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© In Retrospect ~by Sarath Kumara ~ For LankaWeb

August 19th 2007

All kudos to Sri Lanka's Senior Government Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle who on Saturday launched a scathing attack against United Nation’s Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ( some think of him in lighter vein as "Man Ki Boon!") who just like his obstreperous predecessor of alluded to past disrepute Kofi Annan seems to have a tendency towards verbosities defying logic and self oppinionated expressions totally unacceptable to his high office if it can be termed that as the UN seems to have become a media circus as of late with all the ungainly personalities who seem to gain access to its pinnacles where much more deserving personages are overlooked for the task perhaps by virtue of the presumed corruptions and bipartisanships leading upto the final selection!

One must also remember in this regard the scant respect the United States of America presently has (particularly at the level of its highest office! ) for this once prestigious organization where in this sense Ban Ki Moon should as the saying goes" go fly a kite!" with his equally verbose sidekick and UN Under Secretary For Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes who does indeed seem to be LTTE friendly at an extraordinary level if not as suggested by Minister Fernandopulle, " on the payroll of the LTTE" as otherwise why would he make pro LTTE statements to the International Community while using a flimsy excuse refering to the so called human rights abuses in Sri Lanka when the whole world knows the track record of the terrorists and their past history of crime murder and mayhem which coincides not onlywith human rights abuses but also crimes against humanity in the worst imaginable perspective?

Minister Fernandopulle does indeed have a right in his capacity as Minister and Chief Government Whip to take umbrage about contentious innuendos made irresponsibly by foreign dignitaries or anyone for that matter! where in his own own words he has said that "he does not give a damn about what "that 'foreigner' (Ki-moon) had to say" when the sentiments he has been affronted by relate to opinions in support of an internationally condemned group of murderous terrorists made by the UN Secretary and one of his undersecretaries! In yet another example of one of his regularly outspoken responses the world has come to recognize as courageous and to the point albeit at times scathing, the Minister has minced no words and is a tribute to all Sri Lankans in office. He has spared no pains in calling a spade a spade, this time the UN Boss sitting atop his high perch at the United Nations who seems to have forgotten his obligations of decorum towards his high office as well as the protocols towards Sri Lanka's status as a respected member of the United Nations!

Minister Fernandopulle, who is also Sri Lanka's Chief Government Whip, in proclaiming that he doesn't really give a damn about what the UN boss has to tell him or Sri Lanka and that he can say whatever he wants, has stuck to his guns that John Homesin his own opinon is a 'terrorist' who takes bribes from the LTTE where perhaps the direct accusation could be toned down towards posterity and merely suggest that in supporting the LTTE he appears to be colluding with the terrorists and case in point for the UN Secretary General to note also where he too would in all probabilities be better off maintaining a stiff upperlip rather than making a monkey of himself and presenting his Under Secretary Holmes as a painted angel in pursuit of peace whereas he has put his foot in a veritable bear trap which he might find it difficult to extricate himself from if his attitude and verbosity continues!!!

Minister Fernandopulle while indicating that he had a busy schedule and had better things to do rather than waste his time listening to what the UN boss and the likes had to say, appears to have been affronted by the authoritative attitude of the UN and has said quote “I do not care what the UN Secretary General says. We cannot allow any foreigner to come to our country and work against us. I am a busy man and I have bigger problems to worry about than a statement made by the UN Secretary General” end quote

The Minister who has no reservations towards anyone who falsely presents the LTTE as a legitimate entity and is the furthest from the truth given their reputation and track record has further emphasized that he would stand by his claim that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes is a “terrorist.” He has further said that he would not allow Holmes to continue tarnishing the reputation of the country in the international arena and is once more quoted as saying “We cannot allow outsiders to meddle in the internal affairs of our country! I am not going to be intimidated by anyone, even the UN Secretary General." end quote and perhaps very appropriately so!

The response of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appears to be somewhat of a feeble protestation that comments by a Sri Lankan Minister calling his humanitarian coordinator a “terrorist” were “unacceptable and unwarranted.” and that he fully supports the work of his emergency relief coordinator, John Holmes,” about whom he needs to re-assess his rhetoric and ask himself if there has been any real tangible evidence on which Holmes and consequently himself have based their seemingly misguided conclusions creating a falsified presentation about Sri Lanka to the world when there are far greater human rights and other violations taking place at this very moment not only in their respective backyards but also in more visible parts of the globe!.

In a response which seems equally duplicitous to his relative liabilities in having been obstreperous, John Holmes in a letter addressed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa has emphasized with a hollow ring to it that " the need to move on following 'wild allegations' made against him by some sections. Over the past week or so, I have been increasingly concerned that one comment of mine in response to a question raised by Reuters( blame it on the Reuters now!) attracted such disproportionate attention from the Sri Lankan media, and also from some official institutions and Cabinet members." where there seems to be nothing disproportionate about the attentions his verbosity has attracted from the world as well as certain official Sri Lankan institutions and the Cabinet.His concerns should be about the contentions statements he has made to the Media while on a foreign assignment enjoying the hospitality of the Nation hosting him!

It seems more an admission of guilt combined with discretion that he has not reacted appreciably to the allegations against him on the part of the Sri Lankan media and some members of the Government that his comments indicate pro LTTE bias where he falls short of being a terrorist himself according to some observers! The reference by Mr.Holmes to an implied threat about "teaching him a lesson" seems more conjecture in defence of his actions towards anticipated fallout rather than something of any concernable significance where by now it is hoped he has learned his lesson! One which would certainly dissuade any further confrontations with one of Sri Lanka's finest Administrators the astute and eloquently outspoken Mr Jeyaraj Fernandopulle!

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