Think Globally, Act Locally

By Emil van der Poorten -September 22, 2013

Emil van der Poorten

The slogan that is the title of this column is one that was very popular many years ago at the time of the first awakening of North Americans to the need for attention to the environment, global warming and acid rain.

It comes to mind in a Sri Lankan context for two very different reasons, the first of which is the predilection of those supporting the most violent and corrupt government in Sri Lanka’s history for trotting out the “They did it first!” rebuttal every time some international or even local agency concerned with human rights points out (yet) another horrendous incident where, once again, the rule of law is treated as a dead letter rather than the cornerstone of democratic practice and civilized conduct which it is in any civilized, democratic country.  It’s yet another excuse for inaction.

The fact that the western democracies have a bottomless well of hypocrisy into which our sycophantic horde dips its collective bucket for fresh supplies of material to throw at those critical of the regime they serve so assiduously should not, in any way, impede the need to continue to draw attention to the parlous condition of quasi-democracy in Sri Lanka.

I will never tire of saying that just because Hitler visited genocide on a minority group does not give us and ours the right to do so.  Just because Mao and Stalin murdered millions of people in pursuit of some irrational scheme for economic modernization or because of paranoia or megalomania doesn’t give us an excuse to overlook something similar in our circumstances.      Read More