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NIRJ DEVA clarifies EU delegation’s recent visit to Sri Lanka ….
editor on 29 July, 2008 06:27:34 | 3639 times read
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EU Praliamnetarian Niranjan Deva Adithya hitout at the EU delegation head for coming to Sri lanka and attempting to preach democracy.
However he said the recent visit by the European Parliament Delegation set up to improve Relations with South Asian countries has generated much controversy. Speaking to media in Colombo on Tuesday he said last weekend’s newspapers carried embarrassing headlines stating that we had been misled.Full text of his statement:- Far from improving relationships with Sri Lanka - the visit on the contrary, has led to recriminations, finger pointing and mistrust. This was claimed by the Government, by the democratic Tamil political parties including PLOTE, Mr Anandasagaree, by the JHU and even the JVP. One newspaper even claimed that the Labour Party Member and Leader of the European Parliament delegation Mr Evans was an LTTE propagandist having appeared on LTTE platforms in London. This is deeply disturbing news. As a Sri Lankan born Conservative Member of the European Parliament elected to represent 8 million British people some of whom have great affection for Sri Lanka I am now making this statement in order to redress this situation. I do so with a consistency of principle I have maintained throughout my 40 year long political career in the UK and Europe. I have always put what I consider to be the national interest first, then my constituency interest second and finally my party interest third. I have never put the interest of the Conservative Party before the interests of the United Kingdom. This has led me on occasion to challenge the views of the Party leadership. Similarly now, in the European Parliament I have voted many times against my Party whip when I believe that the interest of the UK come before those of Party political expediencies. As a dual citizen, proud of my Sri Lankan heritage, similarly I would never put the interests of any party before those which I believe to be in the national interest of all the Sri Lankan people. One of the stories claimed that Mr Evans as an alleged LTTE supporter had a hidden agenda which made him avoid meeting the new Chief Minister of the Eastern Province Mr Pillayan in Trincomalee; thus aborting the visit to Trincomallee. So let me deal with this first. We did not go to Trincomallee, as had been planned with the full support of the Foreign Ministry and the Government of Sri Lanka, for many reasons.First mistake was because the leader of the Delegation turned down the offer of a Government aircraft on the grounds that we could be seen to be partial; whatever he meant by that. Instead an aeroplane from South Africa was chartered for us through a private company (Expo Aviation) by the EU Delegation Office in Colombo through the United Nations. The plane yet to be certificated as airworthy according to Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Rules did not arrive in Colombo from South Africa until Sunday the 20th for a flight for Wednesday the 23rd July; though our plans were known at least 2 months in advance by the EU office in Colombo. We were therefore going to be put on an inaugural flight in a 20 year old aircraft which had yet to be certificated as airworthy by the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka and flown by South African pilots who had never flown the route before.!! Second, the Civil Aviation Authority rushed the clearance procedure by 14.30 on the 23rd July but insisted that a local flight director from Expo Aviation were to fly in the aircraft for our safety as the pilots who were hired by the EU/UN were not cleared for the route. We did not know any of this nor were we told by the EU/UN office about this except that we were to be flown in a new UN aircraft and given assurances that all would be well by various Sri Lankan authorities. Third, on the day of the flight we reported to the Ratmalana airport at 12.00 as scheduled and at 1.20 pm the South African pilot who had been hired came on board the MEPs bus and informed us that “this flight is not going to take off and I am not cleared to fly the aircraft”. Having made this statement he then left.. Naturally mild panic ensued in a bus full of MEPs who demanded that we return to Colombo at 13.30 that day. So what do we glean from this? 1) That the EU office in Colombo having passed the matter over to the UN to charter the plane, washed their hands of the whole affair and did not even bother to check nor monitor whether the plane had been chartered, whether it had arrived, whether it had been cleared as airworthy and whether the pilots had been security checked and route cleared before we set out for the airport. 2) The Civil Aviation Authority rushed through an airworthy inspection based on a South African airworthy test conducted weeks before. As an Aeronautical Engineer I know how long it takes to do an “a” and “b” check on a 20 year old aircraft especially after arriving from South Africa and probably used on wildlife safaris. I am appalled that we have been put at such risk by the misfeasance of the EU Commission Office in Colombo who did not carry out their duties in a timely manner and on my return to Brussels it is my intention to question the Commissioner on the floor of the House as to whether this was indeed a matter of malfide. I am now also requesting the Government to carry out its own enquiries as to the sequence of events and the various decisions taken by the private company, the EU office, the UN and the SLCAA which culminated in this fiasco, by holding a Committee of Enquiry so that we can end speculation and clear the air. I also belatedly record my sincere thanks on behalf of the whole Delegation to all the Government Officials for the unstinting assistance provided to us to make this journey to the Eastern Province which alas did not happen for the aforesaid reasons. Rather than increase the influence of the EU in Sri Lanka I deeply regret that the Parliamentary visit has diminished the EU’s standing as an authoritative friend. The same “shooting ourselves in the foot” tendency has developed among some (though not all) of the Embassies of the Member States, who have lost the plot