Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington doesn’t seem to have done much research before attending the session at the June 14 ‘briefing’ organized by the Congressional Caucus for Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka”. If the Sri Lanka diplomatic mission knew what transpired at the inaugural session of the’Caucus’ on 13 November 2013 at Capitol Hill, and the credentials of those who initiated the Caucus, Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam would have given Sri Lanka’s interpretations – not Rajapaksa’s or Sirisena’s – but Sri Lanka’s stand and position on national issues to negate the machination of eelamists within the US Tamil Diaspora who have roped willing US Congressmen.US Congressman Bill Johnson addressing Congressional Caucus for Ethnic & Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka session June 14. Attendees TNA parliamentarian M.A. Sumanthiran and Ambassador Kariyawasam

Very seldom Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry gets the opportunity to present ‘Sri Lanka’s position’ in contrast to what the ‘eelam propagandists’ and onetime acolytes of LTTE leader Prabhakaran dispense to foreign policy officials of the West.
Quoting the Sri Lanka Mission media release “Along with Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament M.A. Sumanthiran, Ambassador Kariyawasam was a guest panelist at the June 14 briefing organized by the Congressional Caucus for Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka”. The event was moderated by Sadhanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank”.

Mr. Dhume was a co-sponsor of the inaugural session of the Caucus in November 2013.

The media note further said “Delivering remarks at a panel discussion on ongoing constitutional reforms in Sri Lanka at the United States Capitol Hill Congress building, Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam said the task at hand is to agree on a constitution that is acceptable to the majority of every community in Sri Lanka, and this requires great compromises. Observing that thirty years of suffering due to the conflict cannot be undone in one year, he appealed for patience and tenacity of all well-wishers of Sri Lanka, and calling to support the expansion of the leverage of moderates to take forward the reconciliation process, which now includes a constitutional reforms process”.

Inauguration of the Congressional Caucus on 13 November 2013 (L to R) Dr.Nimmi Gowrinathan, Lisa Curtis, Ambassador Ashley Wills, Sadanan Dhume and Congressman Danny Davis (at lectern)The formation of the Congressional Caucus for Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka was one of the maneuvers of pro-eelam activists in the United States to strengthen the global diplomatic movement to achieve self-rule or self determination in the north-east region of Sri Lanka since the military defeat of the Tamil Tigers whose agenda was identically the same.

Had the Sri Lanka Mission in Washington been vigilant of eelam activities in the United States, in the past and at present, Sri Lanka’s diplomatic representatives who attended the ‘briefing’ organized by the Caucus would have given their own ‘briefing’ to the US Congressmen who were present to erase the misconceptions the eelam lobby has been engaged with before and since the defeat of the LTTE.
This is about Sri Lanka’s image – not Rajapaksas’ or Sirisena’s.

Congressional Caucus was created in November 2013 to address Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka, and objective of the Caucus was to bring the attention of the American public, lawmakers and interest groups to the Tamils in Sri Lanka and their plight. The Caucus was initiated by Republican Congressmen Bill Johnson and Democratic Congressman Danny Davis. Congressmen Johnson and Davis in a 13 November 2013 media note said, Given the magnitude of horrors Sri Lankans bore witness to, and how the most egregious alleged violators of international law remain unpunished, accountability for the guilty is essential for helping those who have suffered to heal, and the country’s diverse population reconcile.”

Another participant at the inaugural session was, possibly not very well known to the authorities in Sri Lanka at that time, was Nimmi Gowrinathan, an activist of Tamil issues from the time the Tamil Tigers were running ‘affairs’ in the North and East of Sri Lanka. In fact, she was the ‘brain’ behind this Caucus and the supplier of documents and data about the situation in Sri Lanka and the ‘plight of the Tamils’ in the north-east of this South Asian nation.

Democratic Congressman Danny Davis who toured the Tiger-held Vanni region in 2005, discovered later with hard evidence – which he did not deny- that he was totally funded for his tour by a front organization of the Tamil Tigers in the United States, was of course the one who gave the Congressional stamp to the Caucus.

With these and other data retrieved by the Asian Tribune during the time the Caucus was inaugurated, it was not impossible to declare that behind this Congressional Caucus was the ‘specter of Tamil Eelam’.

Before delving on the profiles of the individuals who were associated in this ‘Eelam Project’, the project the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhaharan could not achieve through his armed struggle, there were number of issues brought up by the participants at the November 2013 inaugural session which will interest the Sri Lanka Mission in Washington. These are the very issues that are being circulated in the portals of the US Congress, the State Department and the UN offices in New York and Geneva.

