{"id":108799,"date":"2020-11-18T15:35:42","date_gmt":"2020-11-18T22:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=108799"},"modified":"2020-11-18T15:35:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-18T22:35:42","slug":"un-resident-coordinators-missive-to-the-prime-minister-and-what-an-ordinary-sri-lankan-thinks-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/11\/18\/un-resident-coordinators-missive-to-the-prime-minister-and-what-an-ordinary-sri-lankan-thinks-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"UN RESIDENT COORDINATOR\u2019S MISSIVE TO THE PRIME MINISTER AND WHAT AN ORDINARY SRI LANKAN THINKS ABOUT IT"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

UN Resident Coordinator Ms Hanaa Singer\u2019s outrageously meddlesome\nmissive offering unsolicited advice on governance (November 12, 2020) to Prime\nMinister Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, with copies to the Minister of Foreign Relations\nMr Dinesh Gunawardane, and Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous \nMedicine Mrs Pavithra Wanniarachchi hasn\u2019t still elicited an official response\nfrom the Government; neither has it drawn any comment from the Opposition, at\nleast by the time of writing.(No doubt, they have genuine reasons for their\nsilence.) But concerned Buddhist monks and lay activists and other ordinary\ncitizens who really care about the country, active  in the social media,\nhave already expressed strong disapproval of what they consider to be her brash\noverstepping of the legitimate boundaries of diplomatic protocol relating to\nher job in Sri Lanka as an employee of the United Nations. They are within\ntheir rights for they are the well informed nationals of the democratic Sri\nLankan state, where every citizen has an inviolable claim to a share in its\nsovereignty, and can question the legitimacy of words and actions of a\nnon-citizen of whatever capacity who seems to dictate terms to the least of\nthem, let alone to those lawfully and democratically elected to execute\nsovereign power on behalf of all the citizens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Hanaa Singer is the most senior UN official in Sri Lanka. When\nshe presented her credentials to the then president Mr Maithripala Sirisena in\nSeptember 2018, she assumed duties in a dual capacity as UN\u2019s Resident\nCoordinator and UN\u2019s Development Programme Resident Representative for Sri\nLanka. However, as a result of a UN reform process in January 2019, the second\njob was given to another UN functionary, and since then Ms Singer has held only\nthe key post of UN\u2019s Resident Coordinator for Sri Lanka. In that capacity, she\nleads the UN Country Team of 22 Resident and Non-Resident UN  Agencies.\nShe represents the UN Secretary-General in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before her assignment to Colombo Ms Singer held a number of senior\nmanagerial positions in the UNICEF offices across the globe, particularly in\nAsia and Africa. She was Associate Regional Director UNICEF Geneva; she was\nCountry Representative for UNICEF in Syria, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.\nMs Singer also led humanitarian programmes in Burundi and Haiti, and managed\ncross border operations including those to Afghanistan and Iraq. Ms Singer\nclaims nearly thirty years of experience with the UN. As she comes from Egypt,\nshe may be expected to be familiar with the problem of Islamic extremism that\nis  plaguing the whole world. An estimated 90% of Egyptians are Muslims,\nand most of them are Sunnis, with a small minority of Shia Muslims, and an even\nsmaller minority of officially unrecognized Ahmadis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until recently, the majority of the mainstream traditional Muslims\nused to be Sufis who were sufficiently, almost seamlessly, integrated into the\nvery tolerant Buddhist and Hindu cultural communities. Unfortunately, that\npeaceful religious coexistence is being threatened by the recent incursions of\nSalafist and Wahhabist extremists allegedly sponsored by Sunni Islamist Saudi\nArabia. The 2019 April Easter Sunday church and hotel bombings which killed\nover 250 and injured more than 500 innocent men, women, and chidren, leaving\nsome maimed for life, were carried out by some young Muslim suicide bombers who\nhad been indoctrinated and trained by these extremist ideologists. There is a\ndanger of such extremists exploiting the volatile sensitivities of sorrow stricken\nMuslims in this Covid-19 situation who, like people of other religions, are in\nneed of emotional succour and are looking towards the traditional source that\nprovides it (religion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While expressing her\/UN\u2019s readiness \u2018to provide any relevant\nsupport on this matter\u2019 (the burial problem), Ms Hanaa Singer tells the PM that\n\u2018dignified handling of bodies of persons dead of Covid-19 virus has been an\nimportant part of the COVID-19 response\u2019 (as if he is unaware of this). What\nmaterial support can she provide on the burial matter? She reiterates \u2018the\nconcern of the United Nations with the existing Ministry of Health guidelines\nwhich stipulate cremation as the only method for the disposal of bodies\nsuspected of COVID-19 infection\u2019. Why should the UN be \u2018concerned\u2019 about the\nHealth Ministry guidelines which order cremation bodies of persons\nscientifically confirmed dead of COVID-19? It is not a case of disposing of\nbodies \u2018suspected of COVID-19 infection\u2019. Ms Hanaa\u2019s \u2018concern\u2019 reveals\nher  unfounded suspicion that the government is abusing this situation to\ndiscriminate against Muslims. The government and the rest of the population\nhave other prob;ems to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Singer refers to WHO circulars issued on March 24, 2020 and\nlater that claim that \u2018…..based on current knowledge of the symptoms of\nCovid-19 and its main modes of transmission (droplets\/contact), the likelihood\nof transmission when handling human remains is low\u2026.\u2019. This sort of harebrained\nwisdom, though it comes from the WHO (which is also manned by ordinary\nmortals), is unacceptable in a lethal situation. Let\u2019s take a domestic example.\nSuppose you have a child who is allergic to peanuts, and that once, feeding him\na peanut containing yoghurt almost killed him. Now, a friendly visitor brings him\na chocolate. But before giving it to him you check whether it is safe for him\nto eat it, so you look at the wrapper and read the cautionary information\nprinted there: it says \u2018This product may have traces of peanut oil\u2019. Will you\nallow your child to eat the chocolate? No, not at all. Why expose your child\u2019s\nhealth, or even his life, to danger for the sake of a chocolate?  