Asoka WeerasingheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada

4 November 2012

Hon. John Baird P.C., MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons, Ottawa

Honourable Minister:

Re: CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s comments on Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review 2012.

The report in Colombo Page of November 3 says: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- Welcoming the steps taken by the government to implement the Human Rights Council Resolution of March 22, 2012, Canada urged the government to expedite implementation of reconciliation measures in the North including the reduction of military presence in the North and setting a specific date for Northern Provincial Council elections. Canada also called on repealing certain clauses of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to ensure detaineesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ safety and rights.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

As a keen student of Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”internal affairsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  pressures and unwarranted interference by outside forces like Canada, CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s statement at the UN needs comments.

1. I thought it was somewhat heartening that CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s statement has more or less kept the door ajar for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to attend the Commonwealth Summit 2013 in Colombo.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  With the original strong stubborn ballyhoo wanting to play Pied Piper to rally other nations to boycott the summit andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  having failed, I have paled myself knowing that it wouldnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t matter two prairie strawsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to me whether he attends the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo or not.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The other Commonwealth nations will carry on with their Agenda to get things done to benefit the Commonwealth of Nations, especially the developing nations.
   
2. CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s statement at the UN wanting the government of Sri Lanka to expedite implementation of reconciliation measures is easy for Canada to say, playing the game of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”White Viceroys and Brown MinionsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ImplementationsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in a democracy is not all that easy and straightforward, as Canada knows with several Royal Commission Reports still sitting on shelves collecting dust.
   

When playing the game of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-White Viceroys and Brown MinionsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ it is easy for Canada to lose its corporate memory and forget what really happened in Canada in this context.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  HereƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s one for you Minister.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) established in 1991 was to address many issues of aboriginal status that had come to light with the then recent events like the Oka Crisis and the Meech Lake Accord.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This commission culminated in a final report of 4000 pages published in 1996.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  To date the federal government (which is you) has not implemented the RCAP recommendations.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This report ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-set out a 20 year agenda for implementing changes.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

So Minister, our Canadian representativeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s riding on their high horses in to GenevaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s UN Chambers had the gall and temerity to demand from Sri Lanka urging the Government to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-expedite implementation of reconciliation measures in the NorthƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Shish! Canada was certainly not addressing a crowd of Sri Lankan High School students.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  These are the guys and gals who suffered for 27 bloody years before kicking the butts of the foreign, including Canada, supported Tamil Tiger terrorists and wiped them out militarily on 19 May 2009.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They eliminated these ruthless Tamil Tigers who haemorrhaged that island nation for 27 years, almost single handed, and are now trying to get on their feet andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  are doing fine in their own possible time-line to reconcile the aggrieved peoples and develop the bullet and bomb pock marked peninsular.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s stop playing the cruel game of I am the big guy, the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-White Viceroy bully and do as you are told or elseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

More on CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Human Rights front, which should stall your arrogance to tell Sri Lanka, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-We are Holier than ThouƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, when on February 25, 2013, Canada will appear before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to face allegations that it is racially discriminating against First Nations children by providing flawed and inequitable funding and policies for First Nations and family services Reserves.

And on all accounts, the Tamils up North of Sri Lanka are thousand times better off than the First Nations peoples in Canadian Reserves.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And more closer to home, the Tamils in the North of Sri Lanka are far better off than the Dalits of South India.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  I say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-HipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.HipƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦HoorayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to Brave Sri Lanka and pop a bottle of champagne to celebrate its great achievements since the war ended.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  This island also happens to be my Motherland that I am guarding its good name with a passion.

3.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And Canada had said: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦..reconciliation in the North including the reduction of military presence in the NorthƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

We Canadians are certainly an amazing lot, arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t we Minister, poking our fingers unnecessarily into Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s security and internal affair?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  If Sri Lanka poked its fingers into CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Security and Internal Affair, I know where you, with your pit-bull persona, would ask Sri Lanka to go.

The Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s army is in the North for a specific purpose.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  To secure the sovereignty of the island, as the North has shown its vulnerability in the past, like the untrustworthy neighbour India, violating Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s sovereign Northern air space by flying low screaming Mirage 2000s in June 1987 on a relief drop of 25 tons of parippu to Jaffna peninsulaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s 800,000 Tamils from four Anatov Transport planes, to force Sri Lanka to sign the Indo-Lanka AccordƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  on 29 July 1987; Like the Chief Minister Jayalalitha of IndiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s southern state Tamil Nadu threatening to invade Sri Lanka; like the proxy Tamil Tiger groups abroad, as in Canada, still dreaming of their mythical separate state Eelam and collecting funds for that cause as they did before the demise of the Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka.