and forgotten that they are not some glorified single issue NGO but rather that they are here to promote their countries national, economic, trade, environmental and social interest for the benefit of their own people back home. In my view the national interest of all the Sri Lankan peoples demands the eradication of terrorism, the establishment of the primacy of the rule of law, the concept of being equal under the law , constitutional liberties, democratic governance and equality of opportunities for all the people applied uniformly throughout the whole of the island. These principles are also the foundation of the European Union. The EUs relations with Sri Lanka are unique. There is no other country in the world that can match the longevity of the relationship which Europe through Portugal Holland and Britain, has had with Sri Lanka. The British were in India for only 150 years and yet British attachment even now for India is strong as ever. Yet for over 450 years Sri Lanka was connected to Europe and the European peoples. That is why Sri Lanka is held in such high esteem and much love by the people of Europe. The outpouring of grief in Europe over the Tsunami in Sri Lanka was an eye-opener to me. That is also why anything Sri Lanka says or does is minutely examined. This is a fact and the sooner we accept this truth and turn it to Sri Lanka’s advantage , the better for all concerned. Instead of resisting this unrequited love, we should embrace it as I have done and build on it for the benefit of the peoples of this country.The European Union above all else is a construct of compromises. The very ethos of the EU is truth, reconciliation, forgiveness and the identification of a common democratic interest under the rule of law and sharing power through unity in diversity. How else could millions of Germans, French, British, Dutch, Belgians and Italian peoples have come together in 1958 to create the modern European Union, forgiving and forgetting the hatreds generated by the bloody wars in Europe when 70 million of their fellow countrymen were slaughtered by one another. What has been achieved by the Government in the Eastern Province in turning previous terrorist into Chief Ministers and civil administrators in a peaceful democratic forum and resettling over 90% of the internally displaced people in a short time is truly remarkable. We should acknowledge this, not carp about it. Far from belittling this achievement, the European Union must do everything in its power to support the Government in the development of the Eastern Province, empowering the democratic process by capacity building and encouraging inward investment to enable life opportunities, youth employment, health and education services for 3 million people who for over 20 years have lived without freedom in utter despair and abject poverty under terrorism. So let me say a few words about freedom and democracy. Sri Lanka is one of the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world, having gained self governing status under universal adult franchise in 1931 – only a few years after the UK itself. Since independence in 1948 Sri Lanka has peacefully transferred power through the ballot box on 7 occasions holding 12 general elections and 5 presidential elections. Compare this with the EU. Germany has had 16 general elections having earlier been a Fascist dictatorship from 1932 to 1945. Spain has had 10 general elections having been a Dictatorship between 1936-77. Portugal was a dictatorship from 1933 to 1976 and had the first of its 9 democratic elections only in 1975. Greece was a dictatorship from 1964-74 with the first of its 6 democratic elections held only in 1976. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia Romania, Bulgaria were totalitarian states since 1948 only becoming a democracies less than 12 years ago. Sri Lanka is an older and more mature democracy than 21 of the 27 current Member States in the EU. It then becomes absurd for European Parliamentarians to come to Sri Lanka and lecture the Sri Lankan polity about the nature of democracy. In fact Sri Lanka could teach a thing or two to some of these newly emerging democratic nations in the EU particularly about her robust and independent judiciary which is vigorous in determining breaches of fundamental rights. This over arching point was wholly ignored during the press conference given by the Chairman of the European Parliamentary Delegation. The European Union is not some Utopia. It is not a land of milk and honey where sweetness and light reigns supreme and the streets are paved with gold. It is a area of land where nearly 70 million people were slaughtered in 9 years during two world wars; where millions of innocent women and children were bombed and gassed to death as recently as 60 years ago at a time when Sri Lanka was a self governing country living in communal harmony and peace As a European legislator for 500 million people in 27 states, I have to confront on a daily basis rising unemployment, a tide of crime, shootings, and knife attacks. I have to confront discrimination against Gypsies and minority communities, a trade in sex workers and young girls sold into prostitution from some of the poorer EU member States, waves of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers whose human rights are unprotected, corruption in the newer member states where the independence of their judiciary is highly questionable, a huge drugs problem with the young being turned into useless lifelong addicts; and with overcrowded prisons where 70 percent of the prison population are from the ethnic minority communities. We are in David Cameron’s words “A Broken Society”. In Britain we face the challenge of terrorism on a daily basis. Prime Minister Brown against our opposition breached the most fundamental of our rights and freedoms, blew a hole through the Magna Carta which has underpinned British freedoms for 800 years and pushed through legislation to lock up suspected potential terrorists for 48 days, yes 48 days, without charging them. Today notwithstanding 25 years of conflict generated on three occasions by bloody JVP terrorist uprisings in the South and by separatist suicide terrorism by the LTTE in the North, Sri Lanka still functions as a mature parliamentary democracy where the rule of law not only prevails; it is being constantly