An open letter to Dear Mr. Miliband,Member of Parliament for South Shields, The House of Commons
by Gaja Lakshmi Paramasivam
(June 22, Melbourne, Sri Lanka Guardian) I write in response to the above article by yourself and Mr. Bernard Kouchner, published yesterday in The New York Times.
You say in this article ‘In April 2009, we travelled together as foreign ministers to Sri Lanka, as 25 years of fighting between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers neared its end.
The remaining fighters were trapped in the northern most part of the country — along with large numbers of civilians. U.N. estimates put the numbers of civilians there in the last few months of the war at over 300,000.
Our purpose was simple: to draw attention to the human suffering, to call for humanitarian aid and workers to be allowed in, and to call for the fighting to stop.
We visited refugee camps that had been created to house Tamil refugees from Jaffna. Their stories were brutal and shocking. Random shelling in areas of fighting — including after the government had announced an end to fighting. Men and boys taken away from refugee camps — and now out of contact. Tamil life treated as fourth or fifth class. If foreign policy is about anything, it should be about stopping this kind of inhumanity. ‘
At the time of the above experience, you were Foreign Ministers. Your reports therefore ought to have been published in the consciousness of Common Administrative Due Processes so that others in similar positions and structures could also have strengthened their Common Structures and Processes in this issue, through your experiences in Sri Lanka. To my mind, the current article needs to be taken as diplomatic advice to those who have exhausted their respective administrative processes.
You say that you wanted to ‘call for the fighting to stop’. To my mind there were many opportunities over the 25 years of conflict for Foreign Ministers of the West to ‘call for the conflict to stop’. Then you would have been speaking to those who were more likely to listen to you. If there are at least 300,000 refugees from Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom and they are still carrying the wounds of war actively – then your Government is as guilty as the Sri Lankan government that did not stop this war at the last minute. Once in the battlefield against civilians forces, it is beyond the control of the Administration. In fact it needs to be a war based on Truth – for us to learn lasting lessons. The West comes and goes as suits Its purposes. Even to many Diaspora Tamils this has now become largely a social issue. Politicians and before them Administrators, have failed to find/develop a solution. It’s the civilian without portfolio, that can bring about a solution one the basis of her/his Truth.
Your laws and policies are beyond comprehension of the ordinary Sri Lankan on both sides. Most British would have taken long years of simple adherence to Rules and Due Processes to appreciate those policies and think together. My recent experiences continue to confirm that Tamils living in the West have become weaker due to leaving ‘home’ without adequate preparation to follow Common Processes of their new environments. It would take them long years to appreciate and practice naturally your policies. If you therefore ‘show’ premature results as per your path, their minds are likely to waver between quick outcomes in Sri Lanka and gradual settlement in your countries.
The way each one of us relates to ‘facts’ / ‘what happened’ would be different. Each interpretation is valid to the extent of our own Truth. Our Truth is our own experience. This may or may not be at the scene where these facts were born. It could have been before in the same environment – as is the case with most refugees or it could be through identification with those who had the direct experience. The best suited for the latter are Tamils who feel the pain of the victims as their own – not because they ‘saw’ and ‘heard’ but because of their common faith through common life. Those who become more active during such manifestations of ‘facts’ are actually ‘outsiders’. Outsiders have to calculate and know. Insiders believe and that belief is the best solution/cure. More and more Tamils going back directly to be with the victims and their communities, are that solution. Tamils in Northern Sri Lanka certainly need that sharing of leadership wisdom. Others who find it too painful to go back – need to join ‘outsiders’ including Western Governments – and express themselves through Common Systems and Due Processes and not as per individual thinking. That is the solution Sri Lanka needs, to be part of the outside world dominated by the West.
To my mind, these reports including yours, confirm that both sides are at fault in terms of war atrocities. The degree of responsibility to protect those who ‘trusted’ the respective leaders needs to be taken into account in quantifying the ‘blame’. Given that the LTTE is no longer ‘seen’ as a possible political leader of Tamils, it is important that we focus more on developing strong Administrative and business leadership in Northern Sri Lanka which led the war on the side of Tamils.
As a Tamil, I was denied access into your embassy in Sri Lanka when I sought to help a fellow Tamil get a mistake made by your embassy rectified so she could start her course on time. This has never happened to me in Sri Lanka where I as an ordinary civilian am still able to work the ‘system’ comfortably. In other words it is as difficult for me to become British in a short space of time – as it is for you to become Sri Lankan in short space of time – i.e. - the time of war.
We all have roles to play – each one as per our Truth and Official Responsibilities. The inside experiences need to be shared Naturally by the victims through their Natural environments. They should not be hijacked by outsiders. Outsiders need to calculate and assess through Globally applicable Systems towards a Common solution that all investors could identify with.
You confirm this by stating ‘Kofi Annan has said that the international community cannot be selective in its approach to upholding the rule of law.’
Leaders in Global Governance such as yourselves, need to show the way forward, through your own reports and conduct. The basic standard required in this instance was for you to follow Due Processes of the UN, or demonstrate your interpretation of the relevant UN Policy to support your actions. We see no such reference in relation to this from you. For example – which policy of the UN authorized you as Foreign Ministers to visit the camps?
Bilateral agreements and actions dilute our investments in Common Values and Principles. Bilateral agreements are good to be used in private and that too in emergencies. At all other times – our work needs to merge with wider society through Common Paths or remain within the boundaries of our own Truth where they naturally strengthen our environment. Due Processes followed by others on the basis of our Common work, would strengthen our Common systems to help us use each other’s solutions. Without that base – any answer would be premature and/or proposed solution would be academic and would not reach the grassroots.
Finally, your presence in Sri Lanka, as a British is deeply valued by many of us who feel close ties with the British through various Common Systems – especially our systems of Public Administration. It is my understanding that the Criminal Justice system of Sri Lanka continues to follow the English Law. In addition to this we continue to use Roman-Dutch law in civil matters. The Customary law of Tamils – Thesawalamai - is applicable even today in Northern Sri Lanka. This confirms our diversity and equal status as other races in areas covered by Thesawalamai. Inheritance and Land issues – the rights of women and children in relation to inheritance are all covered by Thesawalamai. The acceptance of these customary laws by the National Government is confirmation of our Sovereignty as Communities. We need to practice and value ourselves through these laws until we have invested enough in Democracy and Equal Opportunity Values. A survey of the Tamil refugee community in the U.K. is likely to confirm that we still practice Thesawalamai through the dowry system. We thus dilute our claim to being a sovereign community unless we allocate equal share of our wealth to sons.
Ultimately, the confirmation that we have contributed positively to society is that we are able to see ourselves in others and need no other motivation to contribute.
In conclusion, I seek to state that to my mind, Sri Lanka, means different values to each one of us. As per the title ‘Silence of Sri Lanka’ I take it that to you Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan Government. Administratively it is. To me, I am Sri Lanka and I have NOT been silent. I expect that to be accepted and respected by all concerned including the Government of Sri Lanka which is only half of Sri Lanka to the Democratic Administrator in me. I am the other half until we become One. If this happens more through Northern Sri Lanka and Tamils than through Colombo – then my Capital of Sri Lanka is Jaffna. That is how I devolve authority, based on my Truth.
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