Ira de Silva London, Ontario Canada

The Letters Editor
Toronto Star
Toronto, Ontario
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Dear Sir:
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Re: Long Arm ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka’s Toronto Envoy – Nov. 24,2009
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Reading this article I was glad to hear that finally we have an official from Sri Lanka who is not in Canada on aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ holiday paid for by the Sri Lankan tax payer but that he is doing what representatives are supposed to do, namely uphold the good name of the country they represent and in Sri Lanka’s case, give the lie to the false propaganda of the supporters of LTTE terrorism of whom there are thousands in Toronto.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
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Up to now, judging from the opinions expressed by it’s editors,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Toronto StarƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has been aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ loyal supporter ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ LTTE sympathisers in Toronto.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  From the tone of this article it appears that the writer is also objecting to a different opinion been expressed by the Consul General. He states that Sri Lanka’s government has a way of making itself heard ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and felt ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” in the person of its high profile Consul General in Toronto, Bandula Jayasekara. That indicates that up to now, he too has not heard a “voice” for Sri Lanka – itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is a compliment to the Consul General and Sri Lanka that at long last your readers and the public do not have only the opinions ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the pro-LTTEƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Canadian Tamil Congress spokesperson Poopalapillai andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Cheran Rudhramoorthy, a candidateƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ for the LTTE transnational government.
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As forƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, the writer claimsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the “voice of reason”. It is obvious that he is either unaware or chooses to ignore that Saravanamuttu,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is funded by international agencies with a vested interest in contributing to dissension and turmoil in Sri Lanka. Saravanamuttu is paid toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ carry out the programmesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of his paymasters.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Although his Centre was formed in 1996 to supposedly provide “conflict resolution”, it has not provided any valid or constructive contributions because it concentrated on being critical of the Government of Sri Lanka and had no answer or critique of the LTTE that was terrorising the country. There was no attempt at engaging the LTTE so it is difficult to understand how it could claim to provide conflict resolution in the Sri Lankan context. To say that he is one of Sri Lanka’s “foremost thinkers” ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ is indicative ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ either the writers superficial knowledge on Sri Lanka, that heƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ believes only LTTE propaganda or that heƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ too has fallen for the hype propagated to elevate Sarvaanamuttu so thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ he canƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ earn more dollars for his questionable Centre for Policy Alternatives.
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Yours truly,
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Ira de Silva
London, Ontario