David Cameron – a boorish, British bungler bogged in bovine bravado
Posted on November 20th, 2013
H. L. D. Mahindapala
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting‚ (CHOGM) which ended on Sunday without a hitch was a remarkable feat for Sri Lanka considering the massive forces of the Tamil diaspora and I/NGOs doing their damnedest to sabotage the event, nationally and internationally. They were aided and abetted by the mighty forces of Britain and India, along with Canada and Mauritius, which, at their worst, created some negative headlines. Prime Minister David Cameron-â„¢s megaphone diplomacy struck a strident and menacing note. He came with the sole intention of playing to the Tamil gallery in UK.‚ He was the least concerned about Commonwealth affairs. He was not even concerned‚ about‚ human rights per se. He came to get Sri Lanka.
It was in essence a pathetic display of politicizing CHOGM to promote‚ his personal agenda. If David Cameron was genuinely concerned about human rights violations he should have begun not from January 2009 to May 2009 but from 1818 –‚ the time his ancestors raided and tortured and massacred unarmed Sinhalese villagers, including pregnant mothers and babies, and burnt every leaf and branch to deprive them of their basic livelihood for opposing their colonial regime.
After nearly two centuries he hasn-â„¢t addressed the colonial war crimes and crimes against humanity but he had no compunction in giving a deadline of four months for Sri Lanka to address the issues he has raised. It is the likes of David Cameron that give human rights a bad name. Globally the cynical manipulations of human rights by big powers, acting with impunity to protect their core interests, are casting a long shadow over the validity of raising human‚ rights to judge those on the other side of the fence. This not only degrades the value of the UN Charter as a guide for global peace but also rubs salt on the wounds of the victims of violence unleashed in the name of human rights. For instance, the entire cause of human rights in Sri Lanka is distorted by diverting attention away from the main perpetrators (including India, particularly that of the IPKF in Jaffna) and focusing only on selective segments of recent‚ history that suits the agenda of‚ those bent on demonizing Sri Lanka.
Take, for instance, the case of limiting the UNHRC concerns only to the last five months of a 33-year-old war,‚ starting from the declaration‚ of war in the Vadukoddai Resolution in 1976. The proposition that a 33-year-old war should be judged ONLY on the actions of the last five months goes beyond all reasoning into the realm of the absurd. Ms. Navi Pillay, who adheres to this absurdity, is yet to explain why she thinks that human rights were violated only in the last five months and not before. She has also to explain how she slammed Sri Lanka in her very first UNHRC speech prepared, according to her own admission, on May 25, 2009 without any credible or substantial evidence/report/study on the war that ended on May 19, 2009.
It was a just war which ended by rescuing 300,000‚ Tamil civilians held as human shield to protect the Tamil Pol Pot, Velupillai Prabhakaran. On May 25, 2009 when Ms. Pillay slammed Sri Lanka at UNHRC she had only the EU Resolution moved against Sri Lanka. Not surprisingly, her speech to the UNHRC ran on parallel lines with the EU Resolution. If she had no valid or credible evidence at hand before she slammed Sri Lanka was she defending human rights or was she running‚ along obediently with the EU‚ Resolution? Can human rights be protected by going along with big power politics?
UK was a part of this partisan resolution which was, of course, defeated on the floor of the UNHRC. Humiliated by the unexpected defeat the Western powers came back, with US leading the anti-Sri Lankan campaign, to win at the UNHRC what they could not win at the UN. David Cameron-â„¢s mission‚ at the CHOGM was to revive, reinforce and continue this failed power play. It is pathetic -” nay hilarious -” to see him trying to capture the moral high moral ground when he has more blood on his hands than Lady Macbeth-â„¢s and Prabhakaran-â„¢s put together.
His visit to Jaffna with British media circus on‚ his tail, his stunt of posing in front of cameras with Tamil women in tears, his pompous claim of being the first head of state to visit Jaffna‚ since independence were all orchestrated craftily as pure political theatre to please the Tamil gallery in UK. Human rights and Commonwealth affairs hardly received the due attention they deserved at the 23rd gathering of CHOGM. Whenever he raised these issues it was to emphasize his role as the‚ postman delivering the vote-catching sound bites to impress the Tamil vote base in UK. He was out to impress‚ that he has not failed to bat on behalf of the Tamils in Colombo.