Sri Lanka diplomatic mission in Washington should have known for what purpose the ‘Caucus’ was inaugurated in 2013, what was its message, who were associated with this eelam project in the name of finding redress to the Tamil people in Sri Lanka and the credentials of these individuals before attending the just concluded ‘briefing session’ to present Sri Lanka in a cogent manner before touching on ‘constitutional matters’.

US Congressman Johnson, who attended the June 14 ‘briefing’ session said at the inaugural session in 2013 that he had seen shocking” videos from the final stages of war, and it was important to ensure that all those responsible for war crimes and human rights violations are held accountable. He was referring to the British Channel Four ‘No Fire Zone’ documentary which the then Sri Lanka government of Rajapaksa dismissed. Had the representatives of the Sri Lanka diplomatic mission in Washington were aware of what Johnson said in 2013 Sri Lanka’s position could have been presented during the ‘briefing’ before coming to constitutional affairs.

Congressman Davis said in the November 2013 inaugural session of the Caucus that when he visited Sri Lanka, there were essentially two governments side-by-side, with two Supreme Courts and two separate justice systems. He further said that he now has a better understanding of the struggle, and believes the Caucus will provide an opportunity for more Members of Congress to be engaged in promoting justice and peace in Sri Lanka.

Was Ambassador Kariyawasam who attended the ‘briefing’ of the Caucus on June 14 aware how Dr. Gowrinathan – in November 2013 – focused on the alarming level of militarization in the North-East, in particular the impact it has on Tamil women. She said that the militarization is a calculated institutionalized practice and pervasive ideology which has the ability to deepen the impact of repressive policies”, and that militarization in the North-East has an active impact on politics and social interactions as a form of state repression.”

Was this issue addressed by the Sri Lanka Mission?

Danny Davis

United States Congressman Danny Davis’ trip to Sri Lanka from March 30 to April 5, 2005, spending most of his time in the regions of the Vanni and Kilinochchi Districts, controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was in fact funded by the Liberation Tigers, it was revealed by federal authorities, according toChicago Tribune.

According to the Chicago Tribune report Davis had believed that the trip was paid for by the Tamil federation, which in accordance with congressional ethics rules sent to him a written statement of travel expenses, more than US $7,000 each for Davis and his aide, Daniel Cantrell. Congressman Danny Davis said he knew that the group was “associated” with the Tamil Tigers but did not realize that the trip’s costs were covered with the funds controlled by the (Sri Lanka) rebel group.

Davis’ seven day trip to Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger territory came under scrutiny following the arrests of 11 supporters of the Tamil Tigers in New York on charges of participating in a broad conspiracy to support the terrorist group through money laundering, arms procurement and bribery of U.S. officials, the Chicago Tribune reports.

When former LTTE operatives headed by Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran held a conference in the US on behalf of the self-proclaimed Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) where Rudrakumaran announced the declaration of the ‘Tamil Eelam Freedom Charter, Nimmi Gowrinathan was one of the prominent participants.

The Sri Lanka Embassy, Washington media note on the ‘briefing’ of the Congressional Caucus for Ethnic and Religious Freedom in Sri Lanka in which Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam participated as a panelist said:

“The Ambassador provided an overview of the measures taken by Sri Lanka to promote its two-pronged policy of reconciliation and development since the January 2015 election of the current government and reiterated in detail, measures taken by the government to vindicate its commitment to these processes and explained the several challenges that militate against government efforts.

“MP Sumanthiran in his remarks, among other matters, acknowledged that people [in the North and East] can genuinely feel the change” in terms of greater freedom of movement, though more remained to be done to bring back normalcy to their lives. He expressed optimism about the constitution drafting process, which has the potential to bring an end to discord among communities.

“Representative Bill Johnson said that the election of the current government had offered a lot of hope and provided a significant opportunity for Sri Lanka. He observed that the most significant way the government could fulfill its promises was perhaps a new constitution, which recognizes the country’s diverse populations and ensures greater civil and political equality for all. He echoed the Ambassador’s sentiments that cooperation and compromise on all sides were required for success. Representative Danny Davis welcomed the ongoing dialogue in Sri Lanka and emphasized the importance of looking forward to tomorrow rather than looking back at yesterday”.

These are golden opportunities to combat ‘Tiger propaganda’: Presenting to Washington forums the disparities between the (72%) rural and (18%) urban Sri Lanka, and how all ethnic communities in rural have less or no upward social mobility and how privileged the three ethnic communities concentrated in urban sector.

The 70-page September 2015 World Bank Report would have been a handy document at Washington forums of this nature.

– Asian Tribune –