Towards ‘Wonder of Asia’ with regional and world peace

Unity is strength: Let us unite as a nation and a group of likeminded nations in the world

Sri Lanka is a senior member

Sri Lanka is a senior member of the world family, maintaining high standards of human rights on international standards, which is not an alien system to us. Our culture is based on amity, goodwill and loving kindness.

Sri Lankans are famous for friendship and warmth and all ethnic groups lived in harmony for thousands of years in Sri Lanka until Western domination and invaders disturbed our long-cherished values and culture.

Now there is an imminent threat on the sovereignty, independence and reputation of our country. It is with great difficulties that we got out of the clutches of the invaders. We went through a difficult period of 30 years of terrible terrorism, which destabilised the nation that bled throughout, destroying property, human life and entire fabric of the society.

Today we are a peaceful and a stable country leading towards upward trends in tourism, economy, education and other respects. To the credit of the security forces, there haven’t been any incidents of terrorism since the eradication of terrorism.

The episode at Geneva is in the public eye. The pound of flesh is demanded by the West as reconciliation and accountability is on the table. Accountability sought for is confined only to the last phase of the war of few months, which means the war that has gone through three decades has been performed professionally. Sri Lankan forces were considered to be of highest standard and professional.

Reconciliation process

The reconciliation process is almost over by settling 295,000 IDPs out of 300,000. They are enjoying the fruit of peace, virgin lands and the emerging economy strengthening and joining the north and the south economically and politically. If this bond destabilises, there will be a disaster and breakaway of the bond which will reverse the reconciliatory process on motion for destabilisation and a possible bloodbath again. This should be avoided. Stakeholders should not ignite to inflame the volatile situation.

Our target

Our target is to be the ‘Wonder of Asia’. Sri Lanka is enjoying the peace dividends with the upward economy, booming tourism and developments economically and politically.

We were liberated from the clutches of Western colonisation in 1948 having gained independence. Since then we have been maintaining democratic ideals and values making Sri Lanka and India model democracies in Asia.

Over 30 years the Sri Lankan nation bled profusely as a result of terrorism by some misguided youth in the north and the east. Though the world considered it an unwinnable war, the heroic Sri Lankan forces eradicated terrorism completely, disproving the notion that terrorism could not be crushed militarily.

Unity of the region through SAARC – there should be no cracks in SAARC

SAARC members should be united against external intervention. India and China are emerging world powers and it is time they act and react carefully.

No member nation should leave room for cracks of the SAARC organisations approaching the zenith from the hard work and the results achieved since 1985. Eight SAARC nations must be united for a united SAARC for the prosperity and a better future for the peoples of SAARC.

The Sri Lanka military was considered to be disciplined and exemplary. The military looked after children and the disabled during the war and the Government readily provided food, shelter, education and health services to all the citizens in the north and the east, including the terrorists who are hiding among the civilians.

Any war is bitter and unpleasant, but at times it is unavoidable. Sri Lanka’s situation was such that terrorism had destabilised the entire quality and fabric of society. Bombing, bloodbaths and disruptions were frequent. The country was named a killing field and it became world known as a centre for terrorism. The LTTE spread their territory towards Asia subsequently and to the entire world with a network of drug and human trafficking as leaders of the underworld.

There is a resolution by the USA in Geneva urging Sri Lanka to implement the LLRC Report. The LLRC is a commission appointed by the President of Sri Lanka with best of intentions aiming at accountability and reconciliation.

The resolution cosponsored by USA is against a nation, not against an individual or a group. There is a convention in the United Nations that resolutions should not be aimed at individual nations.

Therefore, every Sri Lankan and those who love Sri Lanka should object to the resolution which is biased and contravenes the United Nations Charter, which espouses sovereignty and equality of nations. Those who support the motion against Sri Lanka are acting against their motherland as this is not a single issue of an individual; it is a matter of the sovereignty and integrity of your motherland.

There is a word of caution for the next target

There is a word of caution for all the nations as the next target of this venomous campaign could be you. This is a very bad precedence which will affect most of the members of the world family, except the sponsors of the resolution against Sri Lanka. It is unfortunate that this episode will shatter the unity of Asian, African and Middle Eastern blocs cemented together with non-aligned policy based on equality and friendship.

Sri Lanka and India were close friends and relations for thousands of years and should continue to be friends for thousands of years. There should not be room for the friendship and relationship of the two model democracies in Asia to be disturbed.

The winners of this episode will be neither Sri Lanka nor the Middle East, Asia and Africa blocs. Therefore, it is time at this juncture for the world family to be extremely careful. The winner will be the sponsors of the motion and their mission.The proposed resolution may transform the foreign policy of Sri Lanka and India, one time leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement and pioneers and champions for the cause with India, China and the NAM Group. Still a powerful world force, the beneficiary of this episode will be the co-sponsors and countries with vested interests and the worst human record and suppression of the member nations and the peoples of the globe.

Currently groundwork and reconciliation process is set in after having settled 295,000 IDPs out of 300,000. Only 5,000 remain to be settled. The north and east are completely free of terror and the people are now enjoying peace and stability, which is a requirement for investment, economic boom and tourism. A total of 500,000 people travel to the north and east every month to witness the virgin lands and the beauty of sandy beaches. The people in the north and east are reaping the harvest of peace on tourism, agriculture and business.

Conduct of NGOs

If the proposed resolution and some NGOs say that the LLRC is a fine document to be implemented and if the Sri Lankan Government states that they need some time and space for the implementation and if there is a process and a procedure in the UN to process human rights situation in the world in October and if Sri Lanka has complied with the requirements as a respectable and honourable senior member of the United Nations, one does not understand the logic of the USA and the other states intending to propose the resolution urging full implementation of the LLRC, which was published only a few months ago.

This raises another issue where many other countries where there were mass destruction and killings have not been taken into consideration in the process. The reconciliation process has taken place at its own pace in Japan, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and African countries.

The reconciliation process generally takes place steadily and carefully. 800,000 people were killed in Iraq. There were carpet bombs in Laos and Vietnam. Bombing in Japan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries have still not been brought to the UNHCR of reconciliation and accountability.

It seems that there is some disparity and inequality in the implementation of the UNHCR mandate; targeting certain countries based on hidden agendas will not be satisfactory in the maintenance of international relations among the family of nations. We earnestly urge friends of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan expatriates to understand and identify the imminent danger and to work together and struggle together to maintain sovereignty, integrity, independence for the development and progress of Sri Lanka and peaceful coexistence of the world.

(This is the editorial of e-news published by the Sri Lankan Embassy in UAE in view of the proposed resolution against Sri Lanka. Please visit www.srilankaembassyuae.com. The writer – LL.M (London) Solicitor and Attorney-at-Law – is Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and a former Chairman of the Consumer Affairs Authority.)