Understandably enough, the liberation of Kilinochchi on January 2nd prompted a range of reactions. The most predictable was that of the Tigers, firing off in all directions as it were, to show the world that they are not down and out, but in fact doing precisely that by proving how wedded they are to terrorism.

Conversely, there has been much less triumphalism than might have been anticipated. Though doubtless there are some who would like to see this as justification for a chauvinistic agenda, they have been effectively silenced by the unswerving commitment of the President to the pluralist vision he enunciated in his manifesto, and which he has asserted consistently since.

Predictably enough, the recent successes of the armed forces have led to a plethora of allegations about what are now described as their ‘war crimes’, according to a TamilNet headline. Most prominent, apart from old perennials like the Asian Human Rights Commission, is the Tamil National Alliance, which has now decided to jump on the genocide bandwagon that Bruce Fein has been paid to push.

Interestingly enough, TamilNet has now realized that its earlier claims against the Sri Lankan forces rang extremely hollow, since even their own allegations were few and far between, in the six months since the struggle to free the North began. Claims of indiscriminate slaughter for instance rang totally false when, in the whole of November, though the Air Force had engaged in forty bombing raids, even TamilNet – I use the term generically to cover all websites supportive of the LTTE or opposed to the government – could allege that there was only one incident in which there were civilian casualties.

Post-conflict measures are something never thought about by the warring factions during a conflict. The entire focus will be on the war, or providing immediate relief to the victims. However, post-conflict measures have already conceived in the mind of Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who says his Ministry is now gearing up to meet the challenges that would transpire after the conflict. The Minister also does not confine terrorism to Sri Lanka alone, but adds these are common issues especially within the SAARC region.

The Minister also says the problem of terrorism not only affects the political and economic stability of individual countries within the SAARC region, but also affects the entire region as a whole. In an interview with The Nation the Minister said, if the South Asian region can work together in combating terrorism successfully, that will in turn make the region more politically stable and that political stability in the region would encourage greater investment, which will help ushering in the economic development of all the countries in the region.

Following are excerpts:

Bruce Fein, the American lobbyist who challenged SCOPP Secretary General Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha to a debate on the allegations he has been spreading about the Government of Sri Lanka, now appears to be trying to wriggle out of what he must have realised would be a thoroughly embarrassing ordeal for the representative of Tamils Against Genocide. 

The exchange of letters (Mr. Bruce Fein’s letter followed by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha’s reply) is carried below (Please click on the below). This communication is a follow up to the two articles previously published on this website on 15th and 17th December 2008 under 'Fein's Moral Confusion as Human Rights Watch Returns to Reality' and 'Obfuscation and the Sow's Ear of Bruce Fein'.

Link :American lobbyist dodges debate 

Courtesy: SCOPP