Colonial mindset

By Anuradha Dutt

‘Liberal’ West weeps over LTTE’s decimation

(June 03, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Some in the British Government seem to believe that the sun has not set over the empire. How does one otherwise view British Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s officious attempt to meddle in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, an erstwhile colony? Possibly in the same way that his lapse on Kashmir was condemned by Indian foreign office sources after he proclaimed that the Kashmir ‘issue’ needed to be resolved in order to curb Islamist terrorism.

After the Sri Lankan Army’s offensive against the LTTE wiped out its top leadership, and perhaps Tamil insurgency on the island nation after almost three decades, Western powers have been trying to mobilise international opinion against the military action by the Lankan Government. The effort is disguised as a human rights initiative, with concern being expressed for the safety of civilians.

Mr Miliband is most vocal in this respect. He speaks of how the Sri Lankan leadership should behave at this juncture: “This is the moment to show that it governs in the interest of all the people of Sri Lanka, not just some of them.” He also wants the military’s conduct to be scrutinised, as too the armed operation against the LTTE. He favours investigation of “serious and credible reports of war crimes,” though adding that there are charges against both sides, and these should be probed.

Such pronouncements have made Mr Miliband even more unpopular in Colombo than after his visit at the end of April when he, along with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner, tried vainly to pressurise the Lankan Government to call a ceasefire with the Tamil Tiger militants. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt was supposed to have joined this peace mission, but he was denied a visa by Sri Lankan authorities. European Union reacted adversely to this, leading to a diplomatic row.

The British emissary conveyed to Colombo that international calls for a ceasefire were intended to save civilians, not rebels. His visit was followed by a telephone call from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reiterating concerns about the plight of civilians but really pressing him to end the offensive. Mr Miliband must qualify as being the most unpopular foreign dignitary to visit the island country, for, even then protestors charged Britain with attempting to protect the militants. A few weeks later, the LTTE was brutally quelled. Celebrations were marked by a burning effigy of the Foreign Secretary being thrown on to the premises of the British High Commission in Colombo. To compound the insult, demonstrators threw rotten eggs and stones into the compound. The placards they carried displayed slogans like “Hands off Sri Lanka, we are not your colony” and “White Tiger”, an obvious allusion to Mr Miliband.

Even the British media’s reporting of the military operation and its aftermath mirrors a colonial, even imperialist bias. To quote from ‘Slaughter in Sri Lanka’, The Times, May 29:

Deeply disappointing was how a human rights group described the vote in the United Nations Human Rights Council, hailing the victory of the Sri Lankan Government. This is a breathtaking understatement. It was an utter disgrace. It was asked by its European members to investigate widespread reports of atrocities and war crimes committed by both Government troops and Tamil Tigers in the final weeks of the conflict. The council chose instead to debate a one-sided, mendacious and self-serving motion put forward by the Sri Lankans. This welcomed the “liberation” of tens of thousands of the island’s citizens, condemned the defeated Tigers, made no mention of the shelling of civilians and kept silent on the desperate need to allow the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups into the camps.

“Support for this deeply flawed resolution came from the usual suspects — China, Russia, India, Pakistan and a clutch of Asian and Islamic nations, determined to prevent the council ever investigating human rights violations in their own country.”

However, an entry on Mr Miliband’s internet site is edifying. Dated April 30, it states: “In the most recent combat operations, the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka have uncovered evidence of UN/NGO complicity with Tamil Tigers — use of equipment, vehicles as well as material and other support. As far as our own BBC complicity with the Tamil Tigers is concerned, it is well-documented and more than evident.”

Another entry states: “Diaspora is worried that if the war is over, they will lose their refugee status. The same diaspora that funded a terrorist outfit.”

The tremendous surge of sympathy in the West for militants who killed former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sri Lankan and Tamil leaders and thousands of civilians merits an explanation from Mr Miliband and others of his ilk.

-Sri Lanka Guardian