CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar- “The Only Gem”

By Ramani D.Wickramaratne

The late Mr. Kadirgamar stood out as an experienced political figure in a political scenario that is full of corrupt, ambitious and self-serving politicians irrespective of which “colour” they represent in current Sri Lankan politics. Throughout his political career, he conducted himself (whether locally or internationally) with dignity, decorum and decency. In Sri Lankan politics, it is well known that our politicians have lost all sense of civilized behaviour- the only exception was the late Mr. Kadirgamar who always conducted himself who always conducted himself with the utmost restraint even at times when petty-minded politicians thought they were smarter than him by hurling accusations against him through the media or in parliament. Often, such politicians have had to swallow their own bitter pills! When he had to defend himself, he never ever used methods which were unbecoming of the position he held as Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka but used eloquent language with decent arguments to convince his adversaries.

Mr. Kadirgamar was an embodiment of wisdom. At international forums he was able to keep the audience spellbound with his awe-inspiring speeches which left the listening audience with lots of food for thought. It was his eloquence that was able to bring back Sri Lanka into a respected position in the international arena at a time when Sri Lanka had earned a notorious name for bribery & corruption which ruled the country during the 1977-1994 period in our history. Our country was thrown into the backwoods of international politics as no country took us seriously then. Once the late Mr. Kadirgamar took office as Foreign Minister of the PA Government in 1994, he worked tirelessly traveling to many countries, meeting Heads of State & Foreign Ministers explaining to them the true nature of the terrorist movement that was LTTE. It was his solely his efforts that convinced many western governments to ban the LTTE as a terrorist organization in their countries.

His efforts were most convincing given the fact that he himself was a Tamil but an educated civilized Tamil of impeccable character who was beyond petty party, racial or religious politics. To him, the important task on his hands was to restore the reputation of Sri Lanka and her people; To him, the most important agenda was to continue to maintain this country from fragmentation in the name of “ peace”; To him, the most important mission was to guarantee the self-respect and dignity of Sri Lanka as a sovereign and independent nation. To this end he worked tirelessly until the last.

Without reservations it could be said that one of the few wise decisions that our President took during the last 11 years in power- was to appoint the late Mr. Kadirgamar as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. He never failed her although she may have failed him many a time which left him frustrated and in a dilemma. The commitment he had towards his Motherland unfortunately, is not there in the minds of other politicians even after a dastardly terrorist act has been committed to wipe out the late Mr. Kadirgamar forever. His political career left him with very little privacy or freedom to do what he wanted, where he wanted when he wished to enjoy what any other individual in this country was free to do in order to enjoy life. The task he undertook for the sake of his Motherland, made him a prime target of terrorists who wished for his blood. Ultimately they succeeded!

While Sri Lanka is facing one of her darkest moments with the assassination of Mr. Kadirgamar, we still have ambitious self-serving politicians who are yet trying to molly-cuddle LTTE by shifting the blame to other targets! We still have politicians who are thinking of winning a Presidential Election! Without any hesitation one could say, that no other political party with aspirations to keep this country as a unitary & independent sovereign State, would want to destroy the “ One Gem “ we had- the one voice that spoke out loud and clear of the futility of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), the Joint-Mechanism of P-Toms which our President was adamant to sign as she promised it would bring “ everlasting peace” to this country. His was the one voice that told the SLMM and other Donor Countries that they were sadly wrong in their assumptions that the P-Toms will bring us the peace that they wanted us to believe! In death, the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar has proved beyond doubt that the LTTE has not, and will not stop their brutal killings, torturing of innocent civilians, kidnapping of children or their higher aspirations of fragmenting this country to achieve their ambitious ends.

What is most surprising even at this dark hour, is that the SLMM has the audacity to make a statement to say “ there is no evidence to indicate the LTTE was responsible”----------could you please tell us how much the LTTE pays you Monitoring Mission to be their mouthpiece? It would be worthwhile to remember that when Norway helped LTTE to smuggle in all the military equipment, when they smuggled Prabhakaran in and out of this country, when they have continued to turn a deaf ear to all the atrocities committed by the LTTE taking place in the North and East and in recent times especially after the signing of the “ Joint-Mechanism” to appease the LTTE, you have proved that your role has been a highly pro-LTTE agenda in this country- that you have aided and abetted with a terrorist organization to destabilize an independent sovereign State. It was also shocking to read in a news item sometime back that Mr. Soleheim supposedly made a statement when he entered this country before the signing of the P-Toms, that he was coming to check whether or not our government was going to sign it! We may also come to the assumption that the LTTE has the backing of the SLMM to assassinate the late Mr. Kadirgamar because he would not accept the notion that signing a mere paper, would change the mentality of blood-thirsty terrorists!

It is prudent to say that all those who promoted, aided and abetted the signing of the P-Toms are equally guilty for the death of the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar. His death without doubt, is a terrible loss to his beloved wife and close family members to whom we offer our heartfelt sincere condolences. The greater loss is for Sri Lanka which has lost one of her finest sons at the hands of terrorists. Politicians of the stature of the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar who stood taller than the rest, we Sri Lankans will never see in the near future!

According to the religious beliefs of his family, may we sincerely wish that the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar will attain the highest level in Eternal Peace- whether it be Nirvana, Moksha or Eternal Peace!

BACK TO LATEST NEWS

DISCLAIMER