strengthened by the Supreme Court and a highly visible independent judiciary. In the SAARC region in particular Sri Lanka is a model of institutional stability and rectitude; given what has happened in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, the Maldives to name a few. This is a phenomenal achievement over the last 60 years due largely to the maturity of the UNP and the SLFP working to maintain the fundamental democratic ethos whatever the sometimes overwhelming external challenges. These are attributes which we in the EU must cherish, not denigrate. Those of us who come here with an open mind and without a predetermined agenda recognise what has been achieved and what has been secured. Now I come to a matter of paramount concern to all my colleagues in the European Parliament even if they have never set foot in Sri Lanka. There is genuine concern about the human rights and collateral damage inflicted on innocent people fuelled by enduring conflicts the world over; be it in Kosova, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chad, DRC or Sri Lanka. In times of conflict there is a difficult balancing act between the protection of human rights under the rule of law and its neglect under the rule of expediency; particularly when many innocent lives are at stake and time is of the essence. In other words, “when is it right to torture someone to find out where he has hidden a big bomb which, if it goes off, will kill thousands of innocent civilians”? If you believe in the supremacy of the rule of law, the answer is “never”. Because carrying out the act of torture is in fact carrying out an act of terrorism and nullifies the moral imperative of going to war to end terrorism in the first place. This was a point repeatedly made by the European Parliament to the United States over allegations of torture in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in Guantánamo Bay. This is also why the UK Government three weeks ago successfully prosecuted seven Queens Lancashire Regiment soldiers on charges of murder and abuse in Iraq. The government agreed to pay nearly 3 million pounds to torture victims and admitted liability for 'substantive' human rights breaches. By locking up a few rotten apples, the Government could say with pride and without contradiction that the many thousands of other British soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan were honest, brave, loyal and law abiding and were conducting themselves 'to the highest standard of behaviour.' By enacting the rule of law and punishing the few, the British Government won a huge accolade for the many. Similarly in Sri Lanka given various allegations of disappearances and abuse, a few indictments and arrests would do the Government a power of good. By applying the rule of law and by being seen to apply it; such actions would immediately promote Sri Lanka as a nation where the rule of law even in times of the bitterest conflict reigns supreme. I this regard I look forward to receiving soon the report by Justice Udalagama on the Presidential Committee of Inquiry set up to investigate the killing of 5 youth in Tricomalee and the 17 aid workers in Muttur in 2006. Of equal importance is the ability of 21 million ordinary Sri Lankans from all communities including the Tamil community, the majority of whom live prosperously side by side with the Sinhalese in the South, to live a life of equal opportunity in democratic freedom. The promise that was a peaceful multicultural multilingual multi religious Sri Lanka where the Sinhala, Muslim and Tamils with other minorities lived together in peace in the 1950s was destroyed. Destroyed by separatist LTTE terrorism due to the chauvinistic and short-sighted policies of some Sinhalese leader’s in the 1960 and 1970s and the terrible dreadful events of July 25th 1983 which the Government of the day allowed to happen. I recently met the Ven Bhramanawatte Sivali Thero of the Amanapura Nikkayar at a Conference in Europe where he astounded the chauvinistic Tamil Nadu politician Vaiko by speaking Ancient Tamil to him. This set me thinking, having travelled through out Asia where I have met Thai speaking Buddhists, Chinese speaking Buddhists, Cambodian speaking Buddhists and even Hindi speaking Buddhists but never Tamil speaking Buddhists. Frequently now I wonder whether Sri Lanka would have been a much more peaceful and much more homogeneous place if say 40% or so of the Tamil speaking population had been Buddhists and not exclusively Hindu or Christian. Is taking the Buddhist religion to Tamil people such a difficult task ? Today the Sinhala democratic polity of Sri Lanka has learnt from its past mistakes. This is evident to all who are living in Sri Lanka. However to those living abroad and are at the receiving end of a constant barrage of LTTE propaganda, this change is not so self evident. It is therefore vital to inform and educate the opinion formers and decision makers in the international community of the changes that this and previous Governments have made in regard to equality of the ethnic groups, equality of the languages and even about the teaching of Tamil to Sinhalese students and Government servants. And for the EU the lesson is simpler still. We need to learn - not to lecture. We need to learn to make statements that encourage good governance - in the spirit of friendship while at the same time not strengthening the hand of the terrorist in any way at all. We need to engage Sri Lanka in a dialogue of equals as an ongoing and regular process, without employing megaphone diplomacy. This was something, which we failed to do, last week, and for which, on behalf of the British Conservative Members of European Parliament, I do now apologise. Like our rich cultured past, Sri Lanka and all her peoples have a great future. Together, side by side, as friends, lets join hands across the continents, go out, meet the challenges, overcome every obstacle and build that future.
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Posted by Claud Van Heerden, 02 November, 2008 10:50:49Mr Aeronautical Engineer. 1st of all the aircraft was bought in Denmark 3 years ago... No Safaris!!!! 2nd. There are no A and B inspections on this aircraft type. They have what they call phase inspections, which with all your experience should know!!! Next time, check facts before pointing fingers!
