Dr Bandula Kothalawala

It seems that the mountain, after lengthy painful labour, has given birth to a tiny, shapeless, still-born mouse, albeit, to the apparent delight of a senile, spineless dad. Mr Ban Ki-Moon – putative father – and the hangers-on are desperately and shamelessly trying to swaddle the baby tightly in a UN garb so that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-international con-munityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ can be conned into recognizing it as its own. No doubt, the three magi ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” US, UK and France ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” will pay homage to the new-born creature in due course. Meanwhile, our heart-felt congratulations go out to Mr Vladimir P. Mikhaylov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Colombo, for spotting the cuckoo in the UN nest!

In December 2010, in anticipation of the publication of the Report of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-UN PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, I sought to set out the reasons as to why the Government of Sri Lanka should reject the the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-UN PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

Mr Ban Ki-Moon, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-UN PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ and War Crimes, 12 Dec 2010

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2010/12/12/mr-ban-ki-moon%E2%80%9Dun-panel%E2%80%9D-and-war-crimes/

I do not hold a different view now.

That the UN Secretary-General has demeaned himself by acting as a surrogate to the rump of the LTTE, its mercenaries and the big barons of the human rights industry in their sordid enterprise to prevent the on-going reconciliation and reconstruction in Sri Lanka after a thirty-year destructive war beggars belief. Although the full Report of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ has not yet been released, the executive summary published in a number of newspapers demonstrates that it is a deceitful refinement and a clumsy distillation of a hotchpotch of rumours, gossip, half-truths and freshly laundered lies. Moreover, two of its authors (ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-expertsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚) are well-known critics of the Government of Sri Lanka. In fact, Mr Marzuki Darusman, IndonesiaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s former Attorney-General, had disagreements with the Government of Sri Lanka during a previous assignment and should have ruled himself out from the outset if he had had the foggiest idea of objectivity and impartiality. Mr Steven Ratner of the United States, too, has been critical of Sri Lanka and even advocated the use of the Anti-Apartheid Convention against the country. One wonders why Mr Bruce Fein was overlooked in the selection of the august ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PanelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚!

The end of the war in Sri Lanka came as a rude shock to many including hordes of corrupt politicians, big barons of the human rights industry and unscrupulous journalists in Europe, the USA and of course in Sri Lanka, for whom the national tragedy it had become an inexhaustible goldmine. Some of these born-again defenders of human rights who would not bat an eye-lid over the hecatomb inflicted upon Iraq and some other nations by the holy trinityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”US, UK and France ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” are impudently, but understandably, parading their consideration, concern, compassion and whatnot over alleged civilian victims of the war in Sri Lanka.

It appears that some of the angels have fallen on hard times. Surely, a bit of breast-beating in exchange for a few crumbs or an occasional meatless bone falling off LTTE tables is a welcome relief.

Dr Bandula Kothalawala