Why fear knights pursuing Komodo
dragons?
Courtesy Editorial The
Island
Why fear knights pursuing Komodo dragons?Whenever a foreign dignitary
lands here, the party that happens to be in the Opposition, NGOs and
the servile press behave just like the mendicants near the Town Hall.
The whole caboodle of them could be seen running behind foreigners beseeching
political succour. Time was when Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa, too, used to
prostrate himself before foreigners begging for their help to oust the
late President Ranasinghe Premadasa. He even smuggled pictures of victims
of human rights violations out of the country during that regime and
produced them in Geneva. Now he has his rivals doing the same.
The traits of our ancestors who blundered by getting the help of the
Dutch to get rid of the Portuguese by way of a shortcut and 'swapped
ginger for chillies' in the process, and then finally sided with the
British to destroy the last king of Sri Lanka, seem to have got into
our genes. However, the modern-day politicians have so far failed to
topple governments with the help of foreigners either overtly or covertly.
But, the outcome of their subservience has been the undue internationalisation
of the country's internal problems and the attendant foreign interference.
Some politicians and their media cronies are ga-ga about UN Human Rights
High Commissioner Louise Arbour. They are busy putting the spin on her
typical diplomatic gobbledygook. Even the discerning public may have
found it difficult to figure out what she really said. She told the
JVP that there wouldn't be UN monitoring here without the concurrence
of the government. Thereafter, she reportedly said something different.
Ms. Arbour, who has lost international clout due to being dwarfed by
the US as regards large scale human rights abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan,
may have sought to boost her ego through her tour of little Lanka. She
is like a knight who, frightened of the real dragons, is looking for
a Komodo dragon to slay. After all, she has to do something for her
UN pay, doesn't she?
Surprisingly, the Rajapakasa government which boasts of having broken
the back of 'the most ruthless terrorist organisation in the world',
is unduly rattled over the statements Ms. Arbour is said to have made.
Even if she really wants to set up a UN monitoring mission here, how
can she do so, if the government doesn't grant her permission? She may
make some noise but there is nothing she can do about it. The UN, it
may be recalled, was helpless when two of its employees were abducted
by the LTTE a few months ago. The UN Colombo Office even sought to secure
their release through unofficial channels out of desperation. All the
international organisations have been keeping their local employees
indoors for more than a year in the LTTE-held areas for fear of forcible
conscription. The UN Human Rights High Commissioner has chosen to take
it all lying down. So much for the UN big mouths making hollow noises
in Colombo!
Although swashbuckling government top guns are wetting their pants
at the mention of international big shots, the LTTE has proved it is
no respecter of the international community. When the EU banned the
outfit, Prabhakaran ordered the truce monitors from the EU member states
out of the Wanni. Nay, he virtually kicked them out! The tough talking
monitors obeyed his order without a whimper. He has had monitors roughed
up several times. Once, his boys blew up a trawler off Jaffna with two
monitors aboard, upon being intercepted by the Navy. Then they tried
to sink a troop carrier despite the presence of ceasefire monitors.
Then, he shelled a chopper carrying the so-called crème de la
crème of the Colombo-based diplomatic community in Batticaloa
several moons ago and got away with that, too.
The late President Premadasa, too, threw a foreign envoy out of the
country, because he was considered as having overstepped his diplomatic
limits. David Gladstone was his name. He was the British High Commissioner
at that time. He was declared persona non grata for the crime of protesting
against election rigging during a tour of the South. The all powerful
international community looked the other way and Gladstone left the
country.
The foreign diplomats may have engaged in Premadasa bashing in their
drawing rooms but they were so servile before him that they went to
the extent of taking part in a tug of war with a group of parliamentarians
led by him at the Parliamentary grounds during a New Year festival.
Worse, they conceded defeat to appease him! One is reminded of a saying
popular among planters: You lick, they kick; you kick, they lick. Let
it be immediately added that we advocate neither licking nor kicking,
lest our comment should be misconstrued. We are only pointing out that
the representatives of the international community are not demigods
to be worshiped. Nor should they be antagonised unnecessarily. As for
human rights, which they have made an issue of, the government has to
get its act together, without leaving room for the international busybodies
to stray into the affairs of this country.
Finally, the political mendicants and their NGO lackeys eagerly awaiting
the arrival of foreigners to run behind them seeking their help to get
rid of their political rivals should be told that theirs is an exercise
in futility. If they are to realise their dream, they need to sell their
political project to the people of this country, who alone can vote
at an election. For that purpose, they have to offer viable alternatives
to the government programmes, especially its military campaign to safeguard
the national security interests.
If they can do that, they can rest assured that the days of the Rajapaksa
government are numbered. Else, they will have to trail foreigners and
languish in the political wilderness till kingdom come.
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