{"id":113052,"date":"2021-03-28T15:05:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T22:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113052"},"modified":"2021-03-28T15:05:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-28T22:05:38","slug":"unhrc-worrying-about-ants-when-elephants-are-stampeding-an-african-metaphor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/03\/28\/unhrc-worrying-about-ants-when-elephants-are-stampeding-an-african-metaphor\/","title":{"rendered":"UNHRC; \u201cWorrying about ants when elephants are stampeding \u2013An African metaphor"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Yet it remains the case that if Nigerian\npublic and private sector players doing business with the Chinese elephant\ncould improve their negotiating skills and be more ambitious about their\nnegotiating positions, making better use of Nigeria\u2019s \u2018superpower\u2019 qualities to\nminimise the drawbacks of its antlike ones, the future of Nigeria\u2013China\nrelations could be brighter and more beneficial for Nigeria than their past \u2013\nSouth African Institute of International Affairs<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights violations allegedly committed by\nPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the government of Sri Lanka are antlike\ncompared to the Elephantine violations committed by giants in the world\nincluding the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UNHRC and the West so concerned about the\nAnts, looks totally disinterested when the Military in Myanmar mows down\ninnocent civilians fighting for their human rights. They have not raised a\nfinger or even a finger nail to do anything tangible to halt the Military juggernaut\nfrom killing more people and subjugating them to the power of guns and other\nmilitary hardware. Military might has replaced human rights and the world looks\non issuing useless statements from UN pulpits. The duplicity and differential\ntreatment being meted out is sickening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, these human rights champions are\nconcerned about internal matters of Sri Lanka, but not concerned about the\nMuslim extremists who killed more than 300 people during the Easter bombings in\n2019 and prior to that the marauding LTTE who killed hundreds and thousands of\ninnocent children, women, old men and women. The dark history of the LTTE has\nbeen inconsequential for the UNHRC or the West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much has been written about the plight of the\npoor in the US who have no rights if they are poor. The world knows how rights\nare violated in Saudi Arabia, protected by the US. They know about the\nviolations in Israel, again protected by the US. Palestinians have been\ntrampled, walls built around them, and basic living conditions denied to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the member countries of the UNHRC, who\nvoted against Sri Lanka have appalling human rights records. Some others who\nsat on the fence too would not have a place to hide if their records are\nexposed. Others who sat on the fence did not have the guts to either side with\nthe Elephants or support the Ant who was being trampled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sections of the Tamil Diaspora, the beggars\nwith the wound that will never heal, provided plenty of falsehoods to the Core\ngroup and the US, and the world media big shots sponsored the case against Sri\nLanka basing their accusations on such falsehoods, and also infringing on Sri\nLanka\u2019s sovereignty as if Sri Lanka was still one of their colonial outposts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is high time Sri Lankan Tamils who wish to\ncall Sri Lanka their home divorced themselves from the LTTE and their\nsupporters overseas, and also kicked out their politicians from their\nelectorates and elected a set of politicians who would help to develop their\nareas and improved their lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They must ask themselves what these\npoliticians have done for them since independence. They must ask themselves\nwhat development support the Tamil Diaspora, barring a handful, have done to\nimprove the economic wellbeing of Tamils in the North and the East by\ninvesting, and creating jobs or improving agriculture and agri industries so\nthat people would have had more self-employment opportunities. Had they done\nthis, the private sector in the North and East would have been booming today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead they contribute to fill the coffers of\nthe LTTE rump, who in turn puts money in the pockets of politicians in the West\nto continue their fake allegations about their hopeless\u201d fate in Sri Lanka. This\nmoney goes to keep LTTE atrocities under the lid and make the world think that\nthe LTTE was a lily white set of freedom fighters without any blemish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa may\nhave his faults. After all he is human. But, few seem to remember that had it\nnot been for him and the service commanders at the time including Field Marshal\nSarath Fonseka, who led very brave Forces personnel, and the political\nleadership provided by President Mahinda Rajapakse, the island of Sri Lanka would\nhave had two Nations