H. L. D. Mahindapala

The crisis facing human rights activists in Sri Lanka and also in the diaspora is escalating.

They come in all shapes and sizes and hardly anyone can clearly identify any one of them. Besides, there are so many of them running around like chooks without heads that you canƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t take corner without bumping into one of them.

Well, if you are not sure check the list below and if you fit into any one of them then you can call yourself a fighter for human rights wherever you are.

IF, FOR INSTANCE, YOU

1. Went on hunger strike in London, lying in front of Westminster, and ate a big Mac on the sly and got caught to the Daily Telegraph photographer

2. Collected millions to purchase arms in the underworld for PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s army and then blamed the Sri Lankan government saying it was not providing enough food for the Tamils

3. Bought cheap bottles of champagne in New York, Toronto, Sydney etc when Lakshman Kadirgamar and Neelan Tiruchelvam were murdered by Tigers but bought the best champagne when young girls were forced to abort their pregnancies so that they could die for Prabhakaran who was on his way to Nandthikadal . .

4. Said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Praise the LordƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ when Tamil Catholic priests grabbed the statue of Holy Mary at Madhu and ran into PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s territory.

5. Said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Haro HaraƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to the loud beat of nagasalam to drown the voices of children plucked forcibly from the Tamil parentsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ bosom and sent to fight for the Sun God in the Vanni.

6. Wrote an article or two to the Daily News about PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s abuse of children under the name of Radica — oops, forgot to put the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-lƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ at the end! — and manipulated your way to get a job in the UN to protect children at war and was quite pleased with writing futile bureaucratic reports that failed to save the children from the Tamil Pied Piper of Vanni

7. Tortured and massacred thousands of civilians in the fascist terrorist movement in the Sinhala south in the 70s and then posed as human rights activists in Australia or Hong Kong in the new millenium, pretending that they are the new saviours of human rights, democracy and liberty in Sri Lanka

8. Sported a fully shaven neo-Nazi hairstyle like Prof. Kingsley Damien of La Trobe University, Australia and addressed seminars as an expert on ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-concentration campsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in the Vanni.

9. Always blamed the Sri Lankan government even if 300,000 Tamils used as human shield were saved from the Tigers who were shooting the civlians when they were trying to escape.

10. Joined an NGO with stacks of foreign money allotted to protect the journalists and did the grand by wining and dining in five star hotels with that money and when caught red handed for playing out funds accused the Sri Lankan government of persecution and got refugee status in Germany, Switzerland, Australia etc.,

11. Posed under a patriotic name like Deshapriya (Lover of motherland) and ran down the nation to increase your credibility

11. Never failed to run down Sri Lanka and praised the Western countries which rose to great heights of power by massacring the natives, plundering their lands, denying them of their fundamental rights, their cultural heritage etc.,

12. Never said a word against France banning the veil covering the faces of Muslim women and condemned Sri Lanka (which incidentally provides the veils free) for denying minority rights

13. Had backed Ban Ki-MoonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s three-man panel of inquiry and condemned the Sri Lankan Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation

14. Had chastised the President of Sri Lanka for eating a piece of kiributh with the war-weary people after the defeat of worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s deadliest terrorists instead of pouring sand over his head to celebrate the victory in an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-unwinnable warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ like the Sultan who marched into Constantinople.

15. Got your free education from kindergarten to the university, if you got the benefits of free health and subsidized food, transport and social welfare from Sri Lanka and passed out as a highly skilled professional ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” qualified enough to occupy top positions in advanced countries abroad ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” and never ceased to accuse the Sri Lankan government of discrimination

16. Had told the whole world that the Tamils are discriminated at all levels in Sri Lanka and that even Muralitharan was deprived of his the right to throw deadly hand grenades for Prabhakaran by the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sinhala governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ which abducted him and forced him to throw doosras for the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sinhala OnlyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ cricket team

17. Had written articles to Pakiasothy SaravanamuttuƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Groundview complaining that the persecution of the Tamils in Sri Lanka is so vicious that over 56% of the Tamils are forced by the oppressive ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sinhala armyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to live with the Sinhalese in the south

18 Had also written that there is no pluralism, no multi-culturalism, no multi-ethnic democracy in Sri Lanka so much so that the minorities have congregated mostly in the city of Colombo reducing the majority Sinhalese into a minority and making the city of Colombo the only capital in the world where a member of the minority is the mayor.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

19. Are also a regular freeloader in the Western diplomatic cocktail circuit guzzling imported whiskey and beer and telling tales about the Sri Lankan situation which, according to them, is not managed properly by Mahinda Rajapakse for Ranil Wickremesinghe to win elections

20.. Never failed in all your waking hours to find some excuse to blame and condemn Sri Lanka as the hell-hole for all minorities —-ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

IF YOU HAD DONE ANY ONE OF THESE MENTIONED ABOVE THEN, MY SON, YOU DESERVE TO PASS OUT WITH FLYING COLOURS AS A TRUE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST.