have asked for the credentials of Emmerson before inviting him, which is if he did invite him. But our prime minister may not have that freedom. He is probably ordered to invite these racketeers who come in the guise of rapporteurs.

Would this Office of the Special Prosecutor come under the Ministry of Justice or any other institution of the government? Obviously not. It would probably come under the Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. Our independence is further eroded by this means. The US, through its agent the UN, is tightening the noose around our neck, again of course their effort is co-sponsored by our own government, like it did with the UNHRC Resolution. This is yet another knot in that noose which the government put round its own neck, which we don’t mind if it was just the neck of the government, but it’s the neck of the country going round from Mannar to Batticaloa. Further, the government had unashamedly allowed Emmerson to visit the prisons and talk to the terrorists who are accused of heinous crimes and mass murder. No self-respecting government would do this kind of treacherous act. The US has not allowed UN officials to visit Guantanamo Bay prison. India too has not allowed UN officials to visit her prisons where hardcore terrorists are held.

The government’s much hyped foreign policy, which they claim has ushered a new era of good international relations, doesn’t seem to be working in favour of the government or Sri Lanka. The government went out of its way to please the western powers who had helped them to come to power by co-sponsoring a UNHRC Resolution against their own country and betraying the people, and also friends of Sri Lanka like China, Russia who had stood by it through thick and thin. Yet, the western powers had not slackened the noose round our neck, but instead keep on tightening it. It is likely that Emmerson would submit another biased adverse report on Sri Lanka to be presented at the next Geneva meeting. And the government obediently would accept it as factually correct and promise to follow its dictate, as it did in March this year. It is clear that the present foreign policy of the government has not been successful in safeguarding our interests, independence, sovereignty and also our armed forces who saved the country from terrorists paying the supreme price in the process. The government doesn’t seem to have a clear policy on the UNHRC Resolution, shown by its haphazard, incoherent, inconsistent response. To please the West it resorts to what it can easily do and take the path of least resistance, the latest such act being the arrest of a Navy Commodore on baseless charges, apparently to impress Emmerson.

It is obvious that Western imperialism, regional hegemony, and Tamil separatism are at the moment working together to subvert Sri Lanka. The government is helpless and usually capitulates to the dictates of these forces. One would have thought the Western countries, which assisted this government to come to power, would not use the UN to harass it in this relentless manner.What is the reason? Is it because the government has not fully aligned with those powers? Do they suspect the government is two timing and is unfaithful? Our prime minister rushed to China, leaving behind the visiting Indian PM, to show his support for China’s One Road One Path project, which does not receive the full backing of the US nor India. Similarly, the regional power, India, would want Sri Lanka to fall in line and not tilt towards China. But neither of those powers, West and India, have the capacity to assist Sri Lanka come out of its massive economic woes. Hence, the prime minister is forced to eat humble pie and go begging to China. The US does not care about our economic development and neither does it want China to help us. Thus the government is in a quandary and does not seem to know how to manage the situation. Further, its internal contradictions do not permit it to take any firm decisions on issues important to India and Western countries, such as Hambantota harbour, Trincomalee oil farm, federal constitution. It can only scrape superficially like taking war heroes into custody, enact Missing Persons Office Bill and promise to set up an Office of the Special Prosecutor. The government must also be hoping against hope that with time its problems would blow away. But the imperialists would want their pound of flesh. Thus, there is trouble ahead for Sri Lanka.

N.A.de S. Amaratunga