Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Saturday, 16 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Q: Thank you for joining us tonight, the question of course is, are you surprised at the amount of criticism of your country holding the Commonwealth summit that we are hearing internationally?
A: I think that what you have to understand is the context. We had a 28-year conflict with terrorists and finally after 28 years we have achieved peace in the country under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and finally everyone is free of the autocracy and the hegemony of terrorism. But one has to understand that there are tremendous influences from those who have funded terrorist conflicts who are now carrying out really a proxy propaganda war. So no, it’s not surprising at all that the proxy propaganda war is continuing. But certainly we realise is that over the years as people realise the wonderful reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction program that we are carrying out in Sri Lanka, gradually that proxy propaganda war will lose its currency.
Q: Of course the big question remains that there is still a long way to go as far as reconciliation is concerned, and of course the biggest concern there is the fact there are still allegations out there of alleged war crimes in the dying hours of the campaign to oust the Tamil Tigers, there is talk of indiscriminate shelling of no fire zones, there is talk of executions. Why not address all of that? Why not put all of that to rest by starting an independent international investigation into everything?
A: Because we respect the independence and sovereignty of your country and expect you to respect ours. We don’t need an international investigation when we have had a vibrant civilisation for two and half thousand years. We have perfectly educated people and we are perfectly capable of carrying out our own domestic inquiry. And that is precisely what we are doing. If you look at the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, it’s a very holistic and comprehensive and very impartial report. And actually if you do come to Sri Lanka, you will find that we have made enormous progress. Let’s look at how we have been after the end of conflict of May 2009. You know the A9 was opened, and we removed the emergency regulations.
Q: I don’t think anybody doubts the fact that there has been progress since the end of the civil war. But there is still reconciliation that needs to be done. And certainly there can’t be full reconciliation if there is not justice. There are many people from among the Tamil community in your country who say that justice has not been done, that their rights have still been fundamentally infringed upon, and there is the need for a broader investigation into what happened in 2009. There are a lot of videos out there; there is a lot of evidence out there. Why are you not looking into that more, especially in light of the fact that you have the summit there right now where you could adopt further measures?
A: The Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, it is important for you to understand that it is not based on the principle of punitive justice where you punish people. It is based on the principle of restorative justice where each one gets an opportunity to be able to share what went on, whether the victims or the perpetrators, and that’s the essence of the LLRC and that is the similar report and the similar principle of the TRC of South Africa.
Q: It is also important to bring all the facts on the table and to look at exactly what happened during the end of that conflict, isn’t it? You will agree that it is fundamentally important for the people who are affected by all this, and the community affected by all this, to understand what happened there?
A: It is very important, but as I say the whole fundamental principle of the LLRC is restorative as opposed to punitive justice. That’s number one. The second point that I would like to take you up on which you mentioned earlier is where you mentioned that a substantial amount of the people who were affected are saying that there is no justice. That is manifestly untrue. It is important to realise that the majority of the equilibrium, the vitriolic diatribe that we have encountered in the last four years, comes from a small group of people, but it happens to be the same group, the same institutions. If you really look at who they are, there are either people behind them who funded terrorism and who needed funding of terrorism as a business. That business has now ended. So this issue, it is very important to understand, that this very vitriolic diatribe that we sometimes hear is predominantly coming from a small segment of the diaspora communities and a small segment of people of funded institutions who have their own collateral agenda.
Q: You say that the people who are criticising you are a small minority in the diaspora. But there are also those heads of governments who are simply not attending this summit because it is in your country. You have the Prime Minister of India, the Prime Minister of Canada, you have the Prime Minister of Britain, who is very critical, who says that at the bilateral meeting he is going to bring all these issue up. You have William Hague who says that clearly there were crimes committed in 2009 and all of these have to be dealt with?
A: Well the three countries you just mentioned, curiously what you have to look at is, where is our diaspora largest, wealthiest and strongest? And the three countries you mentioned happen to be in the top five. There is your answer. Just look at it. Each country, each leader has their domestic political considerations. We understand that. After all they are politicians. We understand that each country has their domestic electoral compulsions. We are a vibrant democracy and we cherish the principles of democracy and development – the twin pillars of the Commonwealth.
Q: If you are telling me that you cherish the principles of democracy, then you also cherish the principle of free speech. Then why is it that journalists coming to your country are being heckled when they try to visit, for instance the north? You have a team from the British broadcaster ITN which were prevented from going to the north because of demonstrators who show up. Apparently demonstrators are showing up everywhere where this crew is going. You have Sri Lankan journalists who are running into issues. You are saying people need to visit the country, need to check out how great things really are. Why are they being held back?
A: I don’t think anyone’s holding anyone back. The point you are trying to make is that people are protesting against other people. That is precisely what happens when different people go to your country. Even some of our leaders have been hackled time and time again. Why? The response we are given is the response you gave, is that you are a vibrant democracy, that is the response I am giving back to you. It is because we are a vibrant democracy, it is precisely because we believe in free speech that we encourage divergent opinion and I think you should respect that.
