Thoughts from London

Minister with foot-in-the-mouth disease
The British are worried that bird flu would one day reach their shores now that it has gained a foothold in Europe. So they seem to have forgotten all about other afflictions-like foot-in-the-mouth.

This is a common disease among politicians in particular. They have a penchant for putting their feet in a part of the anatomy meant for speaking and eating.

One foot in the mouth is a common enough occurrence as Sri Lankans accustomed to the habits of their own politicians would know. Even today prevarications and double speak continue to be practised with nary a concern for the impression they make on the public mind.

That is why politicians are held in such low esteem in this country. It cannot be any different in Sri Lanka where public perception of politicians has taken a further tumble as I discovered during a brief visit to Colombo last month.

Some politicians approach problems with an open mind, others with an open mouth and put their foot in it. This is the common or garden type of politician. But there is a rearer species that has meticulously cultivated the art of putting both feet in the same orifice from which emanate all the nonsense they speak.

That, of course, calls for anatomical contortions that would do credit to a circus artiste. But surely putting both feet should be child’s play to politicians whose athleticism is often proven when they jump from party to party and back again, not once but several times over, justifying the commonly held belief that principles never stand in the way of political self interest.

These thoughts that came to mind while talking to friends and others in Colombo were reinforced on my return. Not only was there derisive talk in Colombo, but Colombo was also being talked about in accusatory tones here.

That is nothing new of course. But when it comes from a minister of the UK Government, one needs to take cognisance, particularly so as it comes from the Minister for International Development who has twice visited Sri Lanka since the December tsunami.The day before I left for Colombo I received an email copying a news report from the website www.nitharsanam.com that is widely believed to be pro-LTTE.

Many believe it is based in Norway. But Norwegian authorities now claim that it does not operate from their soil but from Australia. Whatever the truth or otherwise of the Norwegian claim what is of immediate concern in the Nitharsanam report on a meeting of the British branch of the Punguduthivu Welfare Society in Harrow is that it was addressed by Gareth Thomas, the international development minister and also MP for Harrow West.

The report stated: “Mr Thomas further stated that he would ensure that a strong protest against the atrocities would be communicated to the Sri Lanka Government. The intervention of the British Government would help reduce these atrocities. He urged the Thamils to come forward with a petition signed by all detailing the atrocities to enable him to take these matters up with the Government so that the Government’s disapproval could be registered through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He invited closer liaison with the Thamil people.”

The report said Mr Thomas was aware that tsunami relief from the international community did not reach the Thamil people but he was glad to find some seeping through other sources.

Coming from a British minister and one who threatens to put pressure on the Sri Lanka Government through his own it was important to know whether he did utter what he is purported to have said and, if so, what these atrocities were.

So I emailed Gareth Thomas drawing his attention to the Nirthasanam news report and his purported remarks. I asked him to officially reply to 10 questions I posed.

Among the questions were whether he did make the remarks attributed to him, what evidence he had to support his claim that the Sri Lanka Government had committed atrocities, what they were, whether his accusations were based on first hand knowledge or hearsay.

If the remarks attributed to him are not true, did he write to the website concerned protesting at the false reporting? If not why not?
I thought it was rather rich that Gareth Thomas talks of pressure through his own government when the Blair government itself has been accused of atrocities against Iraqi civilians, including the death of Iraqi civilians while in British custody and of aiding and abetting CIA “rendition flights” on which abducted or detained persons are taken to third countries where torture is known to be practised.

If Thomas had been misquoted, what did he actually say and what didn’t he say?
Finally I asked him whether he was prepared to address a group of Sri Lankans and justify his remarks.

A few days later I received an email from Sarah White, assistant private secretary to Gareth Thomas. It said: “I am replying to the message that was forwarded to me below and which I have discussed with the Minister, Gareth Thomas MP.

He has seen the text of the report on the website you cite and has stated that the text does not give anything like an adequate reflection of the comments that he made.”

There is a pithy old Sinhala saying “koheda yanne, malle pol (where are you going? There are coconuts in the bag) that sums up the reply.
The minister and his aide have dodged every single question I raised. Minister Thomas’ incontinent gabbiness has been replaced by a great economy of words as though he was cutting back on international aid.
Not being ready to accept ministerial contumacy I wrote back to Sarah White saying that though the report does not adequately reflect all that the minister said, he has not denied any of the remarks attributed to him. Therefore could not one justifiably conclude that he did make these remarks?

Since he claims to have said more, I asked the minister’s office to send those remarks that have not been reported. I asked the minister again whether he had personal knowledge of the atrocities.

In my reply I said “I ask this question once more expecting an answer this time round.” Some of the other questions were also repeated.
This is Sarah White’s second response: “I have shared your comments with the Minister. He stated that it is an occupational hazard of being a Minister that sometimes comments are attributed to him which do not accurately reflect comments that he has made. As he had made clear before, the comments attributed to him in the text or the report you cite do not accurately reflect the comments he made.”

White’s reply is a White-wash. It repeats what was said earlier and totally evades questions. And this White claim is making “clear.” It must have taxed their combined intellectual power to add one sentence to the earlier reply.

Last December Gareth Thomas addressed the all party parliamentary group on Sri Lanka at which he was quite complimentary of the manner in which Colombo had undertaken post-tsunami reconstruction. He never said a word about international aid not reaching the Tamil areas.

The fact is that Thomas addressed a Tamil group who are his constituents. While appearing as their great saviour Thomas forgot an elementary fact-that he might be reported.

Now he is caught between the rock and the hard place and does not know how to get out of the contretemps he has created. Mr Thomas talks of occupational hazards. Well we face them too, especially from obdurate ministers with wide open mouths.

Back to Columns