{"id":108477,"date":"2020-11-09T16:42:02","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T23:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108477"},"modified":"2020-11-09T16:42:02","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T23:42:02","slug":"an-open-letter-to-joe-biden-president-elect-of-the-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/09\/an-open-letter-to-joe-biden-president-elect-of-the-usa\/","title":{"rendered":"An Open Letter to Joe Biden President Elect of the USA"},"content":{"rendered":"

By \u00a0The Sri Lanka Study Circle\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Mr Biden, we the members of the Sri Lanka Study Circle in the\nDemocratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, a founding member of the Non\nAligned Movement \u2013 the largest organised grouping of nations after the UN\n\u2013  that initiated a UN General Assembly Resolution in 1971 which was\nunanimously adopted by the entire world to make forever the Indian Ocean a zone\nof peace within which area no nuclear weapons whatsoever  would be\npermitted, looked on with grave concern at the conduct of your recently\nconcluded Presidential Elections, fraught with massive voter fraud, as alleged\nwith conviction by both you and Mr Trump.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were concerned because your country has the most destructive\nmilitary capability in the world and this military-machine, operating out of a\ncountry badly divided down the middle and unstable, could have catastrophic\nconsequences to the peace and harmony of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In this context, your country\u2019s track record in recent times\nin Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Venezuela, to name a few, did not give\nus the solace we desired.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our wishes go out to you that you will be blessed with the\nstrength of character necessary to bring peace and stability to your very\ndivided country and to heal the deep wounds caused by the wide chasm, between\nthe rich and poor, that was sharply exacerbated during the Elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pray and trust that once you restore peace in your country, the\nUS will take its rightful position in the global assembly of Nations, as an\nequal among other Nations and shed illusions of being a primus inter pares.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We would like to remind you, as President Elect of the US, that\nSri Lanka is a committed Non-Aligned State, not swayed by any Power because of\nits military or economic might; we take our stand on global issues, as a\nNon-Aligned State, according to the moral rectitude of the issue facing us.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a principled stand Sri Lanka takes, as highlighted by\nsuccessive Governments, for which the people have given their unconditional\nmandate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do not stay immorally \u2018Neutral\u2019 and look the other way, if the\nsituation demands outright condemnation and effective action.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make our stance better understood, if, God forbid, there were\never to be a holocaust like what the world faced not too long ago or if\nmass drone murders were taking place, as at present, we shall, as a Non-Aligned\nState, take a definite stand on such issues by condemning such conduct and\npressing in the international forum for retributive justice.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were mildly amused but more embarrassed by the invention and\noxymoronic usage of a geo-political concept by some persons, posing off as\npundits, who made a travesty of their posts by talking of\n\u2018Neutral-Non-Alignment\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Biden, we like to take this opportunity to rectify certain\ninaccuracies conveyed in some communiques issued by the US, that we have a\nshared vision for the world. The scope of our respective visions is so\ndisparate that we do not share a common platform on many matters; if it is\npeace, yes, we share that value with you. If it is regarding the type of\ngovernance, we practice, we do not have a common vision.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Government is a Government based on Capitalism, where\ndevelopment is led by the private sector and where private interest prevails\nover public interest. The factors of production are mostly in the hands of the\nprivate sector.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ours, Mr. Biden, as reflected in our Constitution, is a Socialist\nState where public interest prevails over private interest; that is how 83% of\nthe country\u2019s Land -one of the key factors of production – is held by the\nGovernment, on behalf of the people, for the common good and use of the people.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MCC programme as proposed by the US, requires the\nprivatisation of all State Land; the very idea, whether practised through the\nMCC or otherwise is subversive because it subverts our Constitution and is\nopposed by the majority of the people. And subversion of the country and the\nConstitution is a Capital offence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We believe that divergent forms of Government can co-exist and\ncountries can live peacefully in the world respecting each other\u2019s Sovereignty.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wish you once again the very best in your endeavours to heal\nthe deep wounds of your country and urge you to shed illusions of grandeur and\nwork instead towards making the Indian Ocean a zone of Peace. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By \u00a0The Sri Lanka Study Circle\u00a0 Mr Biden, we the members of the Sri Lanka Study Circle in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, a founding member of the Non Aligned Movement \u2013 the largest organised grouping of nations after the UN \u2013  that initiated a UN General Assembly Resolution in 1971 which was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sri-lanka-study-circle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}