CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Sri Lanka deserves intelligent representation in the UK

Ramanie de Zoysa

Condescending attitudes of the British Empire have not changed since colonial times. Britain today remains as steeped in ignorance of the culture, history, demographics, terrorism and the political situation of Sri Lanka as it has ever been. Not that it is hard for a first world country and an ex-colonial master to find out the true ground situation about Sri Lanka if they ever wished to; it is exactly that wish that is simply not there. In such a situation it is Sri Lanka’s diplomatic representation that must rise to the occasion to educate, clarify and set the record straight on matters that are of crucial importance Sri Lanka’s national security, sovereignty and well being. The ever rising anti-Sri Lanka dialogue coming from London points in one direction- and one direction only; that is the complete failure of the Sri Lankan High Commission in the UK to tackle this extremely important task. Not only is the HC for Sri Lanka failing to defend Sri Lanka’s honour but the HC is attacking those who stick out their neck to make up for her inadequacies. If anyone’s in doubt, I am referring to the unspeakably shameful apology extended to Britain by SLHC Mrs Seneviratne for Dr Dayan Jayatilleke’s very aptly composed criticism of the statement issued by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sri Lanka’s 60th anniversary of Independence.

Arrogance and condescension reeked Milliband statement which included platitudes such as:

‘Violence can never provide an answer to Sri Lanka’s problems. People in Sri Lanka need to find space to realize their many similarities, rather than becoming further polarized by their differences. A sustainable solution to Sri Lanka’s conflict can only emerge through a just political process involving all communities.’

After Dr Jayatilleke’s most able response to this statement one needs not trouble any further to comment upon it. However, I would briefly draw the reader’s attention to the sentence ‘violence can never provide an answer to Sri Lanka’s problems’ which epitomizes the tone of the entire statement. It suggests that ‘both parties to the conflict’ are using ‘violence’. That tone automatically downgrades the military action taken by a sovereign nation against a local terrorist outfit to the level of street violence. The LTTE uses violence and the insinuation is that Sri Lankan Government is also using violence- not military action. This type of mindless arrogance should have drawn howls of protests from the SLHC. Instead, there was meek acceptance. When a most able scholar, a patriot, an ambassador and someone with a backbone, Dr Jayatilleke quite rightly protested on behalf of every self-respecting Sri Lankan the High Commissioner representing Sri Lanka on UK soil, apologized!

President Rajapakse needs to quickly remedy this unfortunate situation. HC Seneviratne must be recalled immediately and replaced with someone with a brain and a backbone. If Dr Dayan Jayatilleke is not able to be put forward for a second term as Ambassador for UN, he must be appointed as HC in the UK to serve Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka needs a Dayan Jayatilleke in every outpost to speak on behalf of Sri Lanka.

The need for better representation for Sri Lanka in the UK needs no elaboration.

Even though the LTTE is banned in the UK this has not curtailed any activity of the LTTE. In fact UK acts as the global headquarters of the LTTE. Its theologist and spokesperson late Anton Balasigham had absolutely no trouble residing in London and directing terrorist activities in far away Sri Lanka. He issued threats of violence and death against the people of Sri Lanka including its Foreign Minister Hon Kadirgarmar who was eventually assassinated by the outfit. Adele Balasingham who trained women cadres in the Vanni jungles operated in England without any hindrance to her activities. Even though harboring a terrorist is a criminal offence in Britain this has not made an iota of difference to the LTTE.

British MPs attend Tamil Tiger fundraising events and speak in support of Tamil terrorists in British Parliament. An example is Keith Vaz, the Goanese-British MP for Leicester East. Vaz who is a member of All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils - a Tamil Tiger terrorist front is also the head of the British parliamentary body scrutinising Britain’s counter-terrorism laws. Vaz addressed the annual Tamil rally last November in the ExCel centre in East London where he spoke after participants watched a televised address by Velupillai Prabhakaran- the leader of the LTTE on his birthday even though the LTTE is a terrorist organisation banned by the Home Office. Prabhakaran said in his speech- “The immeasurable dedication and sacrifice of our heroes is delivering a message to the Sinhala nation” referring to the suicide bomb attacks perpetrated by his cadres on the Sinhala civilians.

In his address at this venue, Mr Vaz told an audience of more than 10,000 people “I understand the demands made by some for an independent Tamil state. They will grow, unless there is justice.”

Mr Vaz was joined at this event by a fellow Labour MP, Joan Ryan. Ms Ryan, the MP for Enfield North, told the rally: “I am sorry to have to remember the 70,000 innocent Tamils who lost their lives in the struggle. We must pursue the aims and values for which they lost their lives.” The fact is a larger proportion of this 70,000 were innocent Sinhala and Muslim civilians- not Tamils. More than 90% of the 70,000 were killed by the LTTE theselves. Such is the ignorance of these MPs.

The Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the British House of Commons and the President of the party Hon. Simon Hughes (North Southwark and Bermondsey) is another British MP who makes anti-Sri Lankan speeches every now and then. When Sri Lanka terminated the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement which had by then been violated by the LTTE more than a 6,000 times Hughes stated that Sri Lanka should reinstate the CFA for the peace process to continue. Most worrying was his blasphemous statement that “Britain had the right to intervene in Sri Lanka”.

Another Britisher Sir John Holmes, the UN Humanitarian Affairs Chief joined Australia’s Gareth Evans of the International Crisis Group making false HR allegations against Sri Lanka and trying to push the R2P Trojan Horse into Sri Lanka.

These influential British politicians need either education, or correction or both. They need to be stood up to and they must be made to be accountable for their actions. This is precisely what Sri Lanka has set up a point of representation at great cost for; SLHC needs to earn its keep.

BBC is an old British institution that openly glorifies the LTTE and whitewashes its crimes. The use of the term ‘rebel’ for terrorists who have slaughtered innocent people for 25 years alone needs to be repeatedly challenged.

The LTTE holds many high profile fundraising events. LTTE fronts such White Pigeon organize these events in the city open to the public; the Mega Star event organised at London’s Alexandra Palace is a case in point. What is SLHC doing about these? If the Tamil terrorists can lobby the British government so can the Sri Lanka government representative.

A valuable example is set by the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the USA, Mr Bernard Goonetilleke on what is expected of a capable diplomat. He has at regular intervals taken up Sri Lanka’s case at the White House. Mr. Goonetilleke in his latest commendable article to ‘Washington Times’ titled ‘Tamil homeland fantasy’ demolished the very basis on which the Tamil lobby for a separate Eelaam - the existence of a “Tamil Homeland” in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Mr Goonetilleke contributed personally to the education of the average US citizen through this article where he asked the United States ‘to afford Sri Lanka the strength to remain "one nation indivisible." Isn’t this exactly what Sri Lanka needs at this hour of her need from her men and women in the outposts?

There are those who think that licking the white man’s boots is the way to keep out of trouble. They fear that disagreeing with or standing up to the Western powers Sri Lanka would be “isolated” internationally. Nothing could be further from the truth. During the last two years Sri Lanka has gained vast strides towards seeing the back of Tamil terrorism mainly thanks to two initiatives- these are:

1). Relentless military action against the terrorists and their bases

2). Straight responses at international forums demolishing myths perpetuated by the so-called international community supporting the LTTE.

The military action over the past two years has gained tremendous beneficial results for the country and its citizens. Starting from Mahaweli Oya (Mavil Aru) battle the Sri Lankan Tri Forces have wrested back the control of the Eastern Province from LTTE occupation and liberated its citizens. Hardly anything is said about the East these days by the so-called international community! Why? That is because the East has been liberated, people of the East have been resettled, development projects are underway in the East and most importantly the democratic electoral process is underway in the East. There is not a word spoken about the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka by the US, UK, EU or Norway. BBC has nothing to say about the East either- no news must be good news!

Had the CFA been in place and the pre-Mahinda Rajapakse conditions prevailed in the country Sri Lanka would have already been well on the way to being the Asian Kosovo. Under the CFA the LTTE “ruled” “vast swathes of land in the east” (in the words of international media) and the CFA treated the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Government as being two separate sovereign entities on par with each other. The transition to an Eelaam UDI would have been a walk in the park.

The second reason for the success of Sri Lanka has been the honest attitude and fearless responses given by the Sri Lankan President, his key Ministers and diplomats such as Mr Goonetilleke in key international forums.

The pace was set pretty much by the President himself at the UN assembly who spoke in Sinhala and called a spade a spade. On the occasion of the Sixty Second Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on 25 September 2007, President Mahinda Rajapakse spoke from the bottom of his heart, frankly, without fear or favour and put forward Sri Lanka’s case. In particular he reminded the UN and the World powers the bitter truth about Human Rights when said:

“Guided by the principles of Buddhism, we have long respected the right of our fellow human beings. Therefore, it had not been necessary for us to experience global wars or the deaths of millions to learn to recognise their value. My country has no record of inflicting misery on fellow human beings for the purpose of empire building, for commercial advantage or for religious righteousness.”

President Rajapakse further hit home when he continued:

“Sri Lanka believes, as one of the founder members of the Human Rights Council, that Human Rights are too important to be used as a tool to victimise states for political advantage. It is essential that international action to facilitate compliance with Human Rights standards is fair and even handed. Human Rights have to be protected and advanced for their own sake, not for political gain.”

