by Ivor Samarasinghe
(May 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is no military solution to Sri Lankan conflict. So says the American Ambassador, Robert O. Blake. He is in illustrious company, for much of the Christian priesthood, probably with dark motives hidden away beneath their cassocks, echo the same refrain.
This conceited pronouncement comes ill-timed, when the east has been wrenched from the LTTE and the armed forces have turned north, where the insurgents harbour, The pompous utterance is reminiscent of the cocky swagger of the American Yankee as he strutted about following Pearl Harbour and end of World War II.
Western ambassadors mistake Sri Lankan geniality for timidity and make comments that are unworthy of their exalted positions. They forget that they are permitted residence as observers and defenders of their countries’ interests in the land they serve in. Comment on the mode of governance in the host country is well beyond the ambit of the Ambassador and his embassy.
Ambassadors should be conversant with the history of the country in which they serve. The swords of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British brought Sri Lanka, with a 2,550 year history down to its knees, but it never kissed the posteriors of its captors, or belly-crawled. Now, with 60 years of independence, and a President of the calibre of the present incumbent, the country holds its chin up.
Ambassadors should be familiar with the constitutions of the countries in which they serve. Oh, Robert Blake, you should have known, that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of 1978 was certified on August 8, 1983, distinctly saying that “no person shall directly or indirectly promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.”
Is it misguided etiquette, or a hangover of colonial subservience, subtle diplomacy or plain disinterest that any government agency has not told the Ambassador that he should hold his tongue lest he be declared persona non grata and asked to leave Lanka’s shore within a stipulated time?
Blake should have read the author John Perkin’s best seller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to know the shocking story of how America took over the world. America has not retreated. It seeks to continue on the same arrogant, repugnant path, and looks askance at Iran, possibly to lead the world into an inextricable catastrophe.
The 13th Amendment will open the door to separation. It is the secret ‘open sesame’ to separation. The country knows the bitter taste of the provincial council set-up, where the corrupt in the land battle for positions only to feather their nests, and not to render service to the province.
The APRC headed by a person who is believed to be a Marxist, backs the 13th Amendment, which will perpetuate friction leading to intermittent war. The situation calls for an intelligent leader like the incumbent President to intervene, brush aside the vexatious Articles of the Constitution, and go for improvised district councils, which will ensure peace throughout the country for no one ethnic community is likely to predominate, to be a source of irritation.
The President has the powers to do it, and thereafter seek ratification by Parliament. The district council will be a small manageable unit in full view of the public where the rogues and the corrupt cannot cover, and be easily spotted from the Presidential Secretariat, to ensure good governance and prevent political fiddling by foreign visitors with their own secret axes to grind. One could be the introduction of Christianity to Buddhist Sri Lanka!
- Sri Lanka Guardian
(May 11, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) There is no military solution to Sri Lankan conflict. So says the American Ambassador, Robert O. Blake. He is in illustrious company, for much of the Christian priesthood, probably with dark motives hidden away beneath their cassocks, echo the same refrain.
This conceited pronouncement comes ill-timed, when the east has been wrenched from the LTTE and the armed forces have turned north, where the insurgents harbour, The pompous utterance is reminiscent of the cocky swagger of the American Yankee as he strutted about following Pearl Harbour and end of World War II.
Western ambassadors mistake Sri Lankan geniality for timidity and make comments that are unworthy of their exalted positions. They forget that they are permitted residence as observers and defenders of their countries’ interests in the land they serve in. Comment on the mode of governance in the host country is well beyond the ambit of the Ambassador and his embassy.
Ambassadors should be conversant with the history of the country in which they serve. The swords of the Portuguese, Dutch and the British brought Sri Lanka, with a 2,550 year history down to its knees, but it never kissed the posteriors of its captors, or belly-crawled. Now, with 60 years of independence, and a President of the calibre of the present incumbent, the country holds its chin up.
Ambassadors should be familiar with the constitutions of the countries in which they serve. Oh, Robert Blake, you should have known, that the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of 1978 was certified on August 8, 1983, distinctly saying that “no person shall directly or indirectly promote, finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate state within the territory of Sri Lanka.”
Is it misguided etiquette, or a hangover of colonial subservience, subtle diplomacy or plain disinterest that any government agency has not told the Ambassador that he should hold his tongue lest he be declared persona non grata and asked to leave Lanka’s shore within a stipulated time?
Blake should have read the author John Perkin’s best seller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to know the shocking story of how America took over the world. America has not retreated. It seeks to continue on the same arrogant, repugnant path, and looks askance at Iran, possibly to lead the world into an inextricable catastrophe.
The 13th Amendment will open the door to separation. It is the secret ‘open sesame’ to separation. The country knows the bitter taste of the provincial council set-up, where the corrupt in the land battle for positions only to feather their nests, and not to render service to the province.
The APRC headed by a person who is believed to be a Marxist, backs the 13th Amendment, which will perpetuate friction leading to intermittent war. The situation calls for an intelligent leader like the incumbent President to intervene, brush aside the vexatious Articles of the Constitution, and go for improvised district councils, which will ensure peace throughout the country for no one ethnic community is likely to predominate, to be a source of irritation.
The President has the powers to do it, and thereafter seek ratification by Parliament. The district council will be a small manageable unit in full view of the public where the rogues and the corrupt cannot cover, and be easily spotted from the Presidential Secretariat, to ensure good governance and prevent political fiddling by foreign visitors with their own secret axes to grind. One could be the introduction of Christianity to Buddhist Sri Lanka!
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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