Of Tamil ethnicity, she is completely Sri Lankan, and is above all, a progressive, a broad internationalist and a Third Worldist. She is immune as Lakshman Kadirgamar was, to narrow ethnocentric loyalties and what he called ‘tribalism’. It is the duty of all patriotic Sri Lankans to fully support Ambassador Kunanayakam.
by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka
(August 28, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian) I returned from a week-long stay out of Paris, to discover an article by Malin Abeyatunga posted around August 20th, on Sri Lanka Guardian and LankaWeb, entitled ‘Will new Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office Ms Tamara Kunanayakam be able to deliver the goods?’
I thought I’d put my views on the record not only because commentator Abeyatunga has made a kind reference to me for which I thank him, but also because of my experience in and acquaintance with the UN HRC, Geneva.
Contrary to the doubts raised by correspondent Abeyatunga, I wish to place on public record my views on our new Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the UN, Geneva, Ms Tamara Kunanayakam.
I firmly believe that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Minister of External Affairs Prof GL Peiris have made an optimal and unerringly correct choice in picking Ambassador Kunanayakam for this vital frontline post.
I consider Ms Kunanayakam to be not only the best available choice for that post from among our serving diplomats, but also the best imaginable choice, if one were to think of all those who could have been invited to take up that post at this time.
She is not only the best read, politically literate, most intellectual and probably the most intelligent among our diplomats today (her last book on the political economy of global development was favorably reviewed in the prestigious Le Monde Diplomatique), she is also perhaps the clearest and most committed among our DPLs on the crucial matter of defending sovereignty from neo-colonialism, imperialism, hegemonism and external intervention.
Of Tamil ethnicity, she is completely Sri Lankan, and is above all, a progressive, a broad internationalist and a Third Worldist. She is immune as Lakshman Kadirgamar was, to narrow ethnocentric loyalties and what he called ‘tribalism’. It is the duty of all patriotic Sri Lankans to fully support Ambassador Kunanayakam.
I am personally aware of how highly she is regarded by Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela and the Latin American states who are in the vanguard of the struggle of the global South for the defense of sovereignty and against interventionism, and without whose support Sri Lanka could not have won in Geneva in May 2009 and cannot hope to prevail against our foes in any international arena. No ethnocentric or narrowly nationalistic Sinhalese or Tamil can hope to obtain their support.
I conclude by reproducing the comments made today by Prof Rajiva Wijesinha in an interview given to Rathindra Kuruwita of the Sunday Lakbima.
“Q: Earlier, we had talented persons such as Dayan Jayatillake and yourself handling the Human Rights issue but many are very critical of those who have replaced the previous teams. What is your assessment of those who are looking after our interests in these centres of power?
A: I think Dayan handled it earlier, and the rest of us who worked with him followed his advice, which is why we did so well. I have not been to Geneva recently but I believe some other members of the old team such as Minister Samarasinghe and the Attorney General, who were also extremely successful, did attend. Now that I have met our new ambassador there, Tamara Kunanayagam, I believe that – though Dayan of course is irreplaceable – she will do an excellent job. I was privileged to meet ambassadors who had known her when she was in Brazil, and it was clear that she had made a fantastic impact there, which I believe she will replicate in Geneva. She did kindly ask me to attend this time – as Minister Samarasinghe did earlier in the year – and the President approved this, but I had personal reasons for declining which were accepted. I would certainly be honoured to work with her in the future if she asks though those working with her this time will, I am sure, do whatever is needed most efficiently.” (‘West thinks of regime change; has the power to do it’, Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, Sunday Lakbimanews, Aug 28, 2011)
Given that Prof Wijesinha, more than any other, was my main partner in the crucial and victorious battles in Geneva in 2007-9, and that he remains a foremost defender of Sri Lanka in the global media (including on the BBC’s Hard Talk), his views on this matter must be regarded as authoritative. I completely, heartily and unhesitatingly endorse what he says on Ambassador Kunanayakam.
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