What Will Obama Have For Sri Lanka?
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa
26 September, 2010
Sri Lanka Guardian
Sri Lanka is under siege after the introduction of the 18th Amendment to
the Constitution which dissolved term limits of the President who, by an
earlier constitution, is above the law and can now dispense with the
independence commissions for free & fair elections, corruption control,
police and government services which was introduced by the 17th Amendment.
The President has acted more like a rapist. He has abused the mannerly
political culture in Sri Lanka far more than any previous leader has done.
The President has done away with all the norms of basic principles for the
good governance while taking the country into his custody. Now the country
is dancing to the music played by the Rajapakse regime; like a puppy
following its tail.
With the end of the of three-decade-old war in Sri Lanka with the killing of
the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam the Government of Sri
Lanka declared the accomplishment of their mission on May 19. However, the
Government of Sri Lanka has never been able to explain the inconsistencies
with the information that Prabakran was surrendering with members of his
family when they were shot to death. There is strong evidence reveals that
some senior leaders of the LTTE surrendered in the final week of the final
battle but no one knows what happened to them. And the Rajapakse regime is
certainly not talking about the issue. Of special note is the fact that
political leaders like Elillan and Balakumaran were surrendered to the Army
as civilians but nothing has been heard from the government/military side.
The Sri Lanka Guardian recently released the photograph of Balakumaran and
his son after surrendering to the Army. However, a reliable source later
updated that he did not come with a white flag but under disguise and the
army took him into custody. However The Government of Sri Lanka has only one
explanation for all the killings that took place during the final phase of
the war; killing in action.
As we all know the Government issued the image of the semi nude body of the
slain LTTE leader. This goes to prove that the brave soldiers lost their way
at the end. Could this have been planned by the Defence Secretary Col. (Rtd)
Gotabhaya Rajapakse? Apparently so because on the same day in addressing the
media he said, "We will do the same thing what we did for dead body of
Prabhakaran, if there arises another Prabhakaran in the future of Sri
Lanka." No doubt this was a result of an emotion which arose out of the
liberation of the Eastern province.
Then the government started the campaign which was an extremely based on
promoting Sinhalese racism and again the fact that this was an emotive
government folly was proved by the fact that they tried to win everything by
military means. It was obvious (to them) that the Tamil Tigers were far
from negotiations and so they were assassinated. First they killed their own
struggle and as a result of that they faced deadly internal conflicts which
were on a basic principle of elimination.
One year and four months after the war there are more than two hundred and
fifty thousand internally displaced people were still remaining in the
camps. Even there are a few thousand former rebels still under detention.
The government side is very optimistic over post-war reconciliation in Sri
Lanka despite the heavy criticism from many sides over the Government policy
on minorities. However; in recent elections the Government manipulated the
votes which were in favour of the opposition parties. President Rajapaksa
was still unable to win over the minority but he created a few yes men for
conning the neighbor countries and the International Community. Expected
economic benefits were slow in coming due to the killing of the basic
principles of good governance by Rajapakse; his one family rule, he believes
will make the way possible for mega development.
Rajapakse is now at the UN with a contingent of 130 representatives to
attend the General Assembly. This is costing the people of Sri Lanka more
than 1000 million (1 billion?) rupees at a time when government institutions
are being shut down and private companies are under fire after the country
lost the GSP+. Even the state owned media is suffering losses constantly.
According to media reports, in 2006 the state own Rupawahini corporation
gained 139 million as its annual revenues which reduced into 4.7 million in
2009.
“In order to achieve the full realization of our potential, we desire a
supportive external environment. Towards this end, we will always look for
constructive engagement and partnerships. We will, from our side, continue
to contribute as we have always done, to the cause of multilateralism and a
principled global order,” the President Rajapaksa said at the UN general
assembly. Furthermore he said, “Leaders who have been chosen by their people
often face difficult decisions. They must be entitled to the goodwill and
confidence of the international community with regard to the heavy burdens
they are required to shoulder. The results of their decisions must be
evaluated objectively and must be allowed to speak for themselves."
But the person who knew a basic about political science understood that once
you eliminate the all Independence institutions it is impossible to gain the
peoples’ trust as any decision made is done so in the name of the people by
the person who has all the power. The major decision is simply to con the
International Community. Rajapakse has erased every possibility for good
governance which was paralyzed under the previous UNP government by passing
the 18th amendment. An act which has already been criticised by the USA.
The rising one family political outfit in Sri Lanka is a global threat and
it is a threat to democracy. This was beginning of impunity and a crime
against humanity in Sri Lanka which missed the golden opportunity to build
an identity in the World.
It is amusing to learn that people have pointed out that President Barack
Obama never mentioned a single word in his address to the General Assembly
about the total defeat of terrorism in Sri Lanka. A defeat that Sri Lanka is
trumpeting as a model for the world. These people saw it as a personal
perspective that the west has never respected the east. But the victory of
winning the war was soured by the fact that the Commander who defeated the
LTTE was taken into custody for conspiring to overthrow the government while
the Tamil Tigers' successor, the LTTE's former arms smuggler and criminal
conspirator, has become a new friend of the Government. This man who was
part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government has never stood trial as a
terrorist under a "principled global order."
We have to keep in mind that the KP who is under the care of the Government
has never declared that he is no longer with the LTTE. He has never resigned
from the post as the successor of Prabhakaran. This simply proves that the
government of Sri Lanka is using terrorists to manipulate it's democratic
political opponents in minority dominated areas. Is this winning the war?
Is it contributing to the cause of multilateralism and a principled global
order? This is what President Barack Obama, in his first speech at the UN
general Assembly after he become President of the USA, criticized as a
threat
Human rights and freedom. After eliminating the most ruthless terrorist out
fit in the world, today Sri Lanka has become the most ruthless violator of
the norms of human freedom and dignity under the Rajapakses.
In his speech at the UNGA the President Obama says, “On my first day in
office, I prohibited - without exception or equivocation - the use of
torture by the United States of America. I ordered the prison at Guantanamo
Bay closed, and we are doing the hard work of forging a framework to combat
extremism within the rule of law. Every nation must know: America will live
its values, and we will lead by example." He was in a presidency for nine
months, in this speech he never used the term ‘terrorism’ which the
President Rajapakse uses frequently. However Rajapakse might have thought
the world will welcome him because he eliminated the LTTE but he ignores the
fact that the world is aware of his present drama too. Rajapakse is using
the elimination of the LTTE as a cover for messing up the politics of Sri
Lanka. Obama indirectly clarified this is as violence against freedom. In
this situation in the future Sri Lanka will lose direct aid for
reconstructions. Loans will approved under curtains circumstances with
higher interest. As it is said, power tend to corrupt and absolute power is
corrupts absolutely, which is what we are facing in Sri Lanka.
There was no mention that Sri Lanka is a role model of counter-terrorism
because it is clear that having eliminated the LTTE the ruling party have
now eliminated the basic principalities of good governance. Does anyone see
the difference between the LTTE’s terrorism and the State’s terrorism? Both
of them are targeted civilians and their basic rights?
( The writer is a Sri Lankan journalist based in Singapore City. He can be reached at [email protected])