The only time he really batted in the‚ field Murali told him blandly that he is‚ on the wrong foot playing the wrong strokes. The choice‚ for him now is between Murali and his Tamil constituency in UK. There are no prizes for guessing‚ which path he will take. He would stick with the Tamil myths and ignore the realities pointed out by Murali. All of which points to the fact that Cameron came not‚ because he is a committed lover of human rights or even the Tamils but because he loves his prime ministerial seat more.
The fact that he came to use CHOGM as his megaphone was clear when he ran away soon after meeting President Rajapakse without waiting to participate‚ in the affairs that concern the Commonwealth.‚ And when he came out of the meeting with President Mahinda Rajapakse his face said it all: it looked as if he had bitten a raw tamarind without even a pinch of salt. At the press conference he tried to play down the question as to why his face looked so sour when he came out of the meeting.‚ Still smarting‚ under his failure to twist the arm of President Rajapakse he threatened to mobilize his forces in March 2014 at the UNHRC -” the same deadline used by Ms. Navi Pillay -” to bring Sri Lanka to book if there is no mechanism in place that accords with his demands. The reaction of the Government was predictable and commendable. In one voice the Government told David Cameron to go and fly a kite.
However, President Rajapakse was‚ privately discussing with the President of S. Africa, Jacob Zuma, the feasibility of introducing a Truth Commission based on S. African road to reconciliation. His line that those‚ in glass house should not throw stones was a clear six that went over the ropes. The British, who took 20 years to release their‚ report on Bloody Sunday,‚ is not in a position to demand solutions within the next four‚ months.
The most telling point in the CHOGM saga came from George Alagiah, the Sri Lankan-born BBC correspondent. He took Sanjana Hattotuwa, the hired NGO blatherskite, for a short ride in the Galle Face Green and dropped him out of the frame after making use of him.‚ As Hattotuwa faded out of the BBC screen Alagiah summed up the reality which should make the anti-Sri Lankan political pundits cringe in shame. He said: -UK Prime Minister David Cameron says he will do it (the attack on Sri Lanka) privately; many other will shout it out loud. All of it will come to nothing. Sri Lanka has enough friends around the world to survive the onslaught.- (BBC -” November 15, 2013)
So what have‚ the local NGOs nutters who shouted themselves hoarse achieved? They are now crowing that it is a PR disaster. So what? As stated by Alagiah, -(A)ll of it will come to nothing.- Tomorrow-â„¢s headlines will shift to Syria, Lebanon etc. End of story. The end of the CHOGM was not the end of Sri Lanka. The NGOs were hoping that the negative headlines would result in a massive boycott. They were expecting a regime change. They were aiming to isolate Sri Lanka as a pariah. But the day after the CHOGM the sun shone as bright as ever over Sri Lanka. Holding CHOGM in Colombo was a test of Sri Lanka-â„¢s standing in the international community. Sri Lanka displayed its hidden inner strength and triumphed against the mounting pressures of India, Canada and I/NGOs -” the last openly urging an international boycott.
The NGO braggarts who assumed that they could determine the global agenda by whipping up anti-Sri Lanka propaganda were in for a rude shock. They have come‚ out as farcical figures tilting at windmills. These politically primitive pygmies posing as prophetic pundits should‚ go back to basics and learn that the world does not run according to the figments of their fetid imagination. In fact, Sri Lankan history is one colossal mass of creative events that invariably jumped out of their theoretical boxes.
The CHOGM in Colombo was a unique event in that no other CHOGM event exploded with such controversies and aggression. President Mahinda Rajapakse has faced the worst once again and won. There is a moral to this:‚ negative headlines do not necessarily determine the progress of history.
November 20th, 2013 at 9:30 am
MAHINDAPALA !!
THE TAMIL TERRORIST LTTE DIASPORA WILL ONE DAY RULE THE WORLD. THEY WILL BUY UP ALL WORLD LEADERS, OF THE LIKES OF CAMERON AND HARPER. THEY WILL COMPROMISE THEIR HONESTY, INTEGRITY, AND CREDIBILITY TO THESE TAMILS WHO ARE NOW THE KINGMAKERS. THE ONLY TWO COUNTRIES THAT WILL NOT FALL FOR THE TAMIL TIGER TREASURY, WILL BE RUSSIA, AND CHINA. THE REST HAVE ALREADY SHOWN SERVILITY OF THE HIGHTEST ORDER.
THERE SHOULD BE A WORLD ATTEMPT TO BURN THE TAMIL TIGER LTTE TREASURY. ELSE, THE PRESENT TREN WILL CONTINUE, UNABATED.
November 20th, 2013 at 12:21 pm
This Sanjana Hottuwa is a bSTD. I confronted him at a seminar he and Saravanmuttu gave at Washington University in DC. I did not know he was a Sri Lankan at that time. He is a hired gun by NGO’s
November 20th, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Agree with Helaya. He is a piece of shite.
Its best to remove them from the face of the earth than let them poison young minds.
November 20th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Gorge Alagiah selected the best place for interviewing traitors in SL. That is the place for their execution too. Ranil and the lot also should have been interviewed there. I would like Sri Lankans to one day ask those who misrule the country also to account for their actions (such as taking massive bribes from mega contracts by doubling contract sums) thereby depriving the citizens of their basic human rights to have good governance, at that very point.
Thank you Alagiah.
November 20th, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Cum-Moron will NOT go and fly a kite.
He will bring a resolution against SL.
This is the truth. We should be prepared. The real enemy here is NOT Cum-Moron but Tamilians who pay him to do so.
November 20th, 2013 at 4:36 pm
Exactly Lorenzo ! Tamil Ah who pay them has to be monitored. News from UK:- Upstart Moron has has allegedly summoned wtf and gtf to Parliament and asked, How did I fare ? I did my best. Even gesticulated, for additional punch. Now you can deposit the balance. Only thing I could not trip that fellow Murali. He appears to be a very decent Tamil. I cannot deal with him again, his courtesy kills me, annoys me, and make me a AH lunatic.
November 20th, 2013 at 4:43 pm
ANOTHER “”JERK “” ALI BURT OPENS HIS AH.
November 20th, 2013 at 8:55 pm
This CHOGM divulged a few things I did not know before.
1. Tamil separatist diaspora (from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, West Indies etc) are indeed a powerful political group, like the Jews, who could influence the policies of world leaders – which today is against Sri Lanka and tomorrow could be against other nations and on other issues. They have the funds and they claim they control the Tamil voters as a block vote , which I doubt very much. However, believing this power of the Tamils, the leaders of countries where there are significant number of Tamils controlling the balance of power, are unashamedly dancing to the Tamil separatist tune, thereby disgracing the nations they lead. Canada, India, Mauritius and England have adequately displayed this Tamil separatist power.
2. David Cameron wanted to put Sri Lankan Tamil issues under the spotlight and in so doing, he also put the spotlight on human rights violations by Canada and UK. We now know Canada is discriminating against its ethnic minority “the first people” and the UK is hiding the Chilcott report, which apparently has exposed major war crimes committed by the UK and its NATO allies.
3. I now know the chilling crimes committed by UK in Sri Lanka, which was even worse than the LTTE
4. I now know Navi Pillai’s March deadline to Sri Lanka to investigate “war crimes” , could have been under the instructions of UK, which has now given the same to Sri Lanka.
5 I now know the Brirish Royal family is streets ahead of their political leaders on ethnical and PR matters and know how to respect their hosts. Behaviour of David Cameron and Ch-4 were atrocious. They certainly have earned the votes of separatists and terrorists in UK at the next elections unless the Labour party can come up with something worse like a demand for suspension of SriLanka from the Commonwealth.
Yes there is a biding war going on for the Tamil votes and funds in the UK, Canada, India and Mauritius.
However, they need to realise that all Tamils are not under LTTE control.
