Sri Lankan Government Responsible for Global Interferences

The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says that according to United Nations conventions and other related agreements to which Sri Lanka has been a signatory, the government cannot oppose any suggestions made by its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon or its member states in matters pertaining to probes in the context of those agreements and conventions.

The country also subscribes to the principle that people should not allow foreign powers to interfere in our internal affairs and to challenge our sovereignty. But we do have to work in concord with the world. It is the government that is paving the way for international forces to intercede in our matters and to challenge our sovereignty by its acts of political revenge, human right violations and other antidemocratic activities.

Human Rights Violations
The various other criticisms are being made about the escalating interference by other countries. Such interference has apparently increased in the recent past. He observed that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently said that a special panel should be appointed to probe human rights violations allegations against Sri Lanka.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has made public his firm resentment of this suggestion, but it is nothing but an attempt to deceive the people. Meanwhile, 'political infants' cradled in the lap of the government too shout down the suggestion made by Ban Ki-moon. All this melodrama is mere intentional posturing aimed at harnessing more votes in the coming general election. If they are true patriots they should be shouting in front of the President's House instead of demonstrating opposite the British High Commission.

Rebuilding Country
The need to rebuild this country is being strongly felt now that terrorism has been totally rooted out of this country. The United Nations and various other countries have stressed this point. The United Nations and the Sri Lankan Government agreed on certain matters and eventually both issued a joint statement. Certain actions that have to be implemented first and foremost in this regard have been highlighted in that statement such as conciliation among communities, national unity, impartiality, etc.

Moreover, the statement stressed the importance of resettling the internally displaced people in their native places and the need to provide them with sustainable livelihoods. The resolution asserted that human rights should be upheld and a transparent and acceptable administrative structure in the country be ensured while the Sri Lankan Government would be held accountable for any lapses in any of these areas. But the country is presently overwhelmed with media oppressions, political feuds, illegal activities, antidemocratic activities and blatant human rights violations. Hence, not a single pledge agreed upon in the UN agreement has been fulfilled.

Negative Ambience
In such a negative ambience, it is inevitable that the United Nations would step into the picture at some point of time. We too disapprove of interference by other countries in our affairs. But it is the government that helped create this situation.

The government speaks in English to establish various agreements with foreign bodies but deceives the people by speaking to them in Sinhalese on these matters. In addition, Ban Ki-moon only said that he wants to appoint a panel to observe the situation here. He never said he was going to appoint a team to investigate. But the government distorted his remarks and is trying to make fools out of people.

The people should understand that the government would obviously engage in this kind of ruse, particularly at election time. But to deceive the public with such colossal lies is despicable. If we have threats from foreign powers it is the government that invited such interference in it. Therefore, do not get deceived by the theatrics of the government. They are only good at play acting and know nothing about ruling a country.

Political Solution to Sri Lankan Problem

The British High Commission in Sri Lanka in a communiqué has stated Foreign Minister David Miliband was included in the list of speakers to address the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) conference, held in London, on the theme "a peaceful political solution to the Sri Lankan problem". The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which rejected a series of peace proposals and political packages by a number of governments which ruled Sri Lanka finally formulated the demand for a state of Eelam which was never realized, even until the death of LTTE supremo Prabhakaran.

Joining Democratic Process
The LTTE instead met its waterloo on the battlefront. Today, there is no problem in Sri Lanka. A large number of LTTE leaders have joined the democratic process.
At present, the Tamil people who were afraid of the hand grenade of the tigers and their assault rifles are now freed. They are now satisfied that terrorism has been annihilated from the country.

Future Prospects
Because of the LTTE factor, various segments of communities in this country were deeply concerned about their future. This has been cleared up to the extent that they are now satisfied that the war situation has completely faded away.
In this context the action taken by the UK's foreign minister creates new hope among the remaining terrorists. Therefore, the protest made by the government is by all means legal and right.

Sri Lankan Government Protests Over Miliband’s Participation in Tamil Forum

The Sri Lankan Government had lodged a strong protest against the participation of British Foreign Minister David Miliband in the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) conference held in London recently. The report added that Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned the acting British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mark Gooding to the Foreign Ministry to express his utmost dissatisfaction and concern regarding Miliband's conduct.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry had expressed its deepest concern and the government's protest against the association of the British foreign minister in the entire process at the forum. The action of the foreign minister of Sri Lanka was an exercise in diplomatic restraint. One can argue that the participation of British foreign minister in a conference of a Tamil or a Sinhalese organization in London cannot be taken as a violation of rights of another country. No other country has the moral or legal right to oppose such participation.

Battle Against LTTE
However, the Sri Lankan Government's perspective on this incident, in which the British Foreign Minister David Miliband participated in the Global Tamil Forum conference, which was known to have close linked with Tamil rebels, should be viewed in the context of the long drawn out 30-year war in the country in which large numbers of human beings were murdered by the inhuman Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization.

At a time when the Sri Lankan Government was fighting a battle against the LTTE, the British Government did not act in a manner that suggested it was in favor of the military action carried out by Sri Lanka.

Bogollagama's Interpretation
One can imagine that there is a large margin of difference in the British foreign minister participating in a forum of any other nationality or organization with exceptions to his involvement with the Global Tamil Forum. One cannot accept the premise that the British foreign minister was ignorant of the fact that the LTTE outfit which was even declared by the United States as one of the world's cruelest terrorist organizations was a segment of the Global Tamil Forum. Therefore, Rohitha Bogollagama's interpretation that David Miliband's action similar to supporting future terrorist objectives cannot be considered as wrong.

It is no secret that during the war between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, the British Government's indifference in fact was a loud call for the war to be stopped and safeguard the LTTE. Although the UK did not directly enunciate this idea, the end result of the efforts of the British Government to stop the ongoing war would have definitely resulted in protecting the LTTE leadership and their organization.

Objective of LTTE
The main objective of the LTTE was to create an Eelam State, a concept that world Tamil organizations have still not abandoned. No one can deny that they would have deviated from this objective even for a while. This is because at the time of the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran because of Army assaults, Kumaran Pathmanathan, one of the foremost characters who funded the movement, made a statement which caused concern in many world capitals. The statement attributed to Kumaran Pathmanathan is that "Even if Prabhakaran dies we are there for the organization" This statement of KP shows the indignation of the Tamils.

Therefore, if there is such an LTTE leader living in any part of the world, no onr can deny his relationship with the Global Tamil Forum. It has to be emphasized that the protest registered by the Sri Lankan Government against the British foreign minister's participation in the forum cannot be regarded as one that crosses the borders of diplomatic propriety.