After the setback in Geneva
At the time of writing, the outcome of the voting on the US sponsored resolution at the UNHRC is not known but I can’t expect a Sunday paper to hang on till Friday morning for my copy. I have heard that the Indian Prime Minister has made a statement tilting in favour of the resolution and that Nigeria is a co-sponsor, thus splitting the African block. Reading the leaves it seems that the resolution will be carried comfortably, or defeated by a small margin. In either case, the lessons and proposals in the remainder of this article remain unchanged. The first point that I must re-emphasize is that this is a resolution adopted, or nearly adopted, by the international community against Lanka’s sibling regime; it is not aimed against this country. It is no more against Lanka than a statement condemning the Burmese military junta could be construed as condemnation of the people of Burma. I live right here in this country; so do millions of others; how is it against our interests if pressure is applied to respect democratic rights and bring to a halt the violation of human rights? It is not against us, it is in our favour – Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim.
Spring cleaning the regime
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