Dr Bandula Kothalawala LondonN7

This is not really an attempt to console Sri Lankans distraught over Prime Minister Stephen HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s call on the leaders of the Commonwealth to have second thoughts about attending the Commonwealth Heads of GovernmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Meeting (CHOGM) due to be held in Colombo in 2013. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ His message, no doubt, left millions of Sri Lankans heartbroken!

Any hope of the troubled land being hallowed with the graceful presence of the likes of Mr Harper seems to be fast melting away like early autumnal snow on a sunny day in the Prime MinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Calgary constituency in Alberta. It will not be long before Mr HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s cousins of the Caucasian stock on the other side of the Atlanticand in the Pacific chime in. Two years from now, Colombo will definitely look a godforsaken capital without the great and the good of the planet gracing the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-occasionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

OfƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  late, Mr Harper and his chieftains in the Conservative Party have re-discovered the beauty and the charm of a rare species that used to terrorise the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lankafor over three decades. No one disputes Mr HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s right to boycott events in any part of the world, let alone, in Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, the Prime MinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s reasons and his melodramatic call on the kindred spirits are, at best, gratuitously entertaining, and, at worst, verge on stomach-churning hypocrisy. I have scanned quite a few of Mr HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s recent rants on human rights violations on his official website. There is no reference, let alone, condemnation of the plethora of unspeakably horrendous crimes committed by his powerful southern neighbour. Presumably, Mr HarperƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s conscience is not even mildly stirred by the frequent slaughter of civilians ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” innocent men, women and children – inIraq, Afghanistan and Libyaby his erstwhile buddies. Nor does he seem to feel any discomfort in the company of his southern neighbour who drenched Vietnam in the innocent blood of some 2m people. The horrors of the numerous war crimes committed by his Gallic cousins, still fresh in the minds of millions of Algerians, have no impact on the sanctimonious gentleman. Mr Harper did not look unduly perturbed when he met President Sarkozy in Parisin March this year. The horrors of the Rwandan massacres in which an estimated 800,000 people perished and FranceƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s responsibility in them and CanadaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s own share seemed light years away. I did not recall any call made by the Honourable Prime Minister for an international investigation into their role in the hecatomb. Nothing, but the cunningly concocted sob stories, rumours, gossip, innuendo, half truths and blatant lies propagated by the Diaspora, especially, those based in Toronto, appear to tug at his heart strings and move him to tears!

Mr Harper is, of course, entitled to his own ideas and ideals of the Commonwealth. However, for many of us who have some understanding of history, the Commonwealth is just another anachronistic outfit cobbled together by an unscrupulous and unrepentant colonial adventurer in the twilight of its empire to retain the loyalty and allegiance of millions and millions of unsuspecting people, ruthlessly bled dry by it for centuries, by pulling the wool over their eyes once again. One wonders why Mr Harper did not offer to host the august gathering in Calgary when the CHOGM decided to accept the invitation from Colombo. After all, Mr Harper and his fellow travellers were present in Trinidad and Tobagoin 2009 when the decision on the venue was taken. It would have saved billions of Rupees of Sri Lankan tax-payersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ money which could be more usefully spent, for instance, to improve the living conditions of the hapless people, notably, the Tamils, in the North and East of Sri Lanka, mauled by the Tigers which Mr Harper and his cousins on both sides of the Atlantic seem to have found lately so cute and cuddly.

It is high time that Mr Harper and the prolific breed of born-again defenders of human rights like him found some other fig leaf to conceal their own crimes.

Dr Bandula Kothalawala

LondonN7