November 20th, 2013 at 11:08 pm
There is a chicken and egg situation here.
90% of world Tamils live in Tamil Nadu and they influence Endia. Fair enough.
BUT….
1. Does the Tamil Diaspora INFLUENCE Canada, UK, Australia?
OR
2. Do these countries USE Tamils (natural ENEMIES of SL) to destabilize pro-China SL?
OR
3. BOTH happening at the same time and Tamil Diaspora and anti-China countries have become strange bedfellows?
I think #3 is the CORRECT assessment.
Different agendas but together for now.
#1 is NOT always true.
e.g. Malaysia (MORE Tamils than Canada), Singapore (MORE Tamilians than Canada), Australia
Singapore’s foreign minister is a Tamilian of SL descend.
But still these countries are pro-SL.
#2 Tamils are the BEST servents of them.
e.g. Clinton.
e.g. Brishit took Tamilians to every country to slave because they were easily manipulated.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:17 am
I might be the odd man out. What is behind all these is Indian imperialists. The Emperor didn’t grace it. How could he when the Indian terrorist outfit branded Tamil tigers was wiped out by the non-Indian army. An Indian colonial parasites’ colony leader didn’t come as directed by the Emperor. Then comes Harper and Cameron both victims of Indian colonialism and imperialism. Harper was replaced by Canadian FM Deepak Obraih, an Indian colonial parasite from Tanzania now a vermin in British Canada. Poor Conservatives of UK has to rely on Indian funds and votes.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:29 am
British came long before 1818, in fact in 1792 to take over the Dutch possessions. They came with Indian Sepoys and coolies mainly from the south of the Indian continent. Remember there was no India before the British made India. The Sepoys cleaned the guns and carried the possessions for the British.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:46 am
BREAKING NEWS – MR IS SO RIGHT ABOUT MONKEYS IN GLASS HOUSES THROWING STONES!! NEWS JUST IN.
OMG! I can’t believe this.
This is the biggest SLAP ON THE ARRSE of Cum-Moron!
Now SL should bring a UNHRC resolution against UK IF they bring any resolution against us.
“Soldiers from an undercover unit used by the British army in Northern Ireland killed unarmed civilians, former members have told BBC One’s Panorama.
Speaking publicly for the first time, the ex-members of the Military Reaction Force (MRF), which was disbanded in 1973, said they had been tasked with “hunting down” IRA members in Belfast.
The former soldiers said they believed the unit had saved many lives.
The Ministry of Defence said it had referred the disclosures to police.”
– BBC
November 21st, 2013 at 6:50 am
Attempting to take a brief closer look at the main players here, the British PM Mr David Cameron and the Tamil Diaspora in the UK, as well as Lanka Labor needs.
* The ‘Divide & Rule’ principle used by the Brits during Colonial & Empire times is carried on with Mr Cameron’s hard remarks on Lanka. Re Tamils anywhere Mr C may have other agendas on line too ! Perhaps he is listening only to British Tamils who are a minute number compared to the rest of Tamil people elsewhere. Perhaps he is dovetailing his own agendas into Tamil demands in the UK.
Question is, will Tamils elsewhere listen ? Tamils listened to ‘Peacekeeper’ Norway and where did it end ? Tamils should listen to their own Hearts – therein alone lies some success in the truest sense. They ought to be loyal to the their countries of residence. We are told that migrant Tamils are in some 30 countries (is this accurate ?). They have an obligation to be loyal to those countries they reside in, and Commonwealth rules demand non-aggression among Commonwealth member countries. That is, there should be NO aggressive action toward Sri Lanka from the UK Tamils.
* Sri Lanka’s problem/need is a Labor problem. That is why Tamils were allowed to come in Tamil Nadu from time to time, plus of course due to Cold War politics. The only time illegal migration was stopped successfully was during JRJ’s time when the Army TAFFAI unit was in operation. This unit was disbanded – why ? Was it to suit Cold War agendas of ex-colonists and continue with illegal Tamil migrants, with some additional reasons ?
