Huge boost for ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ from Sri Lankan Diaspora in Italy

The Sri Lankan community in Italy, irrespective of any party affiliation or other considerations has fully supported President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his endeavour to eradicate terrorism. Given below are excerpts of the interview with Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Italy Hemantha Warnakulasuriya to Asian Tribune:

Question: We have received information that the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ program in Italy has been a great success.

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: I believe that the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ program held in Italy was a historical event, as it collected an unprecedented amount of money, nearly Euro 300,000, beyond the expectations of the organisers and the Embassy itself. Leaving the expenses, we are certain to remit about Euro 280,000 (Rs. 44 million) to Colombo, but we are expecting other generous donations and we are striving to achieve the target of Euro 300,000.

Question: What is the reason for the success of this performance?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: The Sri Lankan community in Italy, irrespective of any party affiliation or other considerations, has fully supported President Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his endeavour to eradicate terrorism.

No one, even the foremost critic of the Government, will dare to say a word against the President: he achieved the status of a ‘Most Respected Statesman’ amongst the Sri Lankan community in Italy.

So therefore, as his representative, I have been able to inculcate the feeling among the Diaspora that every single Sri Lankan must respond to the call of Embassy to support our heroic soldiers. The only way of doing this was by buying a ticket for this performance.

Question: Did you ever anticipated such a success?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: No. When we decided to have this ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ program, my goal was to collect Euro 200,000. When I announced this to the Sri Lankan Diaspora, in hash-hash tones, there were murmurs, questioning of my goal.

Thereafter, some persons who organise musical extravaganzas told me that the maximum one could earn from a musical show, leaving the expenses, was about Euro 8,000. With seven or eight shows, you may be able to collect about Euro 50,000. Collecting Euro 200,000 was beyond imagination.

Question: Why did the public support the Embassy in this way?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: I appeared on the TV broadcasted in Rome and appealed to every single person, stating that it was time to make a small contribution to the heroic soldiers, fighting with their life to preserve the country for us and for the future generations. Gratitude is something that every religion has taught us: as expatriates in Italy, we could make a humble contribution of Euro 20.

Question: Have you remitted this money to Sri Lanka?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: Not yet, the money collected has to be accounted. We announced that we will maintain transparency and accountability, so that anyone could raise questions on the money collected and we will answer.

Question: Recently, we heard Minister Mervyn Silva has proceeded to a rally where LTTE supporters were demonstrating against the Sri Lankan Government.

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: Minister Mervyn Silva was in Rome on a private tour. When he heard that there was a rally in Rome, he decided to proceed to the rally. I was a little worried, as I would have been responsible if he was hurt.

I pleaded him not to proceed. He decided to ignore my plea and to go, so I asked the Italian police to protect him when he was at the square. Minister Mervyn Silva had the guts to raise the Sri Lankan flag in front of the LTTE supporters. I was later told that the police had dispersed the crowd. Only a person like Minister Mervyn Silva could do this.

Question: How has the Embassy tackled the Tamil Diaspora? While the other Embassies have been attacked, how did you protect yourself?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: Most of the Tamils, due to coercion and pressure, support the LTTE. Others feel that the defeat of the LTTE amounts to the defeat of the Tamil race. They feel that once the LTTE is defeated, their whole aspiration to have a political solution would also be defeated.

We must understand the Tamils pouring in the streets and demonstrating against us. They are not demonstrating against the death of civilians, because if they did, they would not support the LTTE, as the LTTE is responsible for these deaths. They are demonstrating for the LTTE and Prabhakaran. We must understand this and we must try to resolve this problem once the LTTE is defeated.

When I became Ambassador, the Tamils were concentrated in a few cities, mainly Palermo, Reggio Emilia, Lecce and Mantova. They only read the Tamil propaganda, watched Tamil TV channels and Tamil websites. They believed in every word of the propaganda dished out by these channels.

They have come to Italy as most of their forefathers did after the 1983 riots. So there is an acute resentment towards the Government of Sri Lanka. I found that we have completely alienated the Tamil community in Italy. I wanted to change this, to show the people that the Mahinda Chintana is to give equal rights to all Tamil people.

The Tamils have suffered severely due to this alienation, and the people living in Palermo and Reggio Emilia have been duped by agents who charge exorbitant fees for bringing their documents to the Embassy.

I decided to hold a mobile consular service firstly in Reggio Emilia and it was one of the most successful mobile services held by this Embassy. The organisers were able to help the people who came to the mobile service by giving them advice and filling the forms.

The Embassy had no difficulty in helping them. Similarly, we also had a mobile service in Palermo and Catania. In fact, we received a petition signed by about 500 Tamils, praising me for having this mobile consular service in Palermo.

We found, to our shock and disbelief, of how these Tamils have been cheated by their own people, who acted as agents to bring their documents to the Embassy. We intend to organise another mobile service in Palermo and Reggio Emilia within the next two or three months. The people are appreciative of what we have done.

Question: As an Ambassador, you know that there are thousands of displaced people in Sri Lanka. Have you got plans to collect money for these displaced people?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: This is my next project. I have already spoken to the members of the Tamil community in these cities. I told them that if you love your people, we must unite to help them in every single way. No Government can look after every single one of them. The Government has appealed to the international community for help.

I will try to print tickets and collect funds, and set up an organizing committee comprising of Tamils, so that the money collected will be distributed among the IDPs. The money will be kept in a special account of the Embassy.

It is time for us to forget the past. It is time for us to extend our hands to every Tamil in society. I believe I will be in a position to convince even the LTTEers that the only way to achieve peace between communities is to extend our hands, friendship and love to these displaced people, who have lost almost everything they preserved.

It is the uplift of this people, giving them the political rights within our Constitution, that will be the greatest achievement of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Question: But many people say that with the defeat of the LTTE, any political solution will be defeated by the Sinhala extremists?

Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya: For more than 30 years, the Sinhalese and the Tamils have suffered because of this war. One of the greatest fears the Sinhalese had was that by giving power to the LTTE, this would empower them to carve out a separate State. Billions of dollars have been sent by the international community to the North and North East, but this money has not been used by the LTTE for the development of those areas, it was used to buy arms.

Thousands of people lived in refugee camps. With the defeat of the LTTE, Mahinda Rajapaksa will be in a position to win the lost confidence of the people and say that the only solution to this ethnic problem is to have a political solution acceptable to all, and accept the fact that the Tamils have been fighting to regain their lost rights, which they believe have been denied to them by the Sinhala extremists.

Don’t forget that in 1992, when Chandrika Bandaranaike contested for the Presidency, her main propaganda was to give rights to the Tamil people and ensure peace. Not only the people in the North, but also the people in the South overwhelmingly voted for her, giving her 62 percent of the votes cast.

This was because the Sinhalese majority believed that they must end this conflict, the suicide bombings and the child soldiers and give them the rights denied to them. Even J.R. Jayewardene in 1977 could not get such overwhelming number of votes.

This shows that the Sinhalese majority is certain that by giving equal rights to the Tamil people, they would not end in a separate State, once the LTTE’s war machine is defeated by Mahinda Rajapaksa. Then, the whole world will look upon him as a great peacemaker and could even contest for the Nobel Peace Prize.