Why is Sri Lanka’s External Affairs Minister keeping mum when Britain is humiliating Sri Lanka on our soil?
Posted on November 17th, 2013
Shenali D Waduge
Why did the President of this country have to end up defending the nation when those enjoying plush positions and virtually in orbit 24×7 roaming Western shores remain absolutely nonplussed about how to respond when the Prime Minister of Britain breaching all protocols insults us on our soil? Why has the External Affairs Minister or the Ministry not responded in any way to the snubs that have come pouring from Cameron both prior, during and even after his departure from Sri Lanka? We can count the number of people holding positions who have come out without being prompted to defend the nation and it goes to show what backboneless people serve as our representatives. Repeatedly highlighted have been instances how people who have been given positions with no electoral backing think that framed foreign doctorates more than suffices to hold position through the back door despite a very traitorous past and with no certainty of traitorous future. We salute Muttiah Muralitharan for coming out to defend the nation as he did direct to Cameron himself.
We were well aware of Cameron-â„¢s likely behavior. It was nothing he kept hidden and even otherwise when we knew the type of lobbying taking place by pro-LTTE groups and the manner that British parliamentarians have succumbed we should have known that arriving to a welcome of Kandyan dancers would not have changed his mind when Cameron met the GTF before arriving in Sri Lanka! Cameron came because he had to come as Prince Charles was attending in lieu of his mother, The Queen. Though we repeatedly keep saying that CHOGM is nothing but an event remembering we were once slaves, countries have made a tamasha out of it. It would have looked rather ridiculous for Cameron to be blowing hot and cold and not turn up while Prince Charles came. However, we would have been all the happier if Cameron had not turned up and Prince Charles attended for both he and the Duchess enjoyed the hospitality given and their body language showed none of the signs that Cameron displayed not out of inbred arrogance but because of cheap politics which gives us the last laugh in reality! All we can say is that we expected every bit of drama that came from Cameron because we know where his instructions came from and probably his conversation with Chief Minister Wigneswaran ended with -ËœOK, I did my part-â„¢.
Returning to the topic of defending the nation -” the Sunday newspapers are all about the failure of the Foreign Minister-â„¢s Africa policy, however we must say that while it is good to forge new ties with the African continent, we cannot expect Africa to come to any aid because all of Africa-â„¢s leaders are now being targeted by the ICC sponsored by the West. Yet, the Foreign Minister is guilty of completely ignoring our traditional alliances and totally distancing the country from the Buddhist block of nations and refusing to even open a Buddhist desk at the Ministry. With Asia-â„¢s rise, China and the Asian world means the influence of the Buddhist nations of the East will come into effect -” why has our man taken us to a bankrupt, value-less West that is slowly falling apart where natives of these countries are now up in arms with the way their Governments are governing their country -” Cameron or Obama are not going to win any popularity contests if both go for a vote nowadays. Sri Lanka cannot and should not be taken away from Asia.
When the President declares that people in glass houses should not throw stones -” he now needs to ask the External Affairs ministry to remove the clause in its website which reads as -British rule lasted for almost 150 years and it was the first real experience of foreign rule over the entire Island. Reflecting on it, a fair verdict on British rule would be that while, like all alien regimes it had its drawbacks and limitations, especially in the economic and cultural areas, these were balanced, if not outweighed, by positive contributions on the political side which were primarily, the peace which the British regime brought, the administrative unification of the country, political experience in the development of parliamentary institutions, the rule of law, the growth of a commercial economy albeit a dependent one and the creation of a Western educated intelligentsia through the teaching of English which prepared the country for independence. Political institutions like the Legislative Assembly and the State Council became an arena where future leaders learnt the art of self governance. -http://www.mea.gov.lk/index.php/en/foreign-policy/historical-context <http://www.mea.gov.lk/index.php/en/foreign-policy/historical-context>
The External Affairs Ministry has been given the sole role of defending the nation and when Cameron on returning claims to have attended an -Ëœimperfect-â„¢ Commonwealth we do not expect the man in charge of the Ministry to say the -Ëœmerits outweighs the demerits-â„¢ in reference to British colonial rule leaving the country to be defended by the President and the Defense Secretary. Had patriotic nationals like Mr. Gomin Dayasri and Mr. S L Gunasekera held similar roles they would have give unto Cameron who would not have known what to say or do. It is because we act like servants that Britain is treating us like servants. If he was attending CHOGM he has no business to within hours of the opening ceremony to be dashing to the North. Why is he concerned about the last phase of the war what about the 30 years of bloodshed that his new found friends did in the South? Why not visit these families too and have a look at how they were killed by the LTTE ? Why not lay a wreath for them like Prince Charles had done in Kandy -” that is diplomacy and that is tact.
