Wanted Janaka kicked out H.L.D.Mahindapala begged Ranil for HC post in Canberra
The Asian Tribune whose Bureau chief in Australia is H.L.D.Mahindapala is also a bitter man. He is angry with Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who refused to appoint him High Commissioner to Canberra even though he pleaded for the post wanting Major General Janaka Perera kicked out as an ineffective Head of Mission. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe refused point blank and it is this anger that Mr. Mahindapala carries with him to this day and is often reflected in vituperative articles against Mr. Wickremesinghe.by. Former Career-Diplomat
(November, 20, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian)I am not usually in the habit of writing on such subjects. However common decency compels me as a diplomat to counter a smear campaign carried out by the Asian Tribune website and perhaps picked up by like minded political online newspapers.
Ms Sonali Samarasinghe was among a small batch of Information Counsellors to be posted to missions abroad. Those posted with her included one Mr. Ranga Kalansuriya to Malaysia, and Mr. Edgar Cooray to London. Ms. Samarasinghe was posted to Canberra. She succeeded one Mr. Panduka Senanayake who had completed his tour of duty by the time Ms. Samarasinghe took up her posting.
Ms. Samarasinghe was already a well established and multiple award winning journalist, knew Canberra well having lived there for two years prior to her appointment and had a masters degree from Australia in International Affairs. This made her more than suitable for the job.
She was to inherit a very volatile sentiment against Sri Lanka when she arrived. During her predecessor’s time there had been a spate of protests with hundreds of protesters storming the High Commission, and the Federal Parliament firstly against the appointment of Major General Janaka Perera whom they alleged was a war criminal.
The print and electronic media in Australia showed Sri Lanka as a barbaric country with no respect for human rights and showed selected images of Major General Perera which visually made him look hard and cold while accompanying the visuals with the fact that the Tamil diapsora was asking he be tried as a war criminal.
I recall it was only Ms Samarasinghe who was then merely living in Canberra as a permanent resident and not any of the officers in the Sri Lanka High Commission who at the time made every effort to campaign for Sri Lanka and wrote articles denouncing these allegations. This was at a time former President Chandrika Kumaratunge was in power.
Therefore she inherited a very poor image of Sri Lanka in Australia when she arrived to take up her posting. It was due to her concerted efforts to engage with the media, the parliamentarians in Canberra as well as in other states and the diplomatic community that during a very short space of time the media that could only see Sri Lanka as a violator of human rights, totally shifted its position and became enchanted with the beauty and culture of Sri Lanka instead.
That was particularly important at a time the peace talks were on and Sri Lanka was trying to project itself as a tolerant and peaceful society to attract investment and tourism.
However while the media was focusing on the spectacular beauty of Sri Lanka the Mission itself everyday was battling to keep out any adverse publicity. I am personally aware of several such occasions and would be remiss in my duty as a decent human being not to bring these matters to light given the false campaign against this former officer lead by interested parties.
When the Mission learnt that a film adverse to Buddhism and depicting Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka in the worst light was being shown in other western nations such as England, a successful preventive campaign was launched by the Mission and implemented to prevent the film ever reaching the shores of Australia. Not only were letters sent out to the Department of Foreign Affairs but a campaign was launched to muster up a collective front against this by engaging all other Diplomatic missions with a Buddhist heritage.
Furthermore all the relevant film authorities were also immediately contacted. The public or the Sri Lankan diaspora was not to know that it was only due to the timely efforts of the Counsellor Information that the film never reached Australia. Instead Australia was treated to such acclaimed films as Wekenda Walauwa due solely to the efforts of Ms Samarasinghe.
I am also personally aware that when some politically interested elements in Sri Lanka was doing everything to ruin its image abroad, the Mission in Canberra during Ms Samarasinghe’s time was successful in continuing a dialogue which kept adverse publicity to a minimum.
The mission was receiving up to five hundred postcards and letters from Christian groups, churches and individuals over a number of incidents where churches in Sri Lanka had been burnt and Christians attacked.
