“Govt. not committed to uphold unitary status - Sri Lanka Global Forum

Sri Lanka Global Forum, an umbrella organization of Sri Lankans domiciled abroad, says it will work hard for the preservation of the unitary status of the country. In an interview with Daily Mirror , its Sri Lanka coordinator Nuwan Ballanthudawa said his organizations would send a delegation to Geneva to lobby against any plan to victimize the security forces that ended the war on terror. Excerpts:

What made you to form Sri Lanka Global Forum?

Sri Lanka Global Forum is an umbrella organization of the patriotic organizations operating all different countries. We have member organizations in Australia, New Zeeland, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Switzerland. Recently, Japan and South Korea also joined us.  Those associations remained in these countries for a long time. They were working and campaigning for Sri Lanka.  That is to protect the unitary status. They also had a huge struggle against the LTTE propaganda against Sri Lanka from early 1980s. After the election of the new government in 2015, we knew it was installed with the support of pro-LTTE Tamil Diaspora, the US and India.  So, we decided to come together rather than working individually. Sri Lanka Global Forum is a new organization, but the members have been working for the same objective for a long time. 

The main objective is to protect the unitary status and to defend the security forces which fought for this country.  

As Sri Lankans domiciled abroad, how did you feel such a threat after the election?

We realized that this government was supported by the Tamil Diaspora, the US and other countries.  Once, MP Jayampathi Wickramaratne told at a Tamil Diaspora meeting in London that a new Constitution would be unrealistic as long as Mahinda Rajapaksa remained in presidency. The whole objective of regime change is to introduce a new constitution.  Going by the actions taken by the government right now, specially according to the committee reports published by the Constitutional Assembly   it is not committed to protect the unitary status or to defend the security forces. In fact the reports expressly propose to do away with the unitary system which they consider as an impediment to the provincial councils.  During the last couple of years, they have not taken any action to uphold the unitary status or to defend the military. 

In your view, what is the responsibility of expatriate Sri Lankan community at this hour?

 You know the government secured power with the promise to introduce democratic norms and good governance. It is not the right thing that they are doing at the moment. You have to educate the international leaders about it.  Democracy is not implemented despite their pious pronouncements.  I met a couple of representatives of the executive committee of the UK Parliament.  I told them that the local authorities’ election has not been conducted for two years now.  They were surprised. They said almost all their parliamentarians started their political career at local authorities’ level.  They were here for a training programme. They asked how can you run a country without the local authorities functioning.  That is the building block of democracy. Not only that, the Joint Opposition has been denied the role of the main opposition in Parliament despite it having 51 members.  We wrote to the Ministers and the local authorities in other countries during the last two months about the deterioration of democracy under the current government. We are now informing the international community about it. Current government is in an unprecedented political conflict of interest. President Sirisena is commanding the party that rejected him with 5.8 million votes. If it is the democracy, he should either bow to the mandate of those 5.8 million or must remain with the UNP coalition.  

Some say the concepts of good governance or democratic norms work marvelously in the western countries. As a person living in such a country, how do you see the applicability of such concepts here?

If you look at the international media, you find them as good marketable concepts.  Here, for them, these have become marketable slogans.  

These rulers used such concepts for politically marketable purposes during the election time. They are not genuinely interested in implementing such concepts in the real context. 
Even the ministerial posts were given to those having their names tainted over corruption allegations.  We tell the people that these politicians are not really for good governance. They use this as a marketing slogan.  If the government is committed to good governance, why didn’t Arjuna Mahendran appear before the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID)?  The PM is the head of the Cabinet Steering Committee that has the power to refer the matters to FCID.

• GTF is a political front advocating separatism

• Good governance is only a marketing slogan for Govt.

• It is not committed to real democratic values

• 13th Amendment is also too much

• Will lead a delegation to Geneva to campaign for Sri Lanka 

How organized is the Sri Lankan community living outside the country?

Actually, we were organized. We have come together. We even organized a demonstration in Perth during PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit. The GSLF is a legally registered entity in Italy under EU law.  We have established a strong branch network in above countries.

Now, your forum is seen as an outfit formed by the Sinhalese only. How do you accommodate others?

We have a great support from Tamils living in Europe. We are communicating with them. For the next session of the UNHRC, we are going to Geneva with a team of experts. We will have some Tamils.  We have a strong Tamil voice against the LTTE in Europe.  I had a discussion with them. I asked them whether they felt any discrimination in Sri Lanka. They do not demand for a separate State. They want a Sri Lankan government protecting the Tamils minorities and its rights. Nothing other than that. 

Is yours an organization to counter the Global Tamil Forum?

It is just a front organization of the separatist movement. Apart from this, they have Tamil Rehabilitation Organization, Canadian Tamil Forum etc. These are front organizations of the LTTE.  The LTTE only operated on the ground with a military wing. All the others are political wings espousing the same ideology. 

