Channel 4 journo bashes Lanka again
Television presenter and the man linked to the controversial Channel 4 videos on the final stages of the separatist war in Sri Lanka seems to have forgotten some of the finest traditions which the British created.
One in particular is how things are talked over during drinks or a cup of tea. For him, even that seems reprehensible. Here are excerpts of what he has to say about a Sri Lanka related event in his blog:
"Last night, in a dimly lit side street a stone's throw from the towering UN headquarters here in New York, Britain co-hosted a drinks party with Sri Lanka -- a country led by a regime accused of the worst war crimes committed this century. Australia joined the fray to render it a tripartite affair.
"Large black shiny cars ferried Sri Lanka's large UN delegation to the door of an un-extraordinary town house. The hosting of the party was personified by British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister GL Peris and - six days into her job - Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. "We found ourselves the only team attempting to record what went on. Our presence outside in the street attracted the joint concern of both British and American security -- both of whom made plain their discomfort with our presence.
"This was a celebration by three members of the British Commonwealth of this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be staged in Sri Lanka in November……
"It is just four years since the ending of Sri Lanka's bloody civil war. A war that ended, as Channel 4's Sri Lanka's Killing Fields ' has described in eye witness detail, with 120,000 Tamils being herded into an ever shrinking 'no-fire zone', in which the UN itself believes at least 40,000 - possibly more than double that - were slaughtered in the final three weeks……."
"But all this was a far cry from the tinkling glasses and warm ministerial speeches that graced the townhouse in this New York side street last night. Ms. Bishop talked warmly of her visit to Sri Lanka.
"Sri Lanka's Professor Peiris talked of Sri Lanka's economy having "turned a corner". Mr Hague was both humorous and expansive in his praise for the Commonwealth, but managed diplomatically to say all but nothing of Sri Lanka………
"I and a tiny handful of New York based journalists were put on the guest list, but we were told we could not bring our cameraman in. The atmosphere was strangely awkward. Those that knew each other spoke to each other, those who did not know each other avoided doing so.
"Britain's Development Secretary, Justine Greening, looked in. So did the UN's Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Co-ordinator Valerie Amos……..".
He was once accused of ordering a school teacher to kneel before him in obeisance and extend an apology. All this was because this politico's daughter was admonished for coming to school in a short uniform.
That cost Ananda Sarath Kumara the opportunity of contesting last week's North Western Provincial Council elections.
Instead,
his nephew Nilantha Wimalaweera was fielded. Despite Sarath Kumara going on his knees seeking votes for his nephew, he lost. He came 15th out of 19 and obtained only 11,723 votes.