India’s CHOGM Faux Pas!
By Sharmini Serasinghe -November 16, 2013
Sharmini Serasinghe
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being flogged mercilessly by the Indian Media – a symbol of how tall democracy stands in that country – over what is being dubbed as India’s ‘CHOGM Blunder’.
The Indian PM’s decision not to attend the summit in Colombo is being viewed as giving into the bullying tactics of Jayalalithaa’s Petticoat government. Just days before, Singh while addressing The Annual Conclave of Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad in New Delhi outlined what he believed to be the ‘Five Core Principals’ of India’s development-centric Foreign Policy.
Of the five principals, the most relevant to Indo-Sri Lanka relations at this juncture would be the Fourth- “”we recognize that the Indian sub-continent’s shared destiny requires greater regional cooperation and connectivity. Towards this end, we must strengthen regional institutional capability and capacity and invest in connectivity.”
A few days later, he did a volte farce by opting not to attend CHOGM in Colombo! So what happened to his “investment in regional connectivity”? The unspoken message that was ultimately sent by the Indian PM was that he couldn’t give a damn about “regional connectivity” when his own political interests were at stake.
Sharmini Serasinghe
India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is being flogged mercilessly by the Indian Media – a symbol of how tall democracy stands in that country – over what is being dubbed as India’s ‘CHOGM Blunder’.Video: Tamils Were Harassed In Front Of International Community
November 16, 2013 |
The video below which is posted by Sri Kugan shows, Tamils were harassed, attacked and blocked their freedom of movement in front of International Community in Jaffna.
Earlier this week, families from Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna were travelling to the capital Colombo to attend the Samagi Human Rights Festival, also known as the alternate Peoples Forum to stress Commonwealth Values, were also stopped by Military personnel and turned the families back to their home districts.
The Government previously stopped protesters from entering the capital during this year’s UN Human Rights Council session in March, when families of the disappeared attempted to reach Colombo in order to hand over a petition to the UN Headquarters in Colombo.
