Has govt. mended relations with west?
Posted on September 5th, 2016
HERMES Courtesy The Island
According to several analysts and columnists, the Yahapalana government has mended relations with the West, which had been badly damaged by the previous government. This point of view is simply not correct. The truth of the matter is that when the previous government wanted to conduct the war against the LTTE to a conclusion and rid the country of terrorism to save the people, the Western powers did their utmost to stop the war. The Rajapaksa government did not obey the orders of the West because it had the interest of the country at heart. Whereas, the present government has bent backwards to obey the dictates of the West, and co-sponsor a treacherous UNHRC Resolution that is inimical to the sovereignty and independence of the country.
The previous government saved the country at the cost of good relations with the West, while the present government mended those relations at the cost of independence of the country. This is the truth that everybody knows, whatever may be said to the contrary. If the previous government had listened to the West, bombs would still have been going off all over the country. It is now very easy for people to talk about foreign relations because they have a land to live in and talk without few. Now it is very easy for people to say that if Mahinda Rajapaksa had won the election, there would not have been any reconciliation between communities. If Prabhakaran had been alive, there would not have been a country for them to live in and make these utterances. How quickly have we forgotten everything!
We must understand why the West which was leading the campaign against terrorism in the world wanted the war against the worst terrorist group to be stopped. And when they failed to stop the war, they were frantically trying to rescue Prabhakaran! The previous government thwarted all those manoeuvers and succeeded in taking the war to its conclusion. Obviously, the West did not want the annihilation of the LTTE. They wanted it to remain a viable fighting unit in Sri Lanka and keep the country in a destabilized state, so that the West could retain a foothold here and pursue their geopolitical agenda in the region. LTTE was their tool.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, who did not obey their orders, had shown clearly that he was anti-imperialist and would not hesitate to get assistance from friendly countries like China and Russia, who unlike the West had no intention of intruding into our affairs. The West did not like what was happening, particularly the involvement of their rival powers in Sri Lanka. China’s assistance went a long way in developing this country; only those who refuse to see would deny that. These are the reasons for the West to fall out with Rajapaksa and help his enemies to defeat him. Rajapaksa did not make any special effort or blunders to spoil the relations with the West. He knew who our friends were and who the enemy. LTTE was our prime enemy and friends of our enemy were our enemies too.
As mentioned earlier, has the present government made any brilliant diplomatic manoeuvering to mend the relations with the West? All it has done was to unashamedly co-sponsor a UNHRC Resolution, which helped the West to get a grip on the affairs of the country. One could see how this move has helped the West to interfere in all crucial matters like national security, economy, constitution making, enactment of new laws like the Office for Missing Persons, and also promote divisive tendencies by frequently meeting and holding discussions with separatists. This is what the West has wanted all along and this is what Rajapaksa did not allow to happen. The present government has, for political expedience and personal vendetta, capitulated disregarding the country’s independence, whereas the previous government vehemently resisted all the imperialist forces in the interest of the country. All this shows the weakness of this government and the strength of the previous government with regard to foreign relations, not the opposite.
N. A. de S. AmaratungaA way out of ethnic imbroglio
I thought of writing this short note to commend Izeth Hussain, on the excellent article he wrote under the above title, published in The Island of the 27th ultimo. As readers of The Island may know, Izeth H, who is a regular contributor to The Island, is a retired Senior Foreign Service officer, who writes perceptively on a wide range of subjects of topical interest.
