Chanaka Kurera Free Lanka International – Montreal, Quebec

Roxanne James
Member of Parliament
Scarborough Centre
1450 Midland Ave., Suite 21
Scarborough, ON M1P 4Z8

November 29, 2013

Dear Roxanne James,

This is in response to your recent letter regarding Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s boycott of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this past month in Sri Lanka. As you have indicated that you welcome our comments, please accept this letter as representative of the sentiments held by countless individuals across all racial and economic boundaries, who have had enough and will no longer tolerate the war mongering, deceitful and outright psychopathic behavior of our “elected”¹ leaders.

You state in your letter that you are proud of our Conservative Government’s strong stance on human rights and of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka. The very idea that our current government has even the slightest amount of concern for human rights would be laughable, were it not for the very grave nature of the topic at hand and the countless lives that have been destroyed though their callous actions and lack thereof.

I will point out only a handful of the human rights violations that our government, under the poor leadership of Stephen Harper, is guilty of endorsing. I would encourage you to do some of your own research into these matters, as it appears that your awareness is quite limited in this area.

When it comes to gross human rights violations against the innocent children, women and men that inhabit one’s country, there are few nations that can compete with Canada. With a very recent history that includes the rape, murder, kidnapping, brainwashing, torturing and outright genocide of the original inhabitants of this land, Canada is well poised to speak with first hand knowledge of human rights violations.

This ugly chapter of Canadian history is by no means closed. Prime Minister Harper and his government have systematically ignored the rights of Canada’s First Nations people and continue to do so. Victims of the infamous residential schools have yet to see true closure and justice^2,3, the ongoing demands for a formal investigation into the disappearance of hundreds of Canadian First Nations women have been systematically ignored⁴, and First Nations and other communities are losing their land, clean water and health to the environmentally devastating resource extraction policies favored by our government.⁵ The list goes on and on.

In foreign policy, Canada has so much blood on it’s hands that it is beyond the scope of this letter to even attempt to do this topic justice. From the rampant use of chemical weapons⁶ to the widespread support of ruthless regimes⁷, Canada has positioned itself as a leader in militarized foreign policy and belligerent neo imperialism.

But I digress. The main intention of this letter is not to shine a light on the numerous human rights violations and atrocities that Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Canadian government are guilty of. The purpose of this letter is to clarify the true situation in Sri Lanka and the role of the international community in fostering divisiveness, violence and war in this otherwise resplendent nation.

I would have assumed that as an MP, you would have made an attempt at displaying more knowledge in your letter, which comes across as nothing more than a cheap shot at winning the votes of the Tamil people in your riding. Having obviously never traveled to Sri Lanka, you may be surprised to find out that the lies you have been fed by the LTTE propagandists and their peons contain little to no substance. Sri Lanka is an extremely inclusive nation, where Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim people live together harmoniously and respectfully. The statements you made in your letter display your extreme ignorance of the political situation in Sri Lanka, and we strongly urge you to educate yourself before attempting to fan the flames of a conflict that is finally over after years of killing, destruction and despair.

You may also want to think twice before siding with an organization that is responsible for the invention of the suicide bomb, the assassination of over 100 heads of government, members of parliament, ministers, councilors, military officers, civil servants and academics⁸, many of whom were Tamil citizens of Sri Lanka who opposed the LTTE agendas. Perhaps you should consider whether you truly wish to stand behind the only terrorist group responsible for the killing of two world leaders, a group that financed its operations through bank robberies, drug smuggling and extortion, while building its army by abducting Tamil children and equipping them with suicide bombs and cyanide capsules to fight in the name of their “freedom” ⁹.

Because make no mistake: by supporting Prime Minister Harper in his boycott of Sri Lanka, you are supporting the remnant factions of the LTTE that are desperately trying to reignite the tensions in Sri Lanka, so as not to lose out on their profits gained through criminal activities and extortion. You are also supporting the true driving force behind the LTTE’s activities: the globalist agenda to destabilize Sri Lanka for strategic, military and economic reasons that have nothing to do with the rights or well being of the people of Sri Lanka. Divide and rule – the oldest cheap trick in the book.  Well hear this, I am here to tell you that we, the people of Sri Lanka who suffered most under colonialism, neo imperialism and terrorism, no longer desire the interventions of the international community. We have more than enough knowledge, resources, cultural riches and diversity to build and maintain our country without the meddling of foreign powers who seek to destroy our nation. Perhaps Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his government should learn a lesson from Sri Lanka and begin their own reconciliation process with the people of Canada who have suffered and continue to suffer human rights violations under their watch.

Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims all fought together to defeat the LTTE. The average Tamil Sri Lankan does not support the LTTE’s agendas. We the people of Sri Lanka want nothing more than to put this bloody chapter of history behind us and move on. Please have the decency to refrain from using our country and the well being of its people as an easy way to win votes. You will find that Sri Lankan people are smarter than that.

Yours truly,

Chanaka Kurera

Free Lanka International – Montreal, Quebec

freelanka.international@gmail.com

References:

1. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/robocall-election-controversy-spreading-1.1268977

2. http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/10/22/harper-tories-on-side-of-pedophiles-and-sadists-by-hiding-information-on-residential-school-abuse-ndp-charges/

3. http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-facts-harper-apology-residential-schools-and-bill-c-10

4. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canada-to-reject-un-panels-call-for-review-of-violence-on-aboriginal-women/article14406434/

5. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/30/canada-aboriginals-resource-development_n_4178464.html

6. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/yves-engler/chemical-weapons-canada_b_3932439.html

7. http://jhrconcordia.com/2012/10/21/feature-yves-engler-the-ugly-canadian-stephen-harpers-foreign-policy/

8.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinations_of_the_Sri_Lankan_Civil_War

9. http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1869501,00.html