Of course, only gentlemen can behave like gentleman -” Prince Charles has shown us where Cameron hasn-â„¢t which is why his racism was evident in the manner he addressed questions only from foreign press.
If Cameron thinks that anyone takes seriously any of his retorts on accountability after blocking the Chilcot Inquiry results finding Blair guilty of taking Britain to war without cause we just burst out laughing because Britain-â„¢s strategy is obviously to point at others to hide its own crimes and these crimes are too long to list covering the entire world and virtually every country including America.
If Cameron was to accuse Sri Lanka-â„¢s leaders of inefficiency in appointments inability to pull up the public sector, waste and corruption from top down and bottom up we would have wholeheartedly agreed. But when Cameron and others take the side of the tiger using silly notions that do not make sense we will not tolerate these lies for this Government did something that no previous government had the pluck to do and this government gave some dignity to our armed forces one that they deserve.
Yet, in knowing what Cameron was out to do why did it have to be the country-â„¢s leader having to come out and say -Ëœpeople in glass houses should not throw stones-â„¢ after nothing has come so from the External Affairs minister. It does not need prompting to issue a very strong message that the British Prime Minister has breached protocol and if he is feeling shy to offer such what is this nonsense of equality and sharing at the same level whether countries are large or small?
The current situation that faces the country has shown us, the ordinary citizens that we need to be wary not only of our enemies but the friends within. Let us remind Sri Lanka-â„¢s leaders that it has been the nationalists and a handful of expats living in foreign climes who have used their own resources to defend the motherland across the electronic and print communication channels while within the Government circle pockets of people promoting liberal and secular ideals funded by foreign sources are attempting to recolonize Sri Lanka to a level that it was ruled by Western Christian nations and that is why they take every opportunity to promote the notion that Sri Lanka has to be saved from the Sinhala Buddhists when it is this factor that is SOLELY protecting the country and keeping the country together.
Visibly clear at the CHOGM event ceremonies was the distinct culture of Sri Lanka that showed in no uncertain terms Sri Lanka-â„¢s identity something that does not link itself to any foreign or western identity or culture. So long as Buddhism remains a term of reference the people will never agree to bow down to colonial rhetoric and this is what the coterie of western-funded promoters are out to promote and create in Sri Lanka.
We have been facing these same music by private channels like channel 4 who seem to think that simply because they put edited pictures together and create a story they have credibility though of course they have won awards for it. However, when truth is on our side why has it not been a special effort of the External Affairs Ministry and Minister to set up a unit to quickly run through the allegations and have prepared question and answers in formats relevant to different parties making the allegations. This does not need a doctorate to do and we can assure anyone that nothing has been prepared by the External Affairs Ministry to respond to any of the allegations been made. Even if that was not done with the allowances and other entertainment that the Ministry budget has allocated have they even nurtured a single foreign journalist or academic to speak or write on our behalf when we are well aware that all those speaking for the LTTE are doing so because they are paid to talk and reading out statements prepared for them?
When we have all the evidence in our favor why have we allowed the LTTE with their bogus propaganda to get the better of us? Our missions should have been best placed to respond and negate these allegations at different levels to different target groups in official capacity -” why has it not been a strategy to counter LTTE?