I find his contributions to be of immense value as IH, with his knowledge and wide experience distances himself from the prejudices and the biases that tend to creep in, even unwittingly, particularly when one analyses emotive issues of high sensitivity. In addressing the topic at hand, IH has shown remarkable perspicacity, in the candid manner he has handled contentious issues relating to a topic which affects minority ethnic groups, including the one to which he himself belongs. He has identified correctly the Western interlopers and spoilers (America and its Western allies) who, with their destructive, unwarranted meddling, have exacerbated problems here in SL. He has, further, unequivocally stated that these so called good Samaritans were pathologically prejudiced against SL whilst being very much supportive of the LTTE terrorists pursuing their separatist cause. They take it for granted that they have the prerogative right to intimidate small nations into submitting to their diktats, by constantly breathing down their necks. Strangely enough, IH has been somewhat charitable towards the Norwegian mediators and the ‘well intentioned efforts’ made by them to broker a negotiated peace settlement, all of which had according to him, gone awry due to the intransigence of the LTTE. I am sure the majority of the readers will not subscribe to this view, as it became abundantly clear by the partiality shown by the Norwegians towards the LTTE, particularly by their importunate insistence that the terrorists could never be defeated! The West, as well as the Norwegians, had their clandestine networks working in concert all the time, to bolster the LTTE in every conceivable way, while concurrently, enervating the Security Services, both materially and morally.
Now that the LTTE is no more, IH proffers sagely counsel to the Tamil minority to desist from pursuing their wild ‘ignis fatuus’ dream, of a separate homeland for themselves, and to resolve even at this late stage, to live in amity and harmony with the other communities within a democratically administered unified country, with due emphasis being laid on the fundamental principles of Equity and Justice. IH however, eschews a devolutionary arrangement based on ethnicity as this would only lead to the perpetuation of racial tensions and the resultant conflicts.
IH’s proposal would certainly be the ideal basis for a durable democratic settlement of the problem, if the Tamil leaders could convince themselves and the Tamil people, of its eminent desirability and feasibility. If however, the option is to have a devolution package as a viable alternative arrangement, the one likely to appeal to all concerned may be to have the District as the basic unit of devolution (whilst retaining police and land powers with the Centre), along with suitable power sharing arrangements at Cabinet level, to be made at the Centre.
HERMES
September 5th, 2016 at 8:17 pm
Excellent analyses by Hermes and N.A. deS A, the former for the appreciation of Izeth Hussain’s article and the latter for saying it like it is in terms of the so-called success of the Yahapalana group as it bends backwards in supplication to the West, while the previous government took a strong stand for its rights under International Law. If this is to be complimented the way some writers seem to suggest it is more of a crying shame for Sri Lanka which appears to have caved in to the Tamil Diaspora pressures brought via the US in particular.
The UNSG himself has admitted to the “mistakes” of the UN, but it looks like there are enough persons who would overlook this admission while they keep talking of the UNSG’s comments would give fuel to the LTTE supporters. It is tragic that there are Sri Lankans associated with successive governments who catch the wrong end of the stick and sacrifice what has been handed to them that could be used for the nation’s advantage. The Yahap govt. is marketing the impression that they have won over the West, when the reality is that the West is intent on subtle arm-twisting to bring Sri Lanka into its ambit for the West’s own advantage!
Is this Yahapalana govt. that naive??? Or do they take other Sri Lankans to be brainless idiots??
September 6th, 2016 at 1:55 am
Apart from highly commending you for taking legal action against the treacherous CBK (Chaura Rejina) regarding the defamatory and utter lies she keeps repeating to defame her rivals, legal action should be taken against her for stating that she will definitely devolve more powers to provincial Councils within the new constitution. Does this evil woman CBK think she owns Sri Lanka and that she is the one who is going to draw up the new constitution of Sri Lanka (according to the wishes of the imperialistic US, UK, EU, Canada, Norway, Sweden, India, the racist TNA and the separatist terrorists)? The constitution of Sri Lanka should satisfy first and foremost the majority of people of this island i.e. the Sinhala people and the Sinhala people firstly do not want to draw up a new constitution nor do they want any more powers whatsoever be provided to the provincial councils especially land, police and fiscal or to illegally merge the North and the East.
Someone has to go to the supreme court and take action against treacherous CBK for suggesting that she will definitely devolve more powers to provincial councils within the yet to be drawn up constitution since this means the treacherous Ranil, Sirisena, CBK and Mangala have already drawn up a constitution to satisfy the imperialistic US, UK, EU, Canada, Norway, Sweden, India, the racist TNA and the separatist terrorists which is illegal.
