Civilian predator Rajapakse Bros. calls for civilian safety in Libya

by Rajasingham Jayadevan

(March 23, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) ‘The issue of protection of the civilian population in Libya remains a concern for Sri Lanka’ states the press release of the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka. What a contradiction of a predator who presided over the mass killing and maiming of civilians in the final war with the LTTE in May 2009.

Having executed thousands of civilians in the close door war, Sri Lanka is trying to stand on moral high grounds to come to the aide of the brutal dictator Maumar El Gadafi by wolf crying on civilians casualties in Libya following the Allied Forces intervention. Having kept silent until his friend, the cruel dictator, was preying on his protesting civilian population, Sri Lanka has woken up under compulsion to the bombing raids to demand civilians should not killed in actions with the engagement of UN forces.

The wolf crying Sri Lanka, quoting the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 states: ‘measures taken under this resolution must be linked to the objective of protecting civilians and civilian populated areas. Their plight must not be allowed to deteriorate because of the use of violence. We urge on all parties the need for restraint in order to ensure the safety of civilians’. What a fallacy of a marauder who undermined the international standards and cries and committed untold war crimes of disproportionate scales. The very country is now pontificating to the world to respect human rights of the Libyan people.

Having engaged in a heavy handed manner to undermine an inquiry into the colossal civilian deaths, Sri Lanka is making pre-emptive statement about civilian casualties in Libya, knowing very well the modern warfare of the Allied Forces will cause minimum civilian casualties due to precision bombing of targets, unless the eccentric Libyan leader let loose a campaign of terror with his army like what the defence establishment did against the civilian in its war against the LTTE in May 2009.

Sri Lanka must do things in the way it tell others to do them. War in Sri Lanka was not simply a fight between two warring parties, it involved in addition raining of bombs and bullets on civilian targets, macabre killings of civilians and killing of surrendered LTTE men and women by the regular forces. United Nation is still unable to undertake an investigation on the irregular war of Rajapakse Bros. due to their stubbornness, despite international outcry for such an inquiry.

Even macabre killing of the LTTE leader Velupillai Pirabakaran and his family members must be treated as war crimes.

The countries that are involved in the Allied Forces engagements heavily practice the principle of rule of law in their own countries. Every action goes through a process of scrutiny and fair judgements unlike in Sri Lanka where hero worshiping undermines the rule of law. In the mature democracies any government actions that raises the public anger is openly dissected and lessons learnt to avoid recurrences of such failures in the future.

In Sri Lanka, such issues are suppressed and sham processes are undertaken to deceive the people and the international community.

Sri Lanka’s rationale for its whimper according its press release is its: ‘longstanding relationship with Libya’ and that it ‘deeply desires the early commencement of such a process’ – ‘a process of resolving differences through peaceful means and dialogue’. Where is this commitment in the pre-post war Sri Lanka? Skulduggery is the well practiced game to undermine the very process it pontificates to the outside world.

Will any nations involved in the action against Libya take notice of what Sri Lanka is saying the world to do? It is just a piece of paper written under extremely difficult circumstances due to pressure from Maumar Gadafi and his sycophants and unfortunately it failed to reflect any serious concerns or issues on the execution of the war.

Sri Lanka hopes and prays Gadafi will remain in the throne at the end of the Allied forces intervention and so that it can hug and kiss the Libyan leader, to get in kind financial benefits, for its loyalty. Sri Lanka could not think beyond, that the Allied Forces effort is fully costed (politically and financially) and is not going to allow the same mad regime to continue. Rajapakse’s must find ways to stretch its hands to the new regime and it is not going to be the Gadafi rule for the leaders of both countries to put their hands on their shoulders and for their cubs to hug and kiss to entertain the international audience.

Rajapakse & Co, must be thanking the God, that the UN was not proactive and the Allied Forces did not bomb the military targets of the warring parties to prevent unnecessary civilian casualties in Sri Lanka. If this had happened, the family partnership in throne would have been dismantled by now and just, accountable and accommodative governance would have paved the way in Sri Lanka to march forward with fortitude and unity.