UK Parliamentary Group affront to Lanka’s sovereignty - Patriotic
Front
Dharma Sri ABEYRATNE
COLOMBO: No country has a right to take any action which harms our
territorial integrity or sovereignty, said Ven. Elle Gunawansa Thera
yesterday.
He was addressing a Sri Lanka Patriotic Front press briefing
regarding appointment of a British Parliamentary Group headed by Labour
MP Keith Vaz to promote ‘Peace with justice and dignity’ for Tamils in
Sri Lanka.
“It is very clear that the British are trying to curtail Sri Lanka’s
sovereignty,” the Ven. Thera said.
“They apparently have three objectives. The first one is arranging a
meeting in London or any other place between the Sri Lankan Government,
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Norwegian Government who
are currently mediating in the dispute.
They also plan to send a delegation to visit what they call worst
affected areas.
The third objective is a meeting between the Commonwealth Secretary
General, representatives of the Sri Lankan Government, the LTTE and
Norwegian Government,” he added
Addressing the briefing, Prof. Nalin de Silva asked whether the
British Parliament had a right to appoint a parliamentary group to go
into Sri Lanka’s conflict.
“Even though this is a problem created by the British it does not
mean they have to solve that problem. We can solve the problem
ourselves,” de Silva said.
He pointed out that if the Sri Lankan Government appoints a
Parliamentary group to find a solution for a certain problem in the UK
there would be an adverse reaction from the international community.
“The Sri Lankan Government should not recognise this parliamentary
group. If the Government does not recognise it, that would be the end of
it,” Prof. De Silva said. |