We Canadians are obviously not listening to the Sri Lankan Administration when they say that there is no intrusive military presence impacting on civilians lives in the North, in Jaffna or in the Wanni.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That they have reduced the military personnel significantly in the North since the end of the conflict on 19 May 2009.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  But however, like the Canadian Army helping the government during crises like the Manitoba Red RiverƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  valley flooding, etc, the Sri Lankan army between May 2009 to October 2012 have constructed 4,652 permanent new houses and whatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wrong with that Minister?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The army has constructed 6,171 semi-permanent houses.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  They have constructed 73 new schools, renovated nearly 500 old schools and constructed 23 school playgrounds, and whatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wrong with that Minister?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  You cannot penalize Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  for such acts done for the welfare of their country just because a few Tamils in the Greater Toronto Area whine to theirƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Conservative MPs like a pack of lost coyotes. The army has renovated 7,454 houses, through their initiatives and efforts. And whatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wrong with that Minister?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Surely you are not going to dismiss and pooh-pooh the armyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s efforts during the Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s crisis to appease your Tamil voter-bloc, are you Minister?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Come on Minister, letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s get real!

And I wish the Sri Lankan Government point out this to you Minister and the Canadian representatives at the UN in Geneva ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-That arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you Canadians under the pretext of the war on terror and through initiatives such as the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), as well as other commitments, has an ongoing effort to further harmonize North American Security priorities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  IsnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t the militarization of the continent along with US-Canada integration is taking place in areas of law enforcement, border services and armed forces.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And all this when Canada has not even experienced what Sri Lanka has been subjected to major Tamil Tiger terrorist attacks involving loss of life.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Your biggest terrorist attack was the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985 killing 312 Canadian-Indian citizens over the ocean, but Sri Lanka has seen umpteen number of Tamil Tiger terrorist attacks on land including 388 suicide bomb attacks killing scores of hundreds of innocent people, and maiming for life thousands of others.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t you see that what is good for the goose surely is good for the gander?ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  So Minister, that is CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”s hypocrisy when dealing with Sri Lanka.

4.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Canadian statement at the UNƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Geneva Review for progress in resettlement and efforts for reconciliation: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Canada also called on repealing certain clauses of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to ensure detaineeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s safety and right.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  WhatƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s all this hypocrisy Canada?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And I wished the Sri Lanka Government responded to this statement like this:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-While we appreciate the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s observation about our Prevention of Terrorism Act, perhaps it would be pertinent to inform the Council that we had studied CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s successful War Measures Act and our PTA was almost a copy cat Act of theirs, and we question why this questionable refinement, as we trust that what was good for the goose then should be good for the gander now.

It should also be noted that as for our Prevention of Terrorism Act, many countries including our giant neighbour India, have witnessed draconian laws being enacted, constitutions being violated, and citizens placed in peril through this principle.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  However, each of these departures has been justified politically and legally when exigencies threatened the very survival of a nation.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Beginning with a decision of the Supreme Court of Cyprus in 1964, the courts in Nigeria, Ghana and Pakistan have held that persons in power may act through extraordinary legislation departing from all accepted norms of good government, including the violation of the constitution, if they could establish that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.the evil perpetrated upon the citizens by so departing is less than the evil avoided by such departure.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

And so we saw the invoking ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the War Measures Act by Prime Minister Pierre TrudeauƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Liberal Government on 16 October 1970, that got the military onto the streets of Montreal and Ottawa with their guns on the ready to shoot.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  All this was to get rid of a few FLQ (Le Front de liberation du Quebec) terrorists who planted a few mail box bombs and killed Pierre Laporte, Quebec ProvinceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Labour Minister and the kidnapping of James Richard Cross,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  British Trade Counselor.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  When compared to the Tamil Tiger terrorists killings in Sri Lanka, what happened in Canada in October 1970 looks like a mere childƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s play of cops-and-robbers.

Sri Lanka underwent horrendous assassinations by Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, bombs, and sniper shootings of politicians like, President Ranasinghe Premadasa (equivalent to CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Prime Minister Stephen Harper), two Foreign Ministers Ranjan Wijeratne and Lakshman Kadiragamar (CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lawrence Cannon and John Baird), Labour Minister C.V. Gunaratna (CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lisa Raitt),ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Leader of the Opposition A Amirthalingam (CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Tom Mulcair), three Mayors of Jaffna (three Mayors of Montreal) and several other politicians.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  And that is why the PTA is in place in Sri Lanka with warts and all.

Perhaps it would be worthy to note when a reporter asked Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau how far he was prepared to go trying to quell the October 70ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  terrorist crisis, his answer was, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Just watch me!ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ These are theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  very words that echoed through President Mahinda RajapaksaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  silent voice about the serial killer Tamil Tigers. And further, you may or may not remember what Prime Minister Trudeau said to a reporter, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Yes, well. There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t like to see people in helmets and guns. All what I can say is go on and bleed.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Words that may very well echo through President Mahinda RajapaksaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  silent voice, to people who want to dilute Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Prevention of Terrorist Act.

As a concluding note Minister Baird, when growing up in Colombo my wise old Mother always reminded admonishing me in a way, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Putha (son) if you donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t have anything nice to say about anyone, then please shut up.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Well, perhaps this is an appropriate piece of advice that I am willing pass on to you.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-If you donƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t have anything nice to say of the positives happening in Sri Lanka after the end of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  separatist terrorist Eelam war, then please shut up at international fora and stop trying to hurt my Motherland, Sri Lanka, just to obtain a few Tamil votes for yours and my Conservative party.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Remember that you will be hurting 21 million people who just want to get on with their lives.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Sincerely,

Asoka Weerasinghe

(a sustaining donor of the Conservative Party)