We have landed ourselves into a very sorry situation one that we never should have had to face. A country that faced terrorism and has 32 countries banning the terrorists including Britain should be told where to shut up when it keeps the very woman who trained children to kill and to commit suicide.
Yet, we never expected miracles from this appointment for this is the very person who had been claiming that we faced an -Ëœunwinnable war-â„¢ -” he was the man that promoted regional councils, framed legislature to remove the status of Buddhism from the constitution and was a key player in the most treacherous document to have virtually handed over territory to the LTTE. When such a man went round the world promoting the CFA betraying our armed forces can we expect him to feel an iota of gratitude for the men who saved our country from terrorism? If it is not in him to defend the nation why is he kept in this key position?
In deed all of us are extremely disappointed. Despite our reservations it was a proud moment to view the ceremonies arranged by the Government and the well choreographed dances that depicted clearly our identity and brought delight to the invitees who said it was a relief to listen to acoustics without blaring noise of rap music.
Nevertheless what must be repeatedly said is that the Government needs to now relook at the workings of this key Ministry. The President or the Defense Secretary does not need to be coming to the rescue all the time. Officials are paid to do their job even if they do not have the inherent patriotic passion to deliver. If they cannot do that it is now time to think of replacing them with patriotic people who can deliver punches where diplomacy is not reciprocated. This is what Putin, Hugo Chavez and Castro did and no country fooled around with them for they gave in the same language they got. We need more leaders from Asia with such characteristics for Asia is in search of people to look up to.
November 17th, 2013 at 7:01 pm
Professor GULP is the most notoriously currupt AH in the whole of the cabinet. Crossover champion is taking the revenge from the government because the rascal is boycotted by the SLP. Rouge woman CBK was to expose his file on corruption. But the woman ran out of time and steam as she was having the problem with Sarath Silva when he gave a ruling in which the woman lost a year in the seat. But she did not miss a minute to run to beijing to sign up the contract on Norochchiolai.
November 17th, 2013 at 7:32 pm
Shenali has summed up the situation beautifully in the last para.
Sadly, it’s only the President & Defence secretary who inherit these characteristics, why is the most important minister who has a glorified credential buckle down when the colonial masters or white man throws unsubstantiated accusations! Is he the “Hobson’s” choice for the President?
I am confident Mr.Wimal Weerawansa’s Sinhala Blood would have reached the boiling point at these snubs! He would have curled up in his seat re-enacting “Dutugemunu curled up in bed being unable for action”.
November 17th, 2013 at 8:31 pm
The fault is with MR.
GLP is MR’s choice of foreign minister.
Don’t forget MR’s first foreign minister – MANGALAM SARAMAWEERA!!
Any surprise we are in this mess. Appoint BERNARD as the FM.
November 17th, 2013 at 9:41 pm
Our Fatherland is in trouble, yet politicians go on their usual dirty business. My worry is why LTTE rump is still harping on war crimes in the last few weeks. Perhaps they know where the mass-graves crated by LTTE are, killing innocent Sinhala soldiers. If this is not the case why the rump is still taking about the last days??
November 17th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
President is right about glass house speech and he should respond in kind..
I met the president and Basil (DS, next week) I thank Basil about his Indian speech about Tamils here have better conditions than Tamils in India…
November 18th, 2013 at 12:54 am
Sirih,
They MUST step up “get lost Endia welcome China ” policy.
To hell with India we must brace to fight the big bully.
November 18th, 2013 at 3:55 am
Thank you Shenali for pointing out our utter incompetency for the nth time. In our catalogue of incompetents, only TWO seem to stand out worthy of the position they hold: One is the SL ambassador to the UK, Dr Nonis. Please watch his performance being interviewed by CNN as a “Worked Example” of how it should be done with facts and polish. And watch the interviewer’s face crumble against the facts! That’s the way. The ONLY way. See…
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/14/world/asia/sri-lanka-commonwealth-nonis/index.html?hpt=ias_c2
I wish we had many more. Others please learn. The only other person in my mind worthy of serious recognition is Tamara Kunanayakam, our rep once at the Human Rights Council who could have given a thorough hiding to Navi Pillai! Sadly, for some political reason unknown to me, Tamara was taken out from the scene – S de Silva – London
November 18th, 2013 at 4:49 am
The government did the right thing by ignoring Cameron jokes. Wait till the repeat of racial violence in UK.
