CHANDRE DHARMAWARDANA Canada Courtesy The Island

According to an Island newspaper report, “responding to the Global Tamil Forum’s (GTF) plea, the South Asia Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on Feb. 22 assured Surendiran that the UK took the incident ‘very seriously’ and Minister for South Asia personally got in touch with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tilak Marapana”. This is in response to the indignant, but highly undiplomatic action, of a Military Attache of the Sri Lankan High Commission in London. He had made a threatening gesture against Tamil-Tiger groups who had demonstrated in front of the High Commission using banned banners and symbols; an act similar to the use of ISIS or Al Qaeda flags and pictures of Al-Sawahri or Bin Laden in a demonstration in front of the US embassy.

So, apparently the Sri Lankan Government buckled under pressure and recalled the young Military Attache. Clearly, President Sirisena’s Horatio-like stand just before the Local Government polls was simply an election tactic, to make the voters believe that he stands bravely against the onslaught of the Tiger-Terrorist fronts that are operating under British patronage. He had also promised that the Military commanders who are allegedly guilty of “war crimes” will be given a fair trial leading to punishment or acquittal. He has assured us that they will not be tried by judges (foreign or local) selected by the GTF or the anti-national International NGOs funded by interested foreign parties. However, such promises now ring completely hollow. May be the public has to wait for the up-coming provincial elections for further brave language, which will be immediately forgotten after the election?

A correct policy against extremist Tiger groups acting from outside is immensely important for the future of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, and for meaningful reconciliation between the two communities. While Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry should indeed hold dialogue, even with extremist groups, it should not kneel to them.

This is surely not the first time that LTTE groups harboured by Britain have demonstrated in public with the banned LTTE flag, and with pictures of the slain LTTE supremo. They do the same with complete impunity in Canada. The British and Canadian court records have a clear list of indictments of LTTE agents for all sorts of crimes, from extortion to raising funds for terrorism even after 2009. Right now the Swiss prosecutor is leading a case against a number of “Tamil refugees” resident in Switzerland who had allegedly committed grave acts of extortion and violence on Swiss soil, as agents of the LTTE. An even larger list of Britain’s convenient neglect of enforcement of its anti-terrorism laws can be drawn up by anyone with just the aid of the Internet. No knowledge of the history of British policy in regard to terrorist movements outside its shores is needed. It is easily confirmed that the main tactic of successive British regimes, have been to use such terrorist movements to UK’s own advantage, and to get the immigrant block votes commandeered by groups like the Tamil-Tigers.

The same hypocrisy has been practiced by successive Canadian Prime Minsters who have “got along and played footsie” with Sikh terrorists. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police knew about the Sikhs engaging in tests of explosives and much more, but took no action; the Sikh terrorists blew up an Air India plane and engaged in assassinations. Mr. Justin Trudeau ended up inviting a well-known Sikh terrorist to top-notch diplomatic events in visiting India. How did some of his MPs turn out to be good friends of the terrorists? The other political parties are no better. Mr. Harper, when he visited India made the same faux pas, in having individuals tainted with terrorism in his entourage, strongly upsetting the Indians.

The Canadian leaders have ignored the illegal activities of LTTE terrorists, to the extent of even participating in their fundraisers, and ignoring the legitimate rights of the majority of the people in Sri Lanka; in order to ensure that the marginal electorates controlled by the Tamil immigrants can be won. Mr. Trudeau should check how many of his MPs have friends who were connected with various banned Tamil-Tiger organizations. These are known to the RCMP, and indeed a Human-Rights organization reported that:

“Ninety percent of people (i.e., Tamil immigrants), even if they don’t support the LTTE, they are scared. The killing doesn’t just happen back home in Sri Lanka. It happens in Paris, in Canada. They burned the library, they broke the legs of DBS Jeyaraj (dissident Tamil journalist based in Toronto). They tried to stop the CTBC radio from organizing. A journalist was killed in Paris. The threat is not only in Sri Lanka. It’s everywhere, all over the world”.

In spite of this knowledge available to heads of governments through their intelligence services, we know that many VIPs have behaved in ways far more questionable than this young Military Attache recalled home. The last Commonwealth meeting hosted by Sri Lanka showed us David Cameron behaving like the village bully “ready to lynch”, even though he himself was hiding the Chilcott report in his own under belly. Harper was the Prime Minster most suspected of trying to side-step various democratic provisions in the Canadian constitution. Conservatives defeated the utterly naive (?) Paul Martin who dined in LTTE fund raisers. Harper absented himself from the Commonwealth meeting in Colombo trying to please Tamil voters. However, he sent his emissary to Alimankada (Elephant pass) in the North of Sri Lanka, and laid a wreath for only the “dead Tamils”, but pointedly ignored those who gave their lives to rid the country of terrorism!

The Canadian Government’s treatment of terrorism emanating from the “Middle-East” is equally appalling. It seems to be based on ignoring the well established liberal Muslim organizations in Canada, and instead cynically trying to appease the extreme groups who control the new votes!

The UK with its long history of oppression and exploitation of other nations, including its kinsmen in Ireland in the pursuit of its own enrichment, is known to be long on rhetoric and short on justice and fair play. The latter only applies within just the landowning British gentry and does not extend to the “lower classes” or to “Semites, Frogs, Wogs, China men” etc., unless they happen to be rich and powerful. So the actions of the British government should surprise no one.

Unfortunately, as far as we know, the Sri Lankan government does not seem to have asked for reciprocal action against the Tamil-Tiger proxies nurtured and protected by the GTF, in `exchange’ for the recall of the Military Attache. The present Sri Lankan leaders know only how to kneel. The government, if it has any dignity, should follow up by demanding the extradition of Adele Balasingham and other LTTE criminals living in the UK, to initiate the trials demanded by Geneva. It can also send home the current British High commissioner in Colombo, who seems to interfere in Sri Lanka’s politics. He of course downplayed Lord Naseby’s revelations exposing the hypocrisy of the British. The High Commissioner dismissed Lord Naseby’s data as “just a statistic”. The British High commissioner has not explained why the actions of his government turn out to be completely at variance with the facts possessed by Her Majesty’s own officials.

The British government has forced President Sirisena’s hand to give in to Mr. Suren Sudendiran’s will. This was the hand that the Queen shook even without a glove! So, the President can at least request that the hooligans who provoked the young Military Attache be taken to task. If nothing happens, the President should express his displeasure to the British government.

CHANDRE DHARMAWARDANA Canada