Insight By Sunil Kumar

April 30th 2013
While it is the prerogative of the Canadian Government to launch any attack on Sri Lanka’s “appalling” record on democratic accountability based on how Canada percieves it, perhaps in a myopic and distortedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ perspective relative to assumed “human rights abuses”, Canada has also chosen to create controversies which merely intensify world opinion over the Commonwealth’s decision to allow Colombo to host the CHOGM meeting later this year.
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It also seems quite authoritative as well as unilateral on Canada’s part tantamount to being bourgeoisie and arrogantƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ despite the lack of tangible evidence yet Canada maintains this ‘gung ho’ attitude in typical “Bull in a Chinashop’ manner where other informed nations have stuck to their guns maintaining that there is no cause for an abandonment of venue and that Sri Lanka today is a Nation to be admired not trodden upon.
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Whether Canada and some other Commonwealth Nations boycott the sessions or not seems academic at this stage as the world needs to be made aware that the main reason for all the commotion is based mostly on the pressure the Global Tamil diaspora and a’ few’ other critics of Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ are exerting towards the issue and none other as neither Canada nor any other nation finger pointing at Sri Lanka really have a smidgen of evidence beyond speculation and hearsay towards the charges levelled at Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ where regardless of the stand they choose to take eventually the sessionsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in all probabilities willƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ go on uninterrupted as Sri Lanka has sufficient support and credibility on the internatiuonal stage towards this.

In support of this concept it has been heartening to learn that the Commonwealth General Secretary has stated that ” he saw no reason to strip Sri Lanka of the honour of staging the meeting in November despite mounting international concern over the country’s failure to tackle human rights abuses and demonstrate a clear commitment to democracy and the rule of law ” a concern more conjecturial than relevant to the realities of what Sri Lanka has been in the past and is today,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ which has now apparently become a regular cliche created by the adversaries and enemiesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of Sri Lanka.

Quck to jump on the conjecturial bandwagon and not surprisingly John Baird, Canada’s foreign minister has said he was stunned that Colombo was not facing censure for its behaviour but seems to have conveniently bypassed being shocked and stunned at what some of the real violators of Human Rights Abuses and suppressors ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ freedoms rampant in today’s world in glaring perspectiveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ are getting away with ( literally murder and genocide in the truestƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sense!ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ) and probably needs to re- assert his doubts about Sri Lanka and find out facts about what has transpired in Sri Lanka as a result of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ horrors of Tamil Tiger terrorism over the past three decades and what the Nation has been transformed into today through the efforts of the present Administration while acollading it rather than condemning itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ .

There is nothing apallingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ about how Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ prepares to host the CHOGM and to be theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ chair-in-residence of the Commonwealth for two years,”ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ contrary to whatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Canadian Government representative has indicated as realistically it is a privilege for Sri Lanka as well asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  deserving and being justifiable towards the causeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ based on how the administrationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and the armed forcesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  conducted matters relative towards the preservation of sovereignity and territorial integrity in the face of a huge terrorist onslaught which was eventually put down.
What is truly apalling is the nerve nations like Canada have towards opposing an unprecedented stand against a dangerous terrorist group which could easily have become a global manifestation as well asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  an infestation perhapsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ had they been permitted to continue.

The Canadian Minister ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ has also statedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ somewhat incongruously that”ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ CanadaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ did not get involved in the Commonwealth to accommodate evil; we came to combat it.”ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  where the response of combatting evilƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ wherever legitimately applicableƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ may be well and good but the term evil perhaps taken out of context and unbefitting and an apology to Sri Lanka perhaps in order! The only EVIL Sri Lanka knew in recent times has been the attrocities of the murderous Tamil Tigers the real axis of evil in Sri Lanka ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ who have incidentally quite ironically albeit thankfully from a Sri Lankan standpoint have been banned and outlawed in Canada so there appears to be also an inadvertent double standard here.
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Needless to say whether Canada or any other Commonwealth Nation demands it or not Sri Lanka has already set in placeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  notwithstanding the anticipated CHOGM hosting, to demonstrate its commitment to upholding the Commonwealth values of good governance, respect for human rights and that all important move towards establishing and maintaining a plurality towards accommodating the needs of every Sri Lankan in a climate more often than not hampered by the never ending haranguings by Canada’s “Holier than thou” mentality where Canada should focus attention to areas with a felt need towards the restoration of law and order and maintaining human rights which are abused on a daily basis quite unlike Sri Lanka where the climate has been calm and tranquil in the aftermath of the elimination of terrorism.”
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Canada has also made comments about displeasure over the impeachment of former Chief Justice as well as other Administrative decisions which are exclusivelyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  internal matters within the Nation’s Justice System and Constitution and not a privilege of Canadian entitlement and it is also recommended that a Canadian contingent visits Sri lanka today to judge for themselves whether all the accusations being thrown at Sri Lanka are really credible.
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Perhaps in conventional wisdom Canada should re-think the current stand on Sri Lankan matters to be more conducive towards the sanity that prevails there today while acknowledging the great measures of progress and development taken by the Administration from a first hand perspectiveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ rather than attempt to disruptƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ it whether inadvertently or not from a distance.