| by K. Godage
( March 3, 2013, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government knew that we would be facing resolutions at this UN HR Council session this year and should have anticipated its content and even its possible outcome if appropriate pre-emptive action was not taken. It would be of interest to the public of this country to know of the pre-emptive measures we have taken to head off any adverse actions by this UN body, particularly because from all reports we would face an extremely difficult situation which could even impinge of the sovereignty of our country.
Suffice it to say that Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe is a brave man to have accepted this assignment at such short notice, knowing what the outcome would be; we are happy and need to congratulate him for his comprehensive statement; he has categorically stated that "we strongly object to any unfair, biased and unprincipled and unjust approach that may be adopted by this Council with regard to the protection and promotion of Human Rights in Sri Lanka". He has also taken on Navi Pillai, who is making sweeping generalizations such as "massive violations of Human Rights’’ and in the words of Minister Samarasinghe been constantly targeting Sri Lanka based "on unsubstantiated evidence founded on conjecture…."
There is little doubt that she is wholly biased and has by her own statements given the impression that she is totally influenced by the Tamil diaspora. We are no doubt facing an extreme challenge from bullies who have taken us on because they could do so with impunity and not so much on principle but more to please their paymasters in the diaspora. What more needs to be said than the fact that the Global Tamil Forum which supports the establishment of Eelam held their third anniversary conference in Committee Room A in the British Parliament with the pro LTTE TNA and the British Deputy PM Clegg and Erik Solheim amongst others attending!
Though the war is over and the terrorists have been defeated we will continue to have to counter the equally powerful diaspora and this can be done by reaching out to the Tamil people living in this country which is as much theirs as it is ours. The government should now set about the task of building one Sri Lanka Nation, we MUST address the causes of the 30-year war and address those causes.
Whilst acknowledging that we need to not only implement the recommendations in the LLRC Report but to reach out to our fellow Tamil brethren who must be politically empowered on the basis of subsidiarity, there is indeed much more work that needs to be done to win the hearts and minds of these people; yes as stated earlier let us honestly address the causes of the conflict, which to my mind goes back particularly to 1956 and discriminatory acts such as the standardization which affected hundreds of Tamil youth who were aspiring for a university education. Education was and is the ticket to liberation especially for the people of the north. Let us build one Sri Lanka nation. These resolutions will not help to create a single Sri Lanka Nation for they are all a part of a fault finding exercise and there is nothing constructive in them and there is no acknowledgement of the tremendous work done towards physical and humanitarian development in the North in particular; nor is there any hope held out to help our country achieve what all of us yearn for, namely peace, stability and unity.
A paragraph of the resolution which has been published reads, "An independent and credible investigation into alleged violations of International human rights and humanitarian law and to also monitor any domestic accountability process;’’ there is no question that such ‘monitoring’ would amount to violation of our sovereignty and we should not allow it for we have at all times cooperated with the UN HRC and they should not be allowed to take us for granted. Further this if allowed to pass would create a precedent that would allow the powerful countries to use the precedent as a weapon against smaller countries.
To another matter of interest, why have we described this operation as a ``humanitarian operation?’’ This I cannot understand, for it was a WAR - without apologies, a war against a terrorist group, described as the most powerful such group in the world, who were seeking to secede and establish a separate state.
The humanitarian operation was only at the latter stages of the war when we sought to save the thousands who were being held hostage by LTTE. A war is a war and we need to recall that 30 million of the 50 million who died in the Second World War were civilians; and as has happened in every armed conflict civilians suffer the most. But of course if there has been a deliberate targeting of civilians that would certainly constitute murder.
This raises another issue who are ‘combatants’ and who are not. There were times when persons dressed as civilians turned out to be real combatants - take the suicide killers of Rajiv Gandhi and Premadasa to name but two. Then the question arises as to how a soldier whilst in the thick of battle could be expected to make absolutely certain before he fires on the person approaching him is not a suicide bomber? Should the benefit of doubt not be given to the soldier? Then there are those civilians who assisted the LTTE by building bunkers and earth dams and supported the war effort voluntarily in many ways. Are they to be considered non combatants and ‘civilians’? Do such persons have a right to ask for protection under the so-called humanitarian law? So the question arises as to who was a combatant and who was not.
The so-called demand of the UN to "initiate credible and independent action to ensure justice, equity…..’ etc constitutes a gross violation of our sovereignty, recognized in the Geneva Convention itself. As for the presence of the security forces in the conflict areas in the North and East, this can be justified for many reasons. The country’s security should have the highest priority and intelligence gathering is absolutely vital to ensure the security of the country. It would be downright foolish to think that since the war is over our security is ensured for all time. We need to be vigilant for many years to come.
As for India supporting the US Resolution, the reason is absolutely obvious. General elections are less than a year away and at present the Congress led coalition is depended on almost 16 MPs from Tamil Nadu to remain in office. There is no question that the government will not want to go to the polls just now. The present Indian government voting for the US resolution is not any act out of hostility towards this country but entirely because the government has to ensure its own existence.
As for Jayalalitha, we should not take what she says too seriously. We should without further delay establish consulates in all four Southern States of India. It is in our interest to do so as soon as possible.
I wish to share a thought with our readers. Where would Britain have stood had they yet owned tea plantations in this country? And what would the US position have been had Motorola, Harris Semi Conductors and three other US giants in the computer chip making area remained in this country? They stopped their building operations and left after the horrible happening of July ‘ 83. Then US investments here would have been the same as in Malaysia today - enormous.
Before I conclude I wish to place on record that last year too we had a very obnoxious Resolution moved against us by the US in Geneva and despite the Anti Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Malaysia demanding that she votes for the Resolution, I was able not only to get Malaysia to abstain but I was also able to get Prime Minister Naguib to confirm that they would do so in a telephone conversation which I was able to arrange with our President. And what was my reward? I was recalled!
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