During the CBK/Ranil rule, the Mannar Route was used extensively for Tamil illegal migration. Rev. Reyappu Joseph will know about that. That there were over 300,000 in the ltte human shield bears testimony to this fact, when the army intel
at that time estimated that there were probably about 100,000 in the shield, as those areas were supposed to be sparsely populated.
The Cold War is over (1946-1991), and the Labor problems of Lanka should be sorted out soon with less and less dependency on Tamil Labor. Over dependency on Tamil labor is too risky for Lanka. The Tea sector especially should be highly mechanized with govt subsidies for other land holders to mechanize too. At any rate, after Mrs B’s Land Reform Act, most of the large tea estates are under govt. owned. Tea plucking machines can be easily operated by anyone. Lanka will be less dependent on Indian Tamil labor and thereby more free from Indian interference.
Tamil folk come in as illegal migrants from Tamil Nadu seeking free education & health care, land & housing, elimination of Caste, etc., the sooner the better. That is why they come to Lanka, and then some Tamils create problems in Lanka to go west as ‘refugees’ especially to Canada. That is why the 1983 Riots were created, both to suit Tamil aspirations as well as Cold War politics. One rode on the other. Tamils talk ill of Lanka abroad as they want attention/gain importance with VIPs as well as to create Eelam in Lanka which suits some countries to do so. They are not coming to Lanka to work as Labor on a forever basis. It would be naive of native Lankans to presume so.
With Mechanisation, there will be less need for domestic help if household machines such as washing & drying machines as well as cook machines are freely available. There ought to be some laws re protection of domestic workers too. We have yet to proceed with assembling our own domestic washing/drying units.
November 21st, 2013 at 10:54 am
Here’s the link to read the news item in BBC – Panorama.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10464861/BBC-Panorama-Former-soldiers-admit-killing-unarmed-civilians.html
November 21st, 2013 at 1:37 pm
Lorenzo,
The CONCEPT of M.A.D. is what prevents WWs, not preparations by each country for M.A.D. itself. WWs I&II were MAD enough to teach mankind lessons for all times, especially WW II with the Atom Bomb.
If we spend our whole life preparing for M.A.D., then our lives are pathetic and we have to admit defeat. If we spend our whole life thinking of ways to kill other human beings, then our lives are lost in a morass of Ignorance of what life is about.
You don’t see my point. My point is to avoid coming close to even preparation for M.A.D. or even wasting our time thinking of M.A.D. To do that we have to get to the Root Cause of problems, whether it is the so called Tamil Problem, or why Economic Problems or mental and physical diseases happen to man and beast, etc. Even a small effort in this direction is better than millions of atom bombs.
WW I&II saw almost 100 Millions souls lose their lives. What a waste of lives & resources, the tears and trauma. Could not that have been avoided without the pain and the discovery of nuclear energy and bombs.
It is the inner war in our untrained minds that causes the outer war of M.A.D. Lorenzo, ‘hitha honda ganni hamadama dukkeng’ – she has lost it all, her children to war and her earnings in taxes for wars. Wars and preparations for wars bring poverty and sorrow. Earthlings are at crossroads right now – do we chose Life or sorrow ? Do we chose responsible living or careless killing ?
November 21st, 2013 at 2:09 pm
Lorenzo,
Sorry – above meant as a comment under article by Shenali “Tamil Eelam in Tamil Nadu …” as a reply to your comment addressed to me. Am writing in a hurry.
November 21st, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Fran,
Few wrong assumptions.
1. Don’t play with the word mad. It has NOTHING to do with MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). It is a very wise concept that WORKS to PREVENT war and violence.
Even the LAW is based on MAD concept!
(You kill, we kill or jail you.)
2. “If we spend our whole life preparing for M.A.D”
NO one spends even 1% of their life preparing for MAD!! It is the MAD CAPABILITY nations put together WITHOUT even telling people. It does NOT affect you and me at all putting in place MAD capability.
3. “It is the inner war in our untrained minds that causes the outer war of M.A.D.”