Established Churches in their numbers threatened to go in one voice to the Federal parliament and demand Australia stop all aid to Sri Lanka. Again it was Ms Samarasinghe who relentlessly answered every one of those letters and engaged with the churches to assure them that Sri Lanka was a peace loving country, that the path of Buddhism was pacifist and tolerant and these were sporadic incidents by politically motivated elements. Again Ms Samarasinghe managed to keep these events out of the newspapers and the media in Australia.
New Zealand media happened to carry several articles based on the case of a Tamil girl seeking asylum that Sri Lanka was a nation where it was usual for men to sexually abuse children. They quoted a Senior New Zealand Diplomat based in New Delhi and painted a gruesome picture of the plight of women in Sri Lanka.
Again it was Ms. Samarasinghe who with her knowledge of the law immediately prepared a dossier for The High Commissioner to study and wrote several letters to the media institution, spoke with the writer of the article and followed it up with action resulting in a full stoppage of the media campaign.
On another occasion a travel journalist who had visited Sri Lanka from Melbourne wrote a two page article with banner headlines that he was unable to get a decent cup of tea in all of Sri Lanka which boasts of being a foremost tea exporting country. Ms Samarasinghe was to immediately contact the newspaper and commence a campaign to promote Sri Lanka's premier product.
It was following this that Ms Samarasinghe undertook to screen media persons visiting Sri Lanka and engage with them before their departure giving them a large number of material about Sri Lanka and its positive aspects. The strategy was not to suppress the media but to show case a positive image from the moment they arrived or had contact with the Mission to the moment they returned to Australia so that their personal experience translated into positive publicity.
Several Sri Lankan expatriates have told me that Ms Samarasinghe was also always available to answer their queries and it was a pleasure to telephone the Mission as she was willing to help with material to promote Sri Lanka.
Amidst all this Ms Samarasinghe also managed to organize the several events showcasing Sri Lanka's academic, cultural, agricultural and entrepreneural aspects. At the Canberra Annual multicultural event Sri Lanka was able to secure three prime slots due to her efforts. The Army band was brought down from Sri Lanka and gave a spectacular show. The Canberra Times particularly lauded the organisational quality, the introduction of the dance before each event, and the well written speech given by the High Commissioner. The Canberra Times compared the professionalism of the organization and efforts of Sri Lanka as opposed to the chaos that prevailed in the Bangladeshi show which took place immediately before the Sri Lankan event. Needless to say this was solely due to the efforts of Ms Samarasnighe who is very knowledgeable of the arts and the dance forms of Sri Lanka and who scripted and compered the show.
Sri Lanka was also able to secure the prime exhibition area in the city centre for a black and White photography exhibition titled a Journey in Black and White. It was a tremendous success and depicted Sri Lanka within a space of a century.
Ms Samarasinghe also conceptualized and organized a mega event an Evening with Sri Lanka which was an exhibition and traditional dance event held at the Hyatt Hotel and was the first of its kind. The event was totally sponsored by expatriates and by Sri Lankans where Ms Samarasinghe was able to secure free of charge cases of tea from private organizations in Sri Lanka in order to provide guests with souvenirs.
She also personally engaged with several of the departments in Sri Lanka in order to show case their own material especially products from Laksala.
However the exhibition also focused on Sri Lankan academia, its natural scientists, its authors and its prominent researchers and was a great success.
Ms Samarasinghe also realized through inquiries at the mission that there was a growing interest among Australians to learn Buddhism as an academic elective. She immediately got down all prospectuses and other material to disseminate among interested parties. Ms Samarasinghe presented an elegant and articulate image of Sri Lanka that had hitherto not been represented by her predecessors.
The larger media in Australia was unaware of the post of counselor information and it was in fact only the quiet diplomatic efforts of one of my former colleagues Asela Weerakoon who was posted as the Deputy High Commissioner immediately prior to Ms Samarasinghe taking up office in Canberra that the mission had some positive contact with the media.