This commendable stance of the President deserves the fullest support and reaffirmation by his ambassadors in key Western Nations. Ambassador Goonetilleke has been most impressive in this regard. Some of his discourses to date have been:

- 25 January 2008- "The Ceasefire Agreement, The Peace Process and The International Community" - Address by Ambassador Goonetilleke at Capitol Hill, Washington DC

- 2007 31 October 2006- ‘Sri Lanka Today’ - Address at The US Foreign Service Institute, Arlington, VA

- 28 October 2006- Ambassador Goonetilleke responds to Boston Globe Editorial

- 18 October 2006- Ambassador Goonetilleke responds to New York Times Editorial

- 08 August 2006- Sri Lankan Embassy refutes Washington Times Report - “Water Wars”, Washington Times

- 03 August 2006 - Ambassador Goonetilleke says Sri Lanka will not succumb to blackmail by the LTTE on the water issue in The Eastern Province - CNN

- 28 June 2006 - Address by HE Goonetilleke on international cooperation in combating terrorism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Washington DC

- 11 May 2006 - Ambassador Goonetilleke tells Washington Times LTTE distorting information from Sri Lanka

- 16 June 2005 - Statement by Ambassador Bernard A.B. Goonetilleke, at the Washington Network for Post - Tsunami Peace Building Roundtable series held in Washington DC

- 27 May 2005 - Statement Mr. Goonetilleke at the presentation of Credentials to President George W. Bush followed by the U.S. President’s reply

This type of consistent and regular update has in fact seen the mellowing of US rhetoric towards the Sri Lankan situation, albeit ever so slightly whereas further pandering to ignorant remarks by the politicians would only have worsened the situation for Sri Lanka.

This is the type of service that has always been lacking in the UK which encourages continued ignorance and maverick bullyboy attitudes by the toffee nosed English gentry towards Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka clearly deserves an able person to represent her in the UK. To fill this vaccum one can not go past a brave and intelligent son of Lanka such as Dr Dayan Jayatilleke who asked at one stage whether the ‘UN thinks it is the modern day East India Company’. Truth hurts but it also heals. The UN reacted to this statement as if bitten by a snake but slowly digested the massive dose of truth in the Jayatilleke statement.

The depth and the value of this remarkable retort is only appreciable when you revisit the history of East India Company. The British East India Company was formed in 1600 and the Dutch equivalent was formed in 1602. In “Back Roads of the Cape” authored by David Fleminger the modus operandi of the East India Company is described as follows:

“Since the Chartered Companies (East India Company was a Chartered Company) took on the financial risk of these endeavours (“exploit new territories for fun and profit”) they were seen as an ideal way to increase a country’s commercial activity without committing too many national resources”…”The Chartered Companies could raise armies, wage war and impose their own rules on citizens….” “The King also gave the VOC (the Dutch East India Company) the power to subjugate local population in any way that best suited the interests of the company. Thus empowered, the VOC were happy to wage full-scale war against resident natives who did not want to go along with their ambitious plans. In one case, the VOC went so far as to kill the entire population of Banda, of Indonesia. They then brought in slave labour, and turned the whole island into a nutmeg plantation….”

Reminds anyone of the recent positionings of the UN? It is a fact that the “international community” is awash with ambitious, ageing individuals with stacks of paper qualifications who need to be installed in plush positions internationally. There is a huge pool of ex-ambassadors, MA /Phd holders on wishy washy disciplines (some individuals from third world countries), yesterday’s heros and heroines from the film industry, women’s rights activists, ex-politicians and the like who need placement in their dream positions as advisors, monitors and Commissioners of all sorts who would not get a peon’s job in the real world. In effect there is a huge unemployment crisis in this cluster of “intellectuals” who need cushy postings like a Human Rights role in beautiful, civilised, cultured Sri Lanka. These people will give their eye teeth to create more employment for themselves in a setting like Sri Lanka. Commensurate with this unemployment problem is the UN with its ever expanding ambitions. UN does not want to be just a body of “nobodies” any more. The UN wants to send its “peace keeping”/ armed forces to places; the UN wants to take over the governance of nations; the UN wants to monitor, punish, and sanction countries. All these important things provide the UN and the unemployed of the international community with coveted well paid jobs. Will they let small things like the sovereignty of a small nation stand in their way? History says “no way”!

Jawaharlal Nehru in Discovery of India, written in 1944 from Ahmednagar Fort described the effect of the East India Company on his country. "The corruption, venality, nepotism, violence and greed of money of these early generations of British rule in India," he wrote, "is something which passes comprehension." It was, he added, "significant that one of the Hindustani words which has become part of the English language is 'loot'".

Kosovo is living proof that nothing has changed.

Ramanie de Zoysa

Disclaimer: The comments contained within this website are personal reflection only and do not necessarily reflect the views of the LankaWeb. LankaWeb.com offers the contents of this website without charge, but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions expressed within. Neither the LankaWeb nor the individual authors of any material on this Web site accept responsibility for any loss or damage, however caused (including through negligence), which you may directly or indirectly suffer arising out of your use of or reliance on information contained on or accessed through this Web site.
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfer and do not necessarily represent those of LankaWeb.com. .

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER