CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Caritas International "Peace Makers" Meet In Sri Lanka for What?

By Darmitha-Kotte

Timing of the Caritas International Peace Forum in Sri Lanka from 26th - 28th June 2006 could not have been better timed- instigate the LTTE terrorists to attack government personnel on one side and on the other side, cry out for "peace" and also international mediation!

Caritas International have been calling out vehemently for the international community to mediate in the Sri Lanka terrorist scenario! On the other side we have people like Jehan Perera of the Christian NGO called National Peace Council which has continuously done pro-LTTE peace propaganda and made every effort possible, to stand in the way of government initiatives. On 26th June, the LTTE murdered through a suicide bomber Maj. Gen. Parami Kulatunga but Jehan Perera says in a report to Reuters, that the government should not retaliate! Do we see the logic behind this suggestion at all? LTTE terrorists can shoot, murder, blast, abduct innocent civilians at their free will- BUT the likes of the National Peace Council & Caritas which is a "social arm of the Catholic Church" hand banners along the road " Say "No" to War"! Why don't all these pro-Christian organizations all go to Wanni and call out the terrorists and demand that they stop their brutalities forthwith?

Other than for the express logic of destabilizing Sri Lanka , the Catholic Church & Caritas, the Christian backed western humanitarian organizations, Norway and SLMM would not all stand on one side while the GOSL is on the other side being told " No to War!" at every turn. For what may we ask other than to help a minority group of Tamil terrorists achieve their mythical " Traditional Homeland". When the SL Armed Forces do search operations to weed out terrorists- Catholic Clergy of the likes of Rt.Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph stand on the side of the LTTE terrorists and give full sympathy to terrorist orchestrated atrocities while pointing a finger at the armed forces! Recently we all know what happened at Pesalai St. Mary's Church but only Rt.Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph & the Catholic Church opted not to know that terrorists were behind the well-orchestrated operations in the Church to bring discredit to the Sri Lanka Navy. He opted to internationalize this issue by writing to the Apostolic Nunciao, the Australian Catholic Association of Tamils in Australia and Catholic Archbishop of Sydney- George Pell, knowing very well that from 26th- 28th June Caritas International was planning to come to Sri Lanka for their conference. To show his allegiance to the LTTE terrorists further, he used the Tamilnet website to publicize his letter on the Pesalai St. Mary's Church issue giving a totally distorted version as against the truth. Everyone in the area knew that the LTTE had seized those said fishing boats, used their agents to express their grievances to Dr. Joseph and the security officers placing the blame on the armed forces and the SL Navy.

On 26th June, the terrorists brutally murdered Maj.Gen. Parami Kulatunga at Pannipitiya, which is ofcourse, justified by the Catholic Church because it is committed by LTTE- is it so?

According to Asian Tribune news report 70 odd representatives from Caritas International from Palestine, Columbia, DR Congo Philippines and Ireland have arrived in Sri Lanka for their " first ever Caritas World Peace Forum" to help the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka in their supposed "peace work in SL."The motives are all too clear and obvious to right thinking people in this country. This is yet another aggressive agenda of the Catholic Church to twist the arm of the GOSL.

According to the Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis Duncan MacLaren " We are here in solidarity with all those who believe in peace, a peace with justice that is promoted through dialogue between human beings, not through the barrel of a gun." Wonderful indeed- then Caritas must first sit down with the LTTE and teach the terrorists the meaning of " peace" and how to achieve that through dialogue- do it and show us true sincere efforts before we are convinced of your capabilities. For thirty years foreign mediators have been talking to LTTE which is deaf to peace and pampering & protecting them.

Fr Damian Fernando, Director of Caritas Sri Lanka has stated this "the arrival of all these delegates, many of whom have huge experience in peace-brokering in conflict torn communities, gives strength to those who are striving to bring peace to Sri Lanka. " He further states "Our fervent plea to leaders in Sri Lanka is to stick strictly to the Cease Fire Agreement(CFA), stop the violence and destruction of human beings and return to the negotiating table." Can Fr.Damian Fernando be honest and categorically inform us who the transgressors of the CFA are? Is it the GOSL or the LTTE terrorists? Is the CFA a legally valid document if it was drawn up by the LTTE, endorsed by Norway and signed by Ranil Wickramasinghe (then PM) without getting the signature of The President of Sri Lanka in approval of this document? Any matter which relates to the sovereignty of our country must have the approval of the Executive President of our country. Having said that, may we ask Fr. Damian Fernando the simple question- how many times has the LTTE broken the CFA conditions & how many times has the GOSL done so? When he says " ...our fervent plea to leaders in Sri Lanka is to stick strictly to the Cease Fire Agreement, stop the violence……" he is only pointing a finger at our GOSL not at the LTTE! Why? What is the supreme duty and responsibility of GOSL- to help terrorists or to safeguard the entire nation against terrorism?

Fr. Hector Fabio Henao of Caritas Columbia and President of the Caritas International working group on peace and reconciliation is reported to have said that he is in Sri Lanka to share his knowledge and experience of the situation in his country and to learn from other delegates. He is quoted to have said "It is very difficult in Columbia. We have a 40 year internal armed conflict and a humanitarian crisis with over 2.5 million internally displaced people and hundreds of thousands of refugees in neighbouring Latin American countries." There cannot be a 40year internal conflict if Caritas Columbia is so experienced in solving "internal armed conflicts"---by now it must be solved for him to come and dictate to us his experience. Experience is only if he and Caritas Columbia has been successful in solving the problem- if not, his "experience" is an empty theoretical word & is intentionally used only to confuse us further!

All the countries that are represented at the "First Ever Peace Forum" of Caritas Internationalis namely, Columbia, Palestine(also represents Caritas in Jerusalem, Middle East, North Africa), DR Cong, Ireland, Philippines are regions which have been having festering conflicts for decades and decades and as far as we know, not a single country has been able to solve their problems with the help of Caritas! How on earth can they hope to help us in Sri Lanka with "their vast experience?" The simple answer is that solutions cannot be found purely because of organizations like Caritas which are interfering into the internal problems of those countries. If Columbia, Ireland and Philippines cannot find solutions being Catholic countries using Caritas- how can they come into Sri Lanka without the faintest idea of our culture and the root of our problem and give us "Prescriptions" to cure our ills?

Each and every country that has internal conflicts in the world have fallen into that trap due to the manipulation of arms manufacturing countries whose sole purpose is to find markets to sell their weapons. No sales mean "no profits" & employment for such countries. Developing countries whether they be in Latin America, Middle East, Africa or Asia have all been "sold" the glorious concept of globalization which in other words means " accept Christianity as your State Religion and its way of life and forget your own social, cultural and historical heritage!" Religion is a totally private and personal treasure- it is not for sale as the Christians are doing, don't try to overstep the boundaries in the name of social welfare or peace brokering. Governance is for the democratically elected governments of those countries to implement based on its own historical, religious and cultural identity. What organizations like Caritas is aiming to achieve- is to break down those strongholds with false promises for which we Sri Lankans must not fall prey to.

Our President may seem to be extremely accommodating. Some even call him weak. He may listen to every voice that suggests an opinion all in good faith or with ulterior motives. However, he is also a leader who to say the least, loves his Mother Land very much. He is a son of this soil and is proud to be so. In his efforts to show his sincerity towards peace, he has stood back and watched time and time again how blood-thirsty LTTE terrorists have been contravening the wonderful CFA terms, watched how his security personnel have been grounded like felled trees, watched innocent civilians being massacred BUT, has used the minimum powers to retaliate in the hope that LTTE murderers will want to talk peace. So far has that happened may we ask the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka or Caritas Sri Lanka? But do not stand in his way, if and when he decides to protect this country as that is his bounden duty toward the ENTIRE NATION. We hope he has the strength to take the necessary decision now?

The conflict situations in all the countries mentioned earlier in this article, all have their own indigenous roots to their problems. No one situation can be compared identical with another in another country. Similarly, the problem in Sri Lanka is very definitely Sri Lankan in identity and it must be accepted by all international organizations and individuals. The problem in Palestine is not the same as what it is in Sri Lanka; the problem in Ireland is also not the same as in Sri Lanka; the situation in Iraq again, is not the same as Sri Lanka nor is the problem in Columbia the same as it is in Sri Lanka! Please do not deceive yourselves or try to deceive us.

If any foreign powers, foreign organizations whether they be religious, INGOs or NGOs sincerely wish to help Sri Lanka then, they must first and foremost listen to the GOSL which is responsible for the entire nation- not to the terrorists who do not even represent the feelings and sentiments of the majority Tamils born, bred, working and living in this country. Do not try to justify their actions and hurt the sentiments of the majority population of this country which consists of Sinhalese, Muslims and Tamils who do not accept the viewpoint of the LTTE terrorists. This is the truth that you need to understand and accept.

Try to find out the root of the problem before you give your " prescriptions" because medicine given without understanding the ailment will only cause "pneumonia or bronchitis or worse still a cancer" That is what all foreign mediation has been doing for 30 years. NOW the ailment has turned into a cancer and surgery is required to remove the cancer!

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