In the\ncurrent pandemic situation, while obeying the broad WHO guidelines, each\ncountry must adopt measures that best suit local conditions as determined by\nqualified local experts, not by interfering politicians or diplomats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burial of infected bodies in the current situation is dangerous\nbecause of its potential for contamination of the aquifers, which, in most\nparts of the country are quite shallow. In Sri Lanka, around 80% of the\npopulation in the villages and some people even in Colombo and suburbs obtain\ntheir drinking water from wells.The Covid-19 virus is a dangerous new virus\nwhich is still being studied by scientists. If the expert scientific opinion\nright now is that there is a real danger or even a likelihood (be it high or\nlow) of groundwater contamination with this deadly virus as a result of burying\ncorpses of Covid-19 victims, then religious sentiment will give way to science\nin any civilised country where the vast majority of people depend on\ngroundwater for drinking  and other domestic purposes. This applies\nequally to people of all faiths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not only the Muslims who traditionally only bury their dead;\nChristians also do. Buddhists and Hindus either bury or cremate, though they\nprefer the latter mode of disposing of the dead, after the performance of\nelaborate funeral rites, which in the case of Hindus take the longest time to\ncomplete among the four religious communities. They also feel as acutely as\nMuslims do in situations of bereavement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently forgetting this Ms Singer warns our Prime Minister: \u2018In\nthe same context, I deem it important to inform you that I have received\nimpassioned appeals from within and outside the Muslim community that perceive\nthe current policy on burials as discriminatory. Against this background, I\nfear that not allowing burials is having a negative effect on social cohesion\nand more importantly, could also adversely impact the measures for containing\nthe spread of the virus as it may discourage people to access medical care where\nthey have symptoms or (a) history of contact.\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of so undiplomatically lecturing to the PM, Ms Singer,\nshould have educated the Muslims and others who, she says, appealed to her for\nundue intervention in a domestic nonissue like this about the fact that\nsubjecting Muslims and others to the same health guideline which makes\ncremation mandatory is not discrimination and that the Sri Lankan leaders are\nnot so mean or so lacking in selfconfidence as to make the Covid-19 pandemic\nemergency a pretext for discriminating against a minority. Ms Singer, it is not\n\u2018not allowing burials (that) is having a negative effect on social cohesion\u2019,\nit is cases of unwarranted intervention like yours that tend to destroy Sri\nLanka\u2019s social cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her parting shot is: \u2018I recognize that during epidemics, for\nreasons of public health, Governments often need to take difficult, and at\ntimes unpopular measures. However, in this case, the negative consequences of\nnot allowing burials seem to outweigh any potential epidemiological benefit.\nConsidering the evidenced-based (sic) guidance of World Health Organization, as\nwell as the commitments of the Government of Sri Lanka to uphold the rights of\nall communities, I therefore express my hope that the existing policy be\nrevised so as to allow the safe and dignified burial of COVOD-19 victims\u2019. In\nview of what I have written above, Ms Singer\u2019s argument has little merit here.\nIt only shows her own bias. How justified is she in allowing her personal\nbiases to get in her way of judgement in the performance of her duties as an\ninternational civil servant who is certainly not a plenipotentiary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Articles 1 and 2 are described under Chapter 1 of the Charter of\nthe United Nations signed in San Francisco on June 26, 1945 (Kindle version of\nthe UN Charter published in the US by Praetorian Press, LLC  2011) \nwhich deals with the purposes and principles that determine its mandate.\nArticle 1 is about maintaining international peace and security through\ncollective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to peace, to\ndevelop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of\nequal rights and self-determination of peoples, to achieve international\nco-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social,\ncultural, or humanitarian character, and to be a centre for harmonizing the\nactions of nations in the attainment of these common ends, etc. The\n\u2018international\u2019 nature of the UN\u2019s responsibility should not be forgotten. The\nUN cannot poke its nose into a country\u2019s internal affairs on somebody\u2019s whim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Article 2 stipulates the principles in accordance which the\npurposes stated in Article 1 are to be pursued: Item No 1 of Article 2 states\nthe crucial principle of the sovereign equality of the member states: \u2019The\nOrganization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its\nMembers\u2019. This and the other six principles specified in Article 2 implicitly\nemphasize the necessity for the UN as a single body and for all its individual\nmembers to desist from interfering in the internal affairs of member states.\nItems 4, 5, and 7 of Article 2 are especially important in this\nconnection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\nthe important Item No 7 contains an exception to the observance of this\nprinciple.  Here is Item No 7 in full: \u2018Nothing contained in the present\nCharter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are\nessentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the\nMembers to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but\nthis principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures\nunder Chapter VII\u2019. When we read Chapter VII (i.e., Articles 39-51), it becomes\nclear that for any intervention or interference (which should only be of a non-military\nkind – such as, in the form of travel embargoes, trade sanctions, etc.) to be\nimposed, the unsettling domestic issues must be on a scale that calls for UN\nSecurity Council involvement. The burial (non)issue is not likely to assume\nsuch importance. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Rohana R. Wasala UN Resident Coordinator Ms Hanaa Singer\u2019s outrageously meddlesome missive offering unsolicited advice on governance (November 12, 2020) to Prime Minister Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, with copies to the Minister of Foreign Relations Mr Dinesh Gunawardane, and Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous  Medicine Mrs Pavithra Wanniarachchi hasn\u2019t still elicited an official response […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-rohana-r-wasala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108799","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=108799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108799\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}