November 18th, 2013 at 5:16 am
Let us be very frank. It is no secret that the Government Machinery has been corrupted and inundated with incompetent kith and king and politicized to cancerous level. MR has done it and he must take the full responsibility for this mishap. He, no doubt did a great job of freeing the country of terrorism and gave us that sigh of relief. But after that great event, he went mad and made a mess of the administration of all most all the Governmental Institutions. In turn the people too have gone mad and that can be assessed with the type of criminal activities that are going on in the country. It is also no secret that some of the Ministers and Local Government Politicians are the worst culprits and their nefarious activities have gone unchecked and sometimes even encouraged. Just before the CHOGM, at the opening ceremony of the newly constructed Katunayaka/Colombo Highway, the President not seeing Mr. Mervin Silva asked: “where is the owner of Kelaniya”. He ceremoniously mingled through the crowd and posed for a photo opportunity. What a poor show and unwarranted gesture at a public event. He did the same thing at the opening of the Chartered Institute of Accountants building making reference to the NSB Chairman, in that, he said: “we have to look after “ape miniha” (our man”). Many of his choice of people to run the huge Government Institutions is questionable and stinking to the core, one of which is the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Ariline. This Institution is making billions of losses month by month and can he take this man out. NO. Why? Because he is his Brother-in-Law. He has placed such SQUARE PEGS IN ROUND HOLES all over the Government Machinery.
Have you all noticed what is going in the country as regards the crime wave that is enveloping the society? All the crimes including murders, rapes, corruption etc. are being committed predominantly in the Sinhala areas and invariably a Local Politician is involved in most of the cases. Do we get reports of that from the North or the East? Even if we do hear of it, of course very in- frequently, the media attribute those to the Armed Forces and the Government media, specially that of the Defence Ministry observe deep silence.
So why go to speak only of the External Affairs? Our President now needs to take a very, very serious look at what is going on and change the course of Governing immediately. That is a NATIONAL NEED AND NEEDS TO BE DONE URGENTLY.
November 18th, 2013 at 12:16 pm
douglas-
I agree with your sentiments entirely.
It’s such a shame that we were unable to show case the tremendous development and the beauty of the nation. Sri Lanka, especially Colombo has never looked better in my life time. It’s unlikely we will get another opportunity for a considerable period of time.
We were handicapped right from the start although i did not expect the HR issue to take centre stage. I was expecting the Chief Justice fiasco and the Khuram Shaikh killing to make news during the CHOGM
I did note an interesting fact though. During the CHOGM People’s Forum there was an open book for foreign delegates to sign up to visit Hambantota, Jaffna, Galle and Badulla between 10 and 14th Nov.
43 signed up to visit Jaffna. Zero to Hambantota, zero to Galle, zero to Badulla.
November 18th, 2013 at 12:36 pm
Corruption is NOT the main issue here.
TAMIL RACISM is the main issue here. Lets not deviate from the MAIN ISSUE.
BUST TAMIL RACISM and BUST the 13 amendment and MOST of the problems will be over.
e.g. Dumbinda Silva committed horrible crimes when he was a PC member!
(Then he graduated to the parliament.)
e.g. Ratnapura mass murders (including pregnant women) was done by a PC member!
e.g. Murders, sexual exploitation and rapes in Tamil areas are committed by TNA PC members. One of them was making porn films from Tamil girls!! 1,000 of such films caught by the army!!
(There was an article on this in LW with fotos!).
Why this USELESS 13 amendment? To satisfy RACIST Tamils!! SCRAP IT FIRST and we see a MASSIVE reduction in violence and corruption.
November 18th, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Thanks to CHOGM SL got 2 warships worth $3 million free.
That is something to celebrate.