September 6th, 2016 at 1:56 am
When looking at Sri Lanka’s history, it is extremely obvious that from 600BC to around 1400AD there were three kingdoms, all Sinhala Buddhist, Ruhuna, Pihiti or Rajarata and Maya or Malayarata. Rajarata encompassed today’s North Central, North Western, Northern and even the Central Province. Ruhunu rata encompassed today’s Uva, Eastern and Southern Provinces. The Kandyan Kingdom from 1400AD encompassed most of the island inclusive of today’s Northern and the Eastern Provinces except for the Jaffna Peninsula. Even the Jaffna Peninsula was invaded and occupied by force by Aryachakravarthi (Pandyan) and actually did belong to Rajarata earlier and later the Kandyan Kingdom.
Today’s provincial boundaries were drawn up by the British colonialists as per their divide and rule policy and the Sinhala people were not consulted when drawing up these provincial boundaries. In the meantime, most Sri Lankan Tamils of today were actually brought over during Dutch and British times to the Jaffna Peninsula and elsewhere to work on tobacco and indigo plantations which were planted extensively in all the colonies since they were much sought after and made a lot of money for the colonialists. Therefore they are recent arrivals and cannot claim homelands or separate states whatsoever.
The usual practice when a colonial power hands over their former colonies is to hand it over to its original owners. Therefore the British colonialists should hand over the Kandyan Kingdom to the Kandyan Sinhalese from whom they took it by force. Since the Kandyan Kingdom encompassed the North and the East, these provinces too should be handed over to the Kandyan Sinhalese who are its rightful owners. Even the Jaffna Peninsula should be handed over to the Kandyan Sinhalese since it was part of Rajarata and was forcefully occupied by Aryachakravarthi (Pandyan).
Since this has now been done already, the TNA and other separatist terrorists or the US, UK EU, Canada, Norway, Sweden and India cannot demand that present day Northern or even the Eastern provinces be provided any more powers or be made into federal states since this is totally going against the history and archaeology of the island and totally going against the rights of the Sinhala people who also have fundamental rights to claim the entire island inclusive of the North and the East as their homeland first and foremost. Therefore, the TNA , the separatist terrorists, the US, UK, Norway, Sweden, Canada and India has to respect the history and archaeology of the island and accept that the present day provincial councils are more than sufficient to run the affairs of the provinces. Sri Lanka must be a unitary state and no more powers should be provided to the provincial councils. In fact, when talking about the 13th amendment, the concurrent list subjects must be included in the national list. The provision where two provinces can merge should be deleted. The bogus claim of the North and the East being the homeland of the Tamil speaking people should be deleted. The entire island should be declared the homeland of all its peoples.
Sinhala people should be resettled in the North in quite a large number if there is to be peace and harmony within the island since Sinhala people have every historical right to live in the North as well as the East. It is only due to ethnic cleansing of the North of Sinhala people by the LTTE and the other separatists that Sinhala people are not at present living in the North. Many thousands of landless elsewhere in the island especially Sinhala people should be provided land in the North since most of the vacant land in the country is in the North and in the East since both these provinces encompass over 28% of the land area of the island. Then only will there be peace since when people mix, there is more harmony. This is the only way towards peace and development in the island.
September 7th, 2016 at 12:42 pm
The West & the UN took NO ACTION when INDIA ILLEGALLY IMPOSED THE 13-A on Sri Lanka in 1987, under the JRJ govt. This 13-A is the one item that has brought Separatism to Sri Lanka, not Reconciliation, and so must be removed.
The West & the UN looked away when Tamil Leaders misled the Tamil people of Lanka with the Vadukoddai Resolution (1976). This Resolution gave birth to the LTTE, and this outfit was trained in INDIA in Tamil Nadu !
What right have the UN & the west to now dictate terms to Lanka and accuse Lanka for defending herself against LTTE Terrorism, a just war ?
To bring true Reconciliation between the Tamils and the rest of Sri Lanka :
* It is high time that the ILLEGAL 13-A is REMOVED.
* It is high time the demonical Vadukoddai Resolution (1976) is REVOKED OFFICIALLY by the Tamil Leaders.