CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

NGO Regulations: Step in the Right Direction to Combat Terrorism

Tilak Dias

Some time ago Gareth Evans, the Director General of International Crisis Group made a blatant statement about intervention in Sri Lankan internal affairs. He said that Sri Lanka may come under the purview of R2P (Responsibility to Protect) as civilian lives are in danger due to on-going government war against the Tamil Tigers. The international community (21st century Cabals), therefore, has the right to intervene militarily to protect Sri Lankan Tamils in LTTE dominated areas. At the time I was wondering whether he was planning to takeover Velupillai Prabhakaran's job because Prabhakaran always claims that he has the sole responsibility of protecting Tamils in rapidly shrinking LTTE controlled areas.

Most recently, the R2P emerged in a different light when Russia intervened in Georgia. Sweden's foreign minister had a different interpretation of the R2P under the Russia-Georgia conflict. Carl Bildt, Sweden's foreign minister, sees it as a critical challenge. "We means the West- and Russia - will have to live with the consequences of Russia's use of force for a long time to come," he said a few weeks ago. "No state has a right to intervene militarily in the territory of another state simply because there are individuals there with a passport issued by that state. The obligation to protect people lies with the state in which those individuals are located.

"Attempts to apply such a doctrine have plunged Europe into war in the past - and that is why it is so important that this doctrine is emphatically dismissed."

These folks speak differently when they want to intervene in different countries and spread their hegemonic power. After their retirement, people of Gareth Evans calibre are employed by their respective jurisdictions to influence others. They realize very well the benefits accrue to their countries due to the division of others into unviable economic entities by covert operations. The case in point is division of former Yugoslavia into pieces by NATO which did not like a bigger country in their midst that is a Russian ally.

Not that they love Albanian Muslim community. If they do, why are they not employing NATO to create Palestine? One may notice the stark difference or the unwillingness.

NGOs like International Crisis Group (ICG) which is formed as a Good (and Notorious) Old Boy's Club of former head of states and retired politicians are renowned for their egregious intervention in internal affaires of developing countries. ICG headed by retired Australian politician Gareth Evans have openly influenced the election process of Macedonia siding with the opposition. Mr. Evan's suggestion that Sri Lanka will fall under R2P is another such blatant intervention in a sovereign country by this ideologically biased NGOs. Given the background of Sri Lankan civil war one should wonder if he is getting his advice from the widow of late LTTE ideologist Anton Balansingham who is his fellow countrywoman. Most of these NGO operations are funded by foreign governments in order to intervene in other sovereign states under the various pretexts like human rights, media freedom, and government corruptions etc.

Non Government Organizations by definition are-a loosely organized, ideologically biased entities with no accountability to any constituency with highly opaque and shady financial expenditures. They have very fluid organizational structures build around narrow objectives of intervention in the foreign and national government affairs.

According to this definition, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam and International Crisis Group all can be considered NGOs. For all practical purposes even terrorists groups like LTTE, Al Qaeda and the like can be regarded as NGOs for they fit the above description. According to Sam Vaknin-the author of Malignant Self Love, a few of the first group of NGOs, under the guise of "think tanks" are engaged in lobbying, active participation in ideologically biased and religiously committed activities and even enmeshed in crime and corruption. It is high time that Sri Lankan bring strong legislation to regulate these shady operations.

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