EDITORIAL : THE DAILY MIRROR, SRILANKA

Learning the lessons of statesmanship   For a country that has suffered terrorism for three decades, Sri Lanka is yet to fine tune its agenda to better meet international compulsions. The pressures on the government to stop the war, allow ruthless terror leaders free reign, and face humiliation could have been avoided if we had learnt the art of diplomacy the right way. There was much to be learnt of the quite strength that the late Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar lent his office and the subject entrusted with. A statesman of the highest order, a shrewd strategist and perfect gentleman, his was an era that was indeed golden in the foreign office. The respect he enjoyed from his peers especially in the western block undoubtedly contributed towards the LTTE facing a ban in several key western destinations, at heavy cost to its coffers and propaganda. Needless to say, it is the failure of how the post-Kadirgamar foreign office handles the LTTE even after its defeat that the government denied the riches of ending a war. If the subtle and diplomatic measures he employed to meet criticism and allegations of human rights had become the norm today, the country would not face the tragedy it does today. As these pages quoted terrorism expert Dr. Rohan Gunaratne on the threats we face today, our present plight lay in the failure of our Foreign Ministry to counter the sophisticated propaganda organization that the LTTE has now become. It is the sub servile attitude adopted in our foreign policy that prevents it from questioning the rationale for British policy towards Sri Lanka to be dictated by Tamil votes, or demanding inquiry in to the alleged funds received by several UK and US legislators from the LTTE. The Wikileak exposure on David Miliband’s real motive behind espousing the Tamil ‘cause’ is a case in point. It is in the failure by the Ministry to formulate material to counter the allegations of human rights leading now to charges of war crimes that the country has been pushed to a difficult corner. The lacklustre attitude adopted by the authorities in driving a forceful propaganda drive on the atrocities of the LTTE, exposing those that are on the LTTE’s pay to discredit the country and creating awareness on the work done by the government in post war rehabilitation of the displaced Tamils, must not be tolerated any longer. If heads need to roll within this much respected institution; key to the country’s future success and investment opportunities in the future, then such difficult yet necessary decision must be taken. Such decision making of course requires political maturity and statesmanship. Both qualities the late Mr. Kadirgamar had in abundance and the country benefited immensely from.