However, the government views the Global Tamil Forum as a moderate outfit. How do you respond?

How can one say it is moderate as long as they do not accept reality which is a historical truth about this country? All what they do is using different methods to achieve the same final objective. 

What they want is a separate state at the end. Up to the period of Appapillai Amirthalingam, they tried to get it through political means. Then, they understood it is impossible. Then, they allowed the LTTE to take up arms and go on a killing spree.  They know they cannot achieve the goals by violent means. GTF is a political movement advocating separatism. Only the approach is different. 

The government talks about multiculturalism and reconciliation. They cite examples from the west to promote these ideas. How do you see it?

I have been in Australia for ten years.  The multiculturalism they have is integration.  In that country, others are allowed to exercise their identity to a certain extent. You can go to a Buddhist temple, Hindu Kovil or whatever. One cannot ask for a separate state. Here, we have everything. So far, in the Australian Parliament, they have only one member representing the 
Aboriginal community. 
That community is the original owner of the Australian land. Only in 1969, Australia recognized Aboriginals as citizens. What happened in Sri Lanka?  We have a different situation?  Our Chief Justice is a Tamil. We have no any bar. In Wellawatta, you find so many Hindu temples. We do not have any discrimination. 

Are you trying to say that the Sri Lankan system is unique?

Yes. What we say is that we are not asking any minority to leave the country. We do not deny their right to live here. What we are saying is Sri Lanka is a predominantly a Sinhala-Buddhist country.  In history, when the country was threatened, it was the Sinhalese who defended it. Others may have contributed to it. Only the Sinhala Buddhists took the leadership to it. They introduced an amazing irrigation system. A land becomes a country with the irrigation culture. We are the people who created this civilization.

How do you look at the current Constitution making process?

Actually, I had some close involvement with the process. I attended the deliberations of one of these committees. What is happening is not what President Maithripala Sirisena had promised. He said he would go for reforms in consistent with the current Constitution only. It means he did not want to go for reforms warranting a referendum. That is mentioned in his election manifesto. Later, resolution was brought to Parliament to establish the Constitutional Assembly. In that, the PM, who moved it, said the new Constitution would be approved by people at a referendum. It is contradictory to the election pledge. The President got a bulk of his votes from the north and the east. Even those people have given a mandate to the manifesto. He clearly said he would not go for a referendum in the manifesto. The Presidential Election is not the right platform to seek such a mandate. It is meant to elect a person to exercise executive powers. He himself cannot abolish the system. He should refer it to Parliament for abolition. At the 2015 parliamentary election, none of the parties got a mandate to form even a simple majority.  To amend the constitution, you need two-thirds.  It means it needs wider agreement among the public.  The public agreement has to be reflected at the general election. But, not even half of Parliament was elected to go for referendum. Though the government is democratic, it clearly violates the democratic principles. They assume a mandate not given to them. If the President wants a unitary State, in fact, he should go even lower than powers devolved under the 13th Amendment.  Even the 13th Amendment is too much. 

Do you believe in the decentralization of administrative powers?

When it comes to decentralization, this is the delegation of administrative power. When it comes to a Federal state, it involves the devolution of executive, legislative and judicial power. In decentralization, you do not vest these powers with another entity. 

There is a lot of talk about the move to set up a judicial mechanism to hear war crime charges. How strong are you to lobby against the Tamil Diaspora pressing for such charges?

That is what we are going to do in Geneva. There is the UNHRC and other bodies formed under the UN charter. The UN should exist. The states are the members of it.  The article II of the UN charter says all the countries have their rights to defend their territorial integrity. The UN Security Council should not intervene in the internal or domestic affairs of a country. The LTTE fought for a separate state. We have every right to counter it.  It is the Sri Lanka Army that saved the lives of Tamil people held hostage by the LTTE. It is the Sri Lankan government that even fed the LTTE cadres. We have acted according to the norms in fighting the war. 

However, the LTTE was able to establish misconceptions in the western world through their propaganda activities. Why did you fail?

We failed for two reasons.  One is on the part of the government concerned. If they had told the world properly that there is no discrimination, the LTTE would not have been able to plant these misconceptions.  By remaining in silence, we gave them space. In that context, our association is very important. In Australia, we fought it bravely. In the UK, they did it. Our diaspora is different from the LTTE diaspora. They are involved in people’s smuggling, drugs smuggling etc.  Our members earn only through legal means. 

How involved are you with the activities of the Joint Opposition?

We are in contact with them. When it comes to a common objective, we are together. In the Constitution making process, we believe that it is illegal. It is against the mandate. We want the JO to come out of the process. 
It is insisting that it has to be in the process to know what is transpiring.  Not only JO, we can cooperate with any other organization that stands by the unitary State. 
The GSLF, as a part of a national movement, endures to work for the country’s unity and peace and vow to continue towards that endless struggle.