Encroachment or sheer incompetence? | by Rajiva Wijesinha
Kshenuka Senewiratne, who is one of most corrupted diplomats in Sri Lanka, and President’s son Namal Rajapaksa in London ( file photo selected by the Editorial. )
(April 17, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The recent intrigues by the nastier elements in the Ministry of External Affairs have prompted some thought about the confused and confusing nature of the diverse elements that make up the current government. The need to examine this in greater detail has been made clearer by the strange affair of Mr Gunaratnam. The implications of what occurred there have been explored carefully in a thoughtful article by Laksiri Fernando, through analysis of the statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. I believe that article should be studied carefully by all those concerned with the continuity and success of this government, which is I believe the perspective from which Prof Fernando has written.There are some related considerations that I think should be explored further, given the statement by the Ministry, which in fact exposes its complete incompetence in this regard. Prof Fernando suggests that the statement indicates that ‘the “security establishment” has encroached into other ministries and in this case the Ministry of External Affairs’ but I think what it also indicates is that that Ministry has completely abandoned its responsibilities in dealing with international issues.
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Abductions, Security Establishment and International Pressure
Regime's Abductions: The next victim perhaps will be Dr. Dayan Jayatillake
| by Dr Laksiri Fernando
( April 13, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The alleged abduction and the subsequent release of Premakumar Gunaratnam and Dimuthu Attygalle, two key leaders of the breakaway JVP Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) in Sri Lanka, reveal the importance of ‘international pressure’ in safeguarding human rights of people in any country, including the right to life, at least as a ‘necessary evil’ under trying conditions of suppression of dissent and threats of enforced ‘disappearances,’ ‘torture’ and ‘extra-judicial killings.’
It is believed that during the last six months or so, over 50 persons and mainly political activists and journalists have disappeared from the streets of Colombo and Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and two of them were Lalith Kumar Weeraraj and Kugan Muruganathan who belonged to the same political movement as Gunaratnam and Attygalle. The previous two disappeared in Jaffna on the Human Rights Day on 10 December 2011 and their whereabouts are still unknown.
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| Political activists, diplomats, civil servants, journalists and academics should beware of this serious situation. Even some Ministers might come under this category. As Gunaratnam and Attygalle were abducted, they will be abducted or exposed at the most vulnerable situations. The next victim perhaps will be Dr. Dayan Jayatillake |