by now. There are of course those with short memories, who\nowe their freedom to talk, write and act because the LTTE were defeated militarily\nin 2009, and others with an objective that is still uppermost in their minds,\nand that is to create a separate nation in the North and the East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil people will have to make a decision\nwhether they wish to be in one nation called Sri Lanka, along with the\nSinhalese, Muslims and other ethnic groups, or whether they wish to live in a\nseparate Nation. Such a decision however cannot be just the decision of Tamil\npeople, it has to be a decision of all people of Sri Lanka including the\nSinhalese, Muslims and other races, as they all have ownership of the one\ncountry and island where everyone lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the Tamil people in the North and East and\nothers living in the rest of the country wish to advance and work towards the\nconcept of one country for all, they have to choose a different set of leaders\nwho would pursue such a concept and work towards addressing how the road blocks\nthat might be impeding the one country concept may be overcome. It has to be\nclear to the Tamil people that their leadership has failed them, and they have\nnot benefited by the divisive politics practiced by their leadership. Solutions\nlie in compromise and consensus decision making by all people as no group could\nhave aspirations that disadvantage another group. In particular, majority\ngroups need to compromise more than minority groups as majorities can and they\ndo create imbalances simply on account of their numerical strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muslim people of Sri Lanka too need to make a\ndecision about their future in Sri Lanka and whether they wish to replicate\nextremism practiced in countries like Saudi Arabia or whether they wish to\npractice moderation as the Prophet himself articulated very well in his\nteachings. Extremism cannot have a place in the country. Politicians who\nadvocate extremist ideologies should be rejected by the Muslim people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UNHRC vote gave a clear indication as to\nwho were with Sri Lanka and who had the self-respect to defend their\nsovereignty as this resolution was clearly aimed at infringing on the sovereignty\nof small, poor and developing nations by those powerful ones who had become the\npseudo defenders of human rights. In saying this, there is no inference\nwhatsoever that any violation of people\u2019s human rights should not be opposed.\nIt must be. However, such a condemnation has to be proportionate to the alleged\nor actual violations, and also dealt in equal measure irrespective of a\ncountry\u2019s wealth or power. This is not the case today as evidenced by how the\nrich and the powerful treat some nations differently to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nigerian simile mentioned at the outset of\nthis article rings true when it comes to Sri Lanka too. China is the Elephant\nin the room which has got the Western power block which includes India, to take\nmeasures against Sri Lanka and corral it using a UNHRC resolution, hoping that\nSri Lanka will yield to such international pressure and cave into their\ndemands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the uphill task, Sri Lanka should not\ncave in as that would be the end of the country\u2019s sovereignty. Sri Lanka should\nhowever very aggressively and purposefully pursue alliances with countries in\nsimilar situations to counter the threats from not just the Western power\nblock, but even from China at a future point in time. A very aggressive China,\npursuing its own agenda of being the next super power of the world, could\npotentially become the Elephant that tramples nations like Sri Lanka if it felt\nthat an Ant was standing in its way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka no doubt wants and must have the\nsupport of all nations to improve their economic and social wellbeing of their\npeople. It needs investments from all corners and not loans and handouts. Sri\nLanka\u2019s development and self-sufficiency has to come from the confidence it\ngenerates to attract investments. In this regard, many initiatives being taken\nby the Rajapaksa government has to be lauded and encouraged, while those\nopposed to the government should offer constructive criticism of government\npolicies and practices. A democratic opposition should not resort to spreading\nfake news to pursue a genuine political agenda unless that agenda is also as\nfake as the fake news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Raj Gonsalkorale Yet it remains the case that if Nigerian public and private sector players doing business with the Chinese elephant could improve their negotiating skills and be more ambitious about their negotiating positions, making better use of Nigeria\u2019s \u2018superpower\u2019 qualities to minimise the drawbacks of its antlike ones, the future of Nigeria\u2013China relations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-raj-gonsalkorale"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113052","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=113052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}