Third party interference destroys countries - Deputy Minister
Musthapha
Technology
and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha who was among the Sri
Lankan delegation to the UNHRC sessions in Geneva says there are issues
in any country, when majorities and minorities live together.
“Such issues
can only be solved through dialogue. Any third party intervention makes
the issues more complicated and totally destroys countries. Iraq,
Afghanistan, Libya, etc have been destroyed due to third party
interference. They faced destruction due to foreign intervention,” the
deputy minister said in an interview with the Daily News.
He said Sri
Lanka can find a solution through a home-grown strategy and does not
need orders from the international community.
“We do not need
others to tell us what to do and what not to do. Sri Lanka has a
democratically elected government which respects and protects human
rights irrespective of race or religion. Priority will be given for the
betterment of Sri Lankans. That is why the resolution is unwarranted,”
Musthapha said.
The following are highlights of the
interview:
Sri Lanka was affected by a 30 year war. Sri Lanka always respects
human rights. I believe the Geneva resolution is unwarranted because we
are in an era of national reconciliation and I would interpret this
resolution as a mechanism which could create polarisation on an ethnic
basis. It is because we need time and space for national reconciliation.
If you look at the voting pattern in Geneva, we can understand that this
resolution was brought by certain interested parties. The majority of
the countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa voted for us.
Technology and Research Deputy Minister Faiszer Musthapha |
The countries which voted against us considered the fact how it could
affect their internal matters or issues if they went against the world’s
super power. This is the fact they considered when voting against Sri
Lanka. The countries which voted against, did not consider the content
of the resolution. The conduct of the UNHRC in connection with the
Geneva resolution against Sri Lanka, raises the question whether right
is right or might is right. It clearly showed that might is right and
right is not right. The double standards of super powers were clearly
visible when the issue of Israel and Palestine came up at the UNHRC.
LTTE supporters
I was a member of the Sri Lankan delegation at the UNHRC sessions in
Geneva. The diaspora protests in Geneva and other parts of the region
were carried out by Sri Lankans who went abroad as economic refugees and
their children, which is the second generation of Sri Lankans living
abroad.
They do not know anything about Sri Lanka. They have only heard the
name Sri Lanka. Some have not been to Sri Lanka even once. There were
political science and law graduates among LTTE supporters who had been
hired to spread lies among the voting nations. They had told the
representatives of these countries that Sri Lankans are killers. They
said they left Sri Lanka to save their lives and that the situation in
Sri Lanka was still the same. They publicised this in a professional
manner and the Sri Lankan delegation explained the real situation in Sri
Lanka. Arun Thambimuththu who took part in the UNHRC sessions explained
how he lost his parents due to LTTE violence and how LTTE violence
affected the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.
The diaspora supported the LTTE to kill their own Tamil community
including democratic Tamil politicians like A. Amirthalingam and
Lakshman Kadirgamar and scholars like Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam.
The TNA is able to voice their own views without fear today because
of the non-existence of the LTTE. Whenever the sovereignty of the
unitary state came up in 2005, most TNA MPs said they are coming from
their homeland 'Tamil Eelam’. The entire Tamil community can now move
forward freely because the country is free from the LTTE terror.
Visionary leadership
Muslims in the world, including Sri Lanka, are tied together by their
religion, Islam. In Sri Lanka, they expressed their solidarity against
the resolution. It is because President Mahinda Rajapaksa as a young MP
supported the Palestine cause. Most Muslim countries stated they were
against the resolution because of President Rajapaksa's visionary
leadership. Seven out of 15 countries which voted for us are Muslim
countries. The majority of the countries which abstained from voting
such as Malaysia, Djibouti etc are Muslim countries.
I thank the Muslim countries for their support to Sri Lanka at the
UNHRC sessions. They voted against the resolution amidst pressure from
the West and Europe. We are grateful to them.