Ms Samaarasinghe always represented the High Commission at media events and being from the media itself was unafraid like other officers to face and engage the media which results were positive for the country. She was also present at The High Commissioner’s request at his interviews with the media and was able to discuss matters in order to present the best possible view of Sri Lanka. She was also an integral part of the High Commissioner’s several speaking engagements.
It is nor without significance that not two months after Ms Samarasinghe had left the Mission the media became very aggressive towards Sri Lanka and an interview granted to them by Major General Janaka Perera caused a nationwide fury.
It is also significant to note that the LTTE was banned as a terrorist organisation during Ms Samarasinghe's period in the Mission.
It is not inappropriate to say here that Major General Janaka Perera was actively involved in the playing of golf as it was his thinking that it was through personal interaction with other heads of mission that any on going dialogue can take place. To this end the High Commissioner was actively involved in golfing tournaments each month and in golfing dinners given by him and other heads of mission in Canberra. I am aware that Ms Samarasinghe according to directions given to her by The High Commissioner sent out press releases on these golfing events to Sri Lankan media as per instructions by her head of mission.
Many Sri Lankan expatriates have personally told me they were proud to have officers of such high calibre in their missions who were able to interact at equal level with their counterparts. Ms Samarasinghe was also nominated and appointed by her other diplomatic colleagues as the president of the Diplomatic Association of Canberra.
It is obvious that there were many mediocre persons who were angling to get the Canberra post as a stepping stone to obtaining permanent residency in the country. Many others who were posted with her took the opportunity to study in another country and gain diplomas. However Ms Samarasinghe who was already a permanent resident and already well qualified with a Masters degree in the most appropriate subject to her post was able to concentrate fully on the job at hand. It is common knowledge that Sri Lankans are an envious and vindictive people. However spurious articles based on the jealous gossip of interested parties who were unable to get a posting due to their inability to show any kind of academic suitability to the post, should not be condoned. Especially as these articles have no documentary proof and quotes no one.
However the Asian Tribune whose Bureau chief in Australia is H.L.D.Mahindapala is also a bitter man. He is angry with Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe who refused to appoint him High Commissioner to Canberra even though he pleaded for the post wanting Major General Janaka Perera kicked out as an ineffective Head of Mission. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe refused point blank and it is this anger that Mr. Mahindapala carries with him to this day and is often reflected in vituperative articles against Mr. Wickremesinghe.Mr Mahindapala was sidelined by Mr Wickremesinghe because of his vicious conduct during his tenure as editor of the Observer during President Premadasa's time. Though he is not holding a brief for President Mahinda Rajapakse, it was he who attacked Mahinda Rajapakse at the time for campaigning against the then Government's Human Rights record. It is the same Mahindapala who now writes under a pen name to the Asian Tribune these vicious articles or a mess of pottage. He is a man who ran away not long after Premadasa was killed, fearing attacks by people whom he defamed. He ran away to Australia at the time. He wanted to get even with those who ousted him at the time and that is why he wanted the High Commissioner's job in Australia.
However with Ranil Wickremesinghe's refusal he developed hatred towards him. Mahindapala now in his late 70s is looking to keep himself in bread and butter and is now begging for a job from Mahinda Rajapakse through K.T. Rajasingham. His anger towards Tamils is also not out of any sense of patriotism but because his Tamil wife publicly humiliated him for his ill treatment of her. As a result he has now turned his anger against all Tamils.
The very fact that he is associating with Rajasingham to earn a living given the man's criminal tendencies as exposed by The Sunday Leader is enough proof of Mahindapala's own standards. Birds of a feather after all flock together.
I think the best tribute to Ms Samarasinghe was paid by then High Commissioner Janaka Perera himself when after her sort stint of 18 months described her as a quality officer who was of exceptional service to the mission.
Cartoon by. Vikram Nandwani
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