Not true. Hitler was a VEGETARIAN. Not a boozer. Not a smoker. Not a sex offender. Not a serial killer. He meditated. So was Hirohitho. Even other war criminals like Churchill meditated. The US bomber who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki meditated after 1945 and flew a concerted bombing run in 1975 or 1995 to CELEBRATE his 1945 feat!!!
VP used to meditate in his 40 feet deep bunker (there was little else he could do). He constantly prayed to god.
So was Osama Bin Ladin!!
MAD is a very wise concept that brought world PEACE.
4. WHATEVER you do the MAD concept will NEVER go away from human society. The day humans shed the MAD concept I can agree with you.
5. IF “hitha hinda gaeni” was NOT so kind hearted, she would be well, safe and happy. And won’t get screwwed by anyone and everyone.
In Tamil we say a girl should grow up with pride and sufficient viciousness. Mother Lanka MUST have it. Otherwise every Man-Moron, Cum-Moron, Moh-Moron, Nedu-Moron, etc. will screww her.
November 21st, 2013 at 4:56 pm
LORENZO !! I LIKE THE HUMOUR IN YOUR LAST SENTENCE. YOU MUST BE HAVING AN ENCYCLOPEDIA EH ?
November 21st, 2013 at 5:03 pm
Children DELIBERATELY killed by MRF Brishit soldiers in Northern Ireland in a year.
Siobhan McCabe (4), shot near her house by British soldiers.
Rosaleen Gavin (8), shot by British soldiers from an observation post.
John Maguire (2), crushed by a car when its driver was shot dead by a British soldier.
Kevin Heatley (12), shot by British soldier.
Stephen McConomy (11), shot in head by plastic bullet fired from a nearby armored vehicle.
Carol Ann Kelly (11), shot in head by British soldier’s rubber bullet as she brought milk home from a nearby shop.
Annette McGavigan (14), shot by British soldiers.
Stephen Geddes (10), shot in head at close range by British soldier with rubber bullet.
Daniel Barrett (15), shot in his home from a nearby BA observation post.
David McCafferty (14), shot while trying to drag to safety someone who the soldiers had just shot.
Patrick Crawford (15), while walking with two others, shot by British soldiers.
Manus Deery (15), shot by army sniper as he brought supper home from nearby shop.
Now look who is throwing stones at us!!!
Lets investigate these at the next UNHRC.
November 21st, 2013 at 9:20 pm
David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the country where 80,000 kids do not have a home, the one who took part in NATO’s criminal campaign in Libya and who tried very hard to start the same sort of campaign in Syria, before Russia smashed him back down to size, to start opining on human rights issues, or any others for that matter?
David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the country where streets are unusable after six o’clock p.m. because they are filled with marauding drunkards bawling obscenities or drug addicts kicking old ladies in the face on the pavement to steal their meager pension money.
David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the country where the corporations report profits of billions while farmers struggle to survive and old folk have insufficient money to keep warm in Winter.
David Cameron is the Prime Minister of the country where railway stations reek of excrement, whose trains are so splattered with graffiti that you can hardly see out of the windows, whose trains are decked knee-high in trash.
It is patently apparent that the world of David Cameron is a cosy little place in the Home Counties where “good chaps” get together and chortle over a bottle of port and sweeping policy-making decisions are taken by drawing lines on maps, settling the affairs of the world in a top-down, simplistic approach which runs along the lines of civilizing savages with the Bible and the bullet, what?
While NATO is based upon the same precepts, the rest of the world is not. Sri Lanka has its own institutions to deal with legal issues, as its President said in answer to his British upstart of a guest. David Cameron, for all these reasons, is not fit to represent the United Kingdom at the Commonwealth Summit, or indeed anywhere else.
David Cameron has questioned Sri Lanka’s human rights record is another example of the intrusive arrogance that goes hand-in-hand with NATO foreign policy, yet another example of sheer hypocrisy, insolence and chauvinism.
The pig-faced arrogance with which NATO committed war crimes in Libya, entering the country with boots on the ground in direct breach of UN Resolutions 1970 and 1973, the sheer callousness of its attacks on civilian targets without any regard for human lives or well-being, the strafing and cold-blooded murder of the Gaddafi grandchildren, roasted alive in their skins by a NATO coward-murderer in a military aircraft, sent a shiver down the spine of every single well-meaning, good human being on this planet.
