Shamindra Ferdinanda.
Responding to a statement attributed to Sinha that Sri Lanka should address accountability issues to the satisfaction of the international community, the Defence Secretary told The Island that those wanting Sri Lanka to satisfy the global community should realise that they were adopting double-standards. In fact, they would never have tolerated external intervention in domestic issues, though Sri Lanka was being asked to give into an investigation on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations.
Would India address its accountability issues to the satisfaction of Western powers or the UN? the Defence Secretary asked, while pointing out that no one was talking about the accountability of those godfathers of terrorism here.
He thanked those governments which voted against the US-led resolution as well as those that abstained in spite of heavy pressure.
The Defence Secretary said that the government always felt it should go for a vote to expose those who had been undermining the post-war reconciliation process at the behest of the LTTE rump. “Had we agreed to a joint resolution, those hypocrites would never have been exposed,” the Defence Secretary said, adding: “We are glad as many as 22 countries didn’t go with the US move, in spite of heavy and intense pressure from the most powerful country on earth backed by other ex-colonial powers. With all that they managed only 25 votes.”
Making a strongly worded statement, Indian envoy Sinha declared: “We call for effective and timely implementation of all the constructive recommendations contained in the LLRC report, including those pertaining to missing persons, detainees, disappearances and abductions, reduction of ‘high security zones’, return of private lands by the military and withdrawal of security forces from the civilian domain in the Northern Province. We reiterate our call for an independent and credible investigation into allegations of human rights violations and loss of civilian lives. We urge Sri Lanka to take forward measures to ensure accountability. We expect these measures to be to the satisfaction of the international community.”
The Defence Secretary said that some countries were obsessed with post-war Sri Lanka. Responding to a query, he said that those demanding action against Sri Lanka on the basis of various reports issued by NGOs were silent on reports which dealt with what was going on in other parts of the world.
Commenting on Sri Lanka’s successful war against the LTTE, he said that India was constantly informed of the ground situation throughout the campaign.
IS