{"id":111916,"date":"2021-02-22T00:41:29","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T06:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=111916"},"modified":"2021-02-21T17:18:27","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T00:18:27","slug":"is-pastor-colombage-with-the-unhrc-luring-sri-lanka-into-a-deadly-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/02\/22\/is-pastor-colombage-with-the-unhrc-luring-sri-lanka-into-a-deadly-trap\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Pastor Colombage with the UNHRC Luring Sri Lanka into a Deadly Trap?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The higher a monkey climbs, the more you see of\nits behind.\u201d \u2014Joseph Stillwell <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Who is Colombage? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Monkeying around on the seat of the Foreign Secretary in the\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs, is a rank outsider and interloper, Pastor\nColombage, described by many insiders as the ineptest Secretary in the history\nof post-independence Sri Lanka; these insiders are unable to perceive whether\nColombage is just an opportunistic nincompoop or a cunning fifth columnist\noperating within the Ministry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These opinions are based on the born-again pastor\u2019s preposterous\ngaffes, conflicts of interest and his membership in ultra-right American funded\nthink tanks like \u2018Centre for Indo-Lanka Initiatives\u2019 covertly nestling under\nthe wings of the notorious \u2018Pathfinder\u2019 organisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The head of the \u2018Pathfinders\u2019, Agent Moragoda, whose life and\nreputation is mired in allegations of bribery, corruption and espionage was\nfurther disgraced when his nomination as Sri Lanka\u2019s High Commissioner to India\ndid not find favour with India.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Milinda_Moragoda<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage’s Gaffes <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage, like his handler Agent Moragoda, is proving to be an\nembarrassment to the country and a positive threat to her National Security.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing his handler\u2019s voice, it was Colombage who went public to\nutter Neutrality is the number one pillar of Sri Lanka\u2019s Foreign Policy\u201d.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage did not know the difference between Neutrality and\nNon-Alignment. Then, to cover up his gaffe, he made matters worse when he\nseemed to suggest that Non-Alignment is unfriendly. To whom?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His next major gaffe was when he grandiosely announced that Sri\nLanka will adopt an India first approach\u201d as its new foreign policy plank and\nprotect New Delhi\u2019s strategic security interests\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With egg on his face and eating humble pie, Colombage was soon\nmaking mumbling sounds that what he meant was Sri Lanka first and India\nnext. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was Colombage\u2019s retraction genuine considering that India is today\none of the four members of America\u2019s \u2018Southern NATO\u2019, a US military alliance in\nthe Indo-Pacific called the \u2018QUAD\u2019.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage\u2019s latest gaffe comes on the eve of a new anti-Sri Lanka\nresolution which, a small group of US underlings has declared, would be\npresented at the UNHRC sessions scheduled to begin on 22nd<\/sup> February\nthis year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These lackey-nations who describe themselves as a CORE group,\ncomprise Canada, UK, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Germany. Their proposed\nResolution, as reported, is based on the outrageous Report of the United\nNations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ver\u00f3nica Bachelet, a controversial\nand coquettish politician. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tail wags the dog in the Foreign Ministry <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Colambage revealed last month that the government was\nhaving discussions with the UK-led Sri Lanka Core Group in a bid to explore the\npossibility of reaching a consensus on what he, Colombage, described as a\n\u2018consensual resolution\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of mobilising the friendly nations \u2013 the majority in the\nInternational community \u2013 to win the 47-member vote in Geneva, Colombage was\nclearly dilly-dallying, frittering away the limited time to negotiate a dubious\nconsensus with the Enemy, the CORE. This procrastination is helpful only to the\nEnemy.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Colombage\u2019s strategy clearly out of step with Dinesh\u2019s\noutright condemnation of the Bachelet report, it is clear that in the Foreign\nMinistry the tail is wagging the dog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reaching consensus on a consensual Resolution \u2013 huh? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombage says that he is involved in the challenging task of, \u2018reaching\na consensus on a \u2018consensual\u2019 resolution<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u2018Consensual\u2019 by definition is an adjective which means involving\nthe willing participation of both or all parties, especially in an illegal\ntransaction or practice\u201d. <\/em>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does the verb co-sponsor, used in the 2015 Resolution mean?\nIt is defined as, together, introduce and support (a proposal) in an\nassembly.<\/em>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the difference between Mangala and Colombage? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What then is the difference between Mangala Samaraweera\u2019s\ntraitorous act of co-sponsoring a dubious American initiated Resolution on war\ncrimes and Colombage jointly presenting, with the American CORE group, a\nconsensual document, an even more traitorous Resolution?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has Colombage let the cat out of the bag? Has he already agreed to\nco-sponsor the Resolution? Is it a fait accompli<\/em>?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question arises, How does one reach consensus on a resolution\nthat is already tabled as a consensual resolution and where would that leave\nSri Lanka?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in square one <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer was given succinctly by that outstanding Sri Lankan\ndiplomat, Tamara Kunanayakam, in an interview with a leading local-media outlet\non 11 Feb 21. She gave an incisive insight on the CORE Resolution, the Bachelet\nReport and the ramifications these held for Sri Lanka and the world if a\n\u2018consensual\u2019 Resolution were adopted; she summed up Sri Lanka\u2019s position nicely\nwhen she said, We will be back in square one\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it is imperative that Sri Lanka rejects the Resolution? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is Kunanayakam\u2019s contention that Sri Lanka should reject\noutright, this dubious Resolution and go for a vote; Sri Lanka can count on the\nsupport of her friends in the Non-Aligned movement, the Global South, the Security\nCouncil and win, considering especially the latent dangers in the Resolution\nthat lie in store for these supportive Nations.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kunanayakam went on to explain that when a Consensual Resolution\nis tabled, it communicates, in diplomatese, to the assembly and our friends in\nparticular, Look, even if you disagree with the Resolution and wish to support\nus, there is no space for you now because we have already negotiated with the\nsponsors, the CORE group, to jointly present this Resolution\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, by procedural compulsion, the voices of our friendly\nNations will be muted, no vote taken, the Resolution adopted – by Consensus, if\nyou may \u2013 and recorded, for history, as a Resolution unanimously adopted!\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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