The hypocrisy with which the United Kingdom entered the Libyan civil war was stunning, as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, presided over by William Hague, actively supported terrorists on its own list of proscribed groups, among these the LIFG, which despite claims by the FCO, was still on the lists when it was being supported as it committed atrocities against the Libyan civilian population.
The participation by the United Kingdom in the Libyan Civil War was in two words, a war crime. Those responsible for this human rights outrage are war criminals because they were actively engaged in financing, aiding, supporting, sponsoring or committing actions which occasioned murder, grievous or actual bodily harm to non-combatants, or to combatants outside a formal declaration of war, and destruction of property, mutilation, acts of terrorism and rape.
David Cameron was a key player in this human rights outrage, whether or not it is true that he was the one who gave the instruction to “get Gaddafi” like some spoiled prep-school boy preparing to gang-up on an isolated pupil in an act of bullying, or like some escapade by the stuck-up prigs of the Bullingdon Club, readying themselves to get drunk and trash a restaurant, destroying the jobs and livelihoods of those working there.
November 22nd, 2013 at 1:34 pm
“Lord” Parekh is a CONGENITAL HALF-WIT if he thinks “Our Prime Minister (David Cameron) was right to visit Jaffna, commiserate with the Tamils, condemn the army operations which killed thousands of Tamils, demand an investigation into what actually happened during the war and afterwards, and meet the representatives of the Tamil group”!
By the same standards, “Our President Mahinda Rajapaksa should visit Dresden, Germany, commiserate with the Neo-Nazi Germans, condemn the British Airforce operations which killed thousands of Germans, demand an investigation into what actually happened during the war and afterwards, and meet the representatives of the Neo-Nazi group!”
It is only a question of WHOSE OX IS BEING GORED …. Isn’t it …. “Lord” Parekh? To these Neo-Colonialists Sinhala lives don’t matter …. only their global agenda and Tamil votes in their local elections do … TO HELL WITH THE Truth AND Principles!
When it is your OX being FATALLY GORED, it is DO TENFOLD UNTO Dresden, Germany AS DONE UNTO to Coventry, England …. Isn’t it … “Lord” Parekh?
BLOODY HYPOCRITES ALL WAVING DOUBLE STANDARDS!
……………………….
UK parliament reiterates PM’s edict on Sri Lanka
ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Nov 22, London: The UK parliament reiterated the Prime Minister’s call for an international investigation on Sri Lanka if the Sri Lankan government fails to conduct a credible and transparent independent investigation into allegations of war crimes to the satisfaction of the British government.
Debating the UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHIGM) in Colombo in the House of Lords Thursday, Lord Parekh commended the PM for the stand he took at CHOGM in Sri Lanka.
“He was right to go. I think that the Prime Minister of India was not right not to go. Our Prime Minister was right to visit Jaffna, commiserate with the Tamils, condemn the army operations which killed thousands of Tamils, demand an investigation into what actually happened during the war and afterwards, and meet the representatives of the Tamil group,” he said.
Baroness Warsi, the Senior Minister of State, Department for Communities and Local Government & Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said the Prime Minister was right to attend the meeting in Colombo since “not talking to people is never the answer.”
“By going, the Prime Minister shone a spotlight on the situation there, and he was the first foreign leader to visit the north of the country since 1948. Because of his decision, journalists were granted access that would otherwise have been impossible to gain, and the local people – the families of the missing -were given an international voice,” she said.
The Minister said the PM was bold and blunt in his views and had a “frank and tough” meeting with the Sri Lankan President.
During the meeting, the PM clearly set out the need for Sri Lanka to make further progress in a number of areas, including a credible and transparent independent investigation into allegations of war crimes, Baroness Warsi said adding that the talks also covered a meaningful political settlement with the north, including demilitarization, and proper implementation of the range of Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission recommendations.
“If the Sri Lankan Government fails to do this, the UK will fully back an international investigation,” the Baroness stressed.