November 18th, 2013 at 1:06 pm
According to a BBC report Tamil women in Jaffna think Cum-Moron is a God and started worshiping his siva-lingam!
This low act by a few is an insult to civilized people.
November 18th, 2013 at 1:11 pm
1. Main money draier is the PC system created by the enemy of the nation. It is draining money for 30 years now. It only produces criminal elements in the country, similar to Tamil nadoo. SCRAP 13 A and STOP PC SYSTEM NOW.
2. A close 2nd is the subversive Tamil insects biting the economy. Together with scrapping 13A we need additional laws to bring the Tamils to human state. STOP THE TAMILS
3. 3rd is the Enemies businesses in mother land. This is the main source of corruption. Chinese have to pay more to compete with the sakkilis. STOP ENDIAN BUSINESS.
With these 3 gone , a moderate amount of corruption similar to Australia, Singapore is affordable and cannot be prevented because of human greed.
Greed cannot be prevented by can be reduced.
Hatred SHALL BE controlled by LAW
Ignorance is the one to tackle, by educating humans – this is what Buddhas do.
November 18th, 2013 at 1:19 pm
There’s something about gunboats
Dateline. Canberra.
The Abbott Government announced today it had offered the Taliban a squadron of helicopter gunships to interdict the movement of Hazara refugees out of Afghanistan. Buoyed by the Sri Lankan government’s enthusiastic receipt of two gunboats to prosecute anti people smuggling operations, Prime Minister Abbott promised to cut off the ‘evil trade’ at its source.
“We know most of the Afghans attempting to get here by boat are fleeing Taliban controlled areas, which tells us that Taliban aren’t really doing their bit to crack down on the people smugglers,” said the PM. “’People smuggling is a curse. It is an evil trade … the promises that people smugglers offer are promises of death, not life. We hope that with our aid, the Taliban’s promises of death will be a more credible deterrent.”
Anti-immigration Minister Scott Morrison deflected criticism of giving military aid to the Sri Lankan regime, which has been accused of crimes against humanity, by refusing to detail what, if any, restrictions the government had placed on the use of the warships by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces.
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A Sri Lankan navy spokesman beamed deliriously at news of the multimillion dollar gift. “We’ve never had gunboats as big as this before,” said the spokesman, as he made a series of enthusiastic machine gunning noises and loudly crowed. “Look out India! In your face, Cameron! Oh, man this is gonna be sweet.”
The spokesman declined to answer any questions about the documented involvement of Sri Lanka’s Navy officers and personnel in people smuggling, describing such “operational matters” as being “commercial-in-confidence”.
The offer of helicopter gunships to the Taliban caused some difficulties with other repressive regimes who also put their hands out for the freebies.
“Where’s our attack helicopters?” asked the Iranian foreign minister? Where’s our gunboats? Are we not a reliable supplier of refugees into the Australian market?”
Mr Morrison said all options were on the table. “’I make no apologies for the fact that we are endeavouring to stop boats coming to Australia.”
Sources close to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard remained hopeful that, given the large number of wretched kaffir and filthy apostates they had driven from the blessed motherland into the clutches of the accursed antipodean infidel, that the accursed antipodean infidel might see their way clear to giving them some of those new submarines or air warfare destroyers they were building.
“Give us the tools and we will do the job for you,” said the Revolutionary Guard source. “Seriously, nothing stops a boat coming to Australia like a Mark 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedo up the Persian date.”
“Ooh, torpedoes!” replied the Sri Lankan spokesman. “Can we have some them too?”
November 18th, 2013 at 2:36 pm
Sri Lanka was trapped in Cold War politics during CBK/Ranil times. Tamil Tigers rode on the back of the Cold War. The Cold War finished (1946-1991) and Russia is a part of NATO. Now PM Cameron has come to apply balm on the ltte post war pain spots just in case of future UK etc. needs ?
No such slamming of India who has given UK 70% of the vast Rajasthan oil fields via UK owned Cairn Oil (India). In international games, size of resources & size of country matters too !
Whatever happened to our Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) ? Those disenchanted with the UN ought to grow NAM.