Are there moves to globally revive the separatist LTTE and has the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora living in Western and European Union nations a fertile ground to revive the Eelam agenda overseas?
What propaganda has been used by the remnants of the LTTE in the West to discredit Sri Lanka to gain grounds among the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora to get the Western nations to bring pressure on Sri Lanka as a move to de-rail the post-war reconstruction of this South Asian nation?
What is the correct picture of the status of Sri Lanka government’s endeavor to resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and the welfare afforded to them?
Part 1
What type of political and administrative devolution should be implemented for the masses in the periphery to get involved in the governance of the nation?
These and many questions were placed before Sri Lanka ambassador to the United States Jaliya Wickremasuriya and Karunaratne Hangawatte, Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas when the U.S. Bureau of Asian Tribune moderated a panel discussion when the former officially visited the Western states.
Wickremasuriya has been Sri Lanka’s envoy in Washington little over a year and now faces a crucial period where he has to give interpretations to the policy decisions and policy implementations his government has made and is making to the international diplomats in the U.S. capital.
Asian Tribune sought his official explanations to questions posed at the panel discussion held in September (2009) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Part 2
Professor Karunaratne Hangawatte’s experience and knowledge go well beyond his understanding of the subject of criminal justice and related issues. Last several decades Professor Hangawatte has done in-depth study on global terrorism and its international network, counter-terrorism moves by Third World nations, the measures taken by the United States to combat terrorism and moves to safeguard the homeland, and what countries like Sri Lanka could learn from these measures to counter LTTE terrorism. Hangawatte has presented many erudite and thought-provoking academic papers on terrorism and related criminal justice issues to numerous forums, internationally and in Sri Lanka. He is often called by Sri Lanka, both the government and NGOs, to share his vast knowledge of these issues,
The video-taped discussion which are in four 10-minute segments that are presented here by the Asian Tribune was moderated by the Online Daily Newspaper’s U.S. National Correspondent Daya Gamage who has an in-depth understanding of Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil issues, the Sinhalese reaction to Tamil issues and separatist agenda of the LTTE, the manner in which the United States State Department diplomats viewed Sri Lanka’s multi-faceted national issues connected to devolution of power to the periphery and rights of all ethnic communities in Sri Lanka, and most importantly, how Washington presently looks at the post-LTTE era developments in Sri Lanka. Daya Gamage was a Foreign Service National (FSN) in the U.S. State Department (70-95) his last position being Political Specialist in the American Embassy in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Part 3
Ambassador Wickremasuriya provided his understanding of how United States Washington-based officials looked at Sri Lanka’s national issues with a personal glimpse as he is continuing to maintain a dialogue with policymakers and those who are influencing policymakers in the State Department and the U.S. Congress. He told the Asian Tribune that his conversations with at least 40 U.S. House of Representative Members and about 10 U.S. Senators have given him the insight into their thinking and understanding about issues Sri Lanka face. He brought up some of those concerns at the discussion.
The ambassador remarked how the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in the United States has been duped by the pro-LTTE groups to prevent them from moving away from the separatist agenda and what steps he has taken to negate that process. He outlined what measures his government has taken to facilitate the Welfare Centers in which the IDPs are in and manner in which they are being systematically resettled in their respective territories. He discarded several myths, misinformation and distortions regarding the Welfare Camps and government measures to redress the Tamil civilian refugees.
Professor Hangawatte provided an academic angle to Sri Lanka’s national issues and his reservation about creating ‘ethnic regions’ to solve this South Asian nation’s race relations and political devolution.
Part 4
He rejected the popular view that Sri Lanka’s polity needs to be rearranged on ethnic lines and the creation of ethnic regions associated with the devolution of administrative and political power to the peripheral districts. He advocated the ‘empowering the masses’ to take charge of their destinies in a re-arranged administrative set up in the districts and provinces.
The Asian Tribune took this opportunity to record and disseminate the two opinions, one official and other political/academic, with the intention of erasing certain myths, misunderstandings, falsehoods, half truths and diabolical falsehoods that are being propagated by a group of pro-LTTE professionals in the United States who endeavor to complicate Sri Lanka-West/US relations. This Online Daily Newspaper also was targeting to nip in the bud any attempt to ‘revive’ the LTTE separatist/eelam agenda by forwarding issues connected with the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka.
This is a public affairs, public diplomacy and strategic communication project the Asian Tribune has undertaken to make the international community knowledgeable about complicated Sri Lankan issues and prevent the Eelam lobby in the West halting the unraveling of these issues.
The Asian Tribune columns have been opened toward that end, and the video discussions will further help to bring understanding of national issues Sri Lanka has faced since the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009.
Part 5
- Asian Tribune -
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