“However, I accept that more needs to be done, not just in Sri Lanka but to ensure that the principles of the Commonwealth charter are applied by the countries of the Commonwealth,” she emphasized.
The Sri Lankan government has flatly rejected Cameron’s call for an independent investigation and the March 2014 deadline saying that Sri Lanka has already set mechanisms in place to address the issues the PM raised and will take more than four years to achieve resolutions to the issues from a 30-year war.
The Indian government yesterday criticized Cameron’s ultimatum saying that it is counterproductive and not their style of handling such issues.
November 23rd, 2013 at 12:55 pm
HLD Mahindapala and reference to Murali
To appreciate where Mahindapala is coming from read the following…
MAHINDAPALA’S MURALI STORY
By Shyamon Jayasinghe, Melbourne
Mr HLD Mahindapala’s venomous attack on Murali written under the caption “Murali Bowls Sri Lanka a Doosra” was published both in the Daily Mirror and in the Asia Tribune and had been displayed in the columns of the Lankaweb, too. He had accused Murali of allegiance with the LTTE on the assumption that the latter had stated that government had not sent adequate aid to the Tamil areas. I have just read Murali’s response in the Daily Mirror (4/2) and a return by Mahindapala in his home ground, the Asia Tribune. It is a pity Lankaweb could not lay its hands on Murali’s defence.
These exchanges provide fascinating reading for anyone concerned with the ethics of the jurnalists trade. They also provide a supreme case study for employing one’s critical faculties; I shall try and employ mine:
Murali is obviously perturbed by what he describes as a defamatory piece of character- assassination by Mahindapala. He says, “Mr. Mahindapala’s defamatory article accused me of being politically affiliated with the LTTE and of pursuing an ethnically-biased and political-motivated agenda in the aftermath of one of the greatest natural disasters in South Asia’s history. I completely and utterly reject such allegations, which are not only untrue but deeply insulting. “
On the other hand, what do we have from HLDM? He states that the statements attributed by him to Murali were entirely based on what he heard from a medical team at the Habarana Hotel, which he says he had no reason to disbelieve. In other words, the evidence that HLDM employed for making such damaging comments about Murali was hearsay evidence. He says he had “no reason to disbelieve” such evidence apparently due to the fact that they were that of a medical team. One would have no reason, perhaps, to disbelieve what a medical team states if the issue had been about a medically relevant subject. On the other hand, the so called medical team has merely said that so and so had made such an utterance. No reasonable man leans on mere hearsay evidence to believe something. Everybody except a child knows through experience that there are a thousand ways in which such evidence can go wrong. Besides, the victim here is a high profile celebrity whom Sri Lankans world over adore and who has a lot to lose if something defamatory is said about him. HLDM should have rung his own alarm bells before going public. It was therefore incumbent on HLDM to have checked with Murali himself before making damaging comments. HLDM had even gone to the length of invoking racialist emotions by saying that Murali had gone up via the Sinhalese ladder!
HLDM admits he did not try to contact Murali and attempts to bowl a doosra himself to get out of that serious lapse. He means there was no necessity to check with Murali because he believed what he heard at Habarana! If somebody you rely on tells you that your wife has teamed up with another would you rush and go for your wife? HLDM gives another reason namely that one of “Murali’s minders” at Melbourne had one day told him how Murali is in the habit of denying statements he makes when cornered. Again, this is hearsay and gossip. And it is a common failure of numerous men and women. Even if it were true of Murali is that adequate reason for HLDM to dispense with the need for checking with Mural?. Hasn’t HLDM heard of the principle of audi alteram partem, namely “hear the other side”? That is fundamental to the establishment of truth.
HLDM has no reason to dwell on Arjuna’s matter so much, except to cloud up the main issue at hand. Since HLDM denies having said that the relationships between the two cricketing personalities were strained, we will stand by it. The rest of the defence (HLDM having praised Murali on public platforms etc) is of no consequence to the issue at hand.
HLDM exposes himself to a serious charge of defamation of character. If Murali doesn’t pursue that course he would have to thank God for it!