President Rajapaksa is a champion among the Sri Lankan Muslim
community and other Muslim nations. Muslims worldwide have a close
relationship with Sri Lanka because they arrived in Sri Lanka centuries
ago and got married to Sri Lankan women. There is a very strong
cultural, social and economical link between them and Sri Lanka. Sri
Lankan Muslims are peaceful and mind their own business. For the first
time in history, Muslims stepped into the streets to protest against
international interferences. They did that because they believe in
President Rajapaksa and have faith in him. He is a champion of human
rights, especially for minority rights.
Unlike some politicians who thought that our sole survival was based
on foreign relations with the West, President Rajapaksa believed in
regional powers and works closely with them.
International arena
We must thank Russia and China for supporting us and standing by us.
Pakistan did not have a vote, but it mobilised to get support for Sri
Lanka. They proved the famous saying 'A friend in need is a friend
indeed’. They clearly showed that they are the true friends of Sri
Lanka.
The vote clearly showed that even though Sri Lanka is a tiny island
with a small economic clout, it has a place in the international arena.
Twenty four countries voted for and 15 voted against the resolution in
Geneva. Eight countries abstained from voting. When you calculate the
total, the resolution was passed with only one vote. This is one more
victory for Sri Lanka.
The LLRC report is produced by a commission appointed by President
Rajapaksa. They produced their findings in a report to the President.
The government will look into the report and implement what is best for
Sri Lankans. We are a democratically elected government and it is
unfortunate that the persons raising allegations in connection with war
crimes has forgotten the 100,000 Muslims and Tamils who had been
ethnically cleansed by the LTTE. Nobody talks about thousands of Muslim
IDPs living in Puttalam.
Humanitarian operation
They are talking about relocating. The government will not
distinguish between the IDPs who lost homes during the last few days of
the humanitarian operation and who lost their homes 30 years ago when
the LTTE brutally murdered their family members and chased them away
from their homes. The government will look after the interests of all
communities. The government will implement what is best for all. The TNA
and other political parties which do communal politics, talk about the
devolution of power in the North and East.
When you travel to the North and East, and ask the people what they
want, they say they need food, housing, school, hospitals, roads etc.
The TNA is using race and religion as a political platform to woo
voters.
I think the government overlooked the people in the upcountry and
other regions and did more for the people living in the North and
Eastern provinces. The government is trying its best to bring back
development it lost during the past 30 years.
Child soldiers
The diaspora is supporting the TNA to win what the LTTE failed to win
during the past 30 years through their barbaric war and brutal murder.
They are working overnight to get international support to intervene in
Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.
They try to portrait Sri Lanka as a bad state. But they will never
succeed. This is because the entire world knows that we destroyed the
LTTE which recruited child soldiers, destroyed the Tamil community,
murdered Tamil politicians and scholars, destroyed the economy and the
country’s resources, killed Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and tried
to destroy Sri Lanka as a whole.
The world knows Sri Lanka needs time and space for the reconciliation
process and that the government is doing everything possible to do this.
The world also knows that we will punish anybody who violated human
rights during the humanitarian operation.
The diaspora is spending billions of dollars on anti-Sri Lankan
propaganda. This is to destabilise Sri Lanka internationally which will
help them achieve Eelam.
It is unfortunate that they are spending their resources for this
because Sri Lanka is need of funds to rebuild the loss and damaged
caused by the LTTE.
International community
I call upon the diaspora to be a part of the nation building process
because some continue to be economic refugees in foreign countries and
carry out agendas against Sri Lanka.
In any country, there are issues when majorities and minorities live
together. Such issues can only be solved through dialogue.
Any third party intervention make the issues more complicated and
totally destroy countries. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc were totally
destroyed due to third party intervention. They have faced destruction
due to foreign intervention.
Sri Lanka can find a solution through a home-grown strategy and do
not need orders from the international community. We do not need others
to tell us what to do and what not to do.
Sri Lanka has a democratically elected government which respects and
protects human rights irrespective of race or religion. Priority will be
given to the betterment of Sri Lankans. That is why the resolution is
unwarranted. |