Columns

There I was reading and rereading the words of Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath, who, for some reason or other, is viewed by some as an up-and-coming messiah. Why that is so is still not quite known, but my eyes fell on an article in another newspaper lying by the side.

It is not that Foreign Minister Herath’s words were as dull as his reading, but what I noticed at a glance appeared far more eye-catching. Some might claim the foreign minister’s oratorical skill is akin to parliamentary parippu, of which I know, having withdrawn from the Diyawanna Oya scene nearly 35 years ago to settle in a newspaper in Hong Kong and an even more boring parliament called the legislative council, where speeches were read out even by the erudite of the species waiting to be swallowed by Mother China.

What caught my attention with the paper lying by my side was a fascinating story that our only Left leader to be the elected head of the country had changed course and had shed Marxian economic theory, turning his vehicle well to the Right.

If that is correct, there is no reason to disbelieve it; after all, this is politics and Sri Lankan politics at that.

How many Sri Lankan politicians faded out from the political scene without changing parties or being sacked from the original party and going through the party list held by the Registrar General and seeking refuge in even an obscure group put together by a litany of discards? It is not hard to find.

Not that there have not been politicians of the past who were physically fit to engage in political long and high jump. There are a number of stories that could be told had one enjoyed world enough and time—and this newspaper enough space.

But with Dear Donald having trumped himself in some areas of endeavour—he seems to have browbeaten both the Israelis and the Palestinians—it is better to remain silent. With the much-talked-about Human Rights Council having no cause to fight in Geneva after Sri Lanka surrendered by the second round, what was there to tell? Not even a vote to count. So the Battle of Phippi was fought on the playing fields of Eton. So shell-shocked were they after the Light Brigade, or what was left of it, emerged from the battle that they thought they were standing by the statue of Nelson, according to some anti-NPP activists of the far left who seemed left out after the Aragaya celebrations.

Ah, but Sri Lankan diplomats and their top brand advisors do not surrender like that. Those who recall the beginning of the 1970s and then the second half of the 1980s would well remember those days when they went to battle with anything they could lay their hands on, while India had to resort to air attacks and pepper their enemy ground forces with parippu.

Is that the sign of a frightened force? If they could retreat after Sri Lanka virtually fell at the UN’s feet in Geneva, the fighting forces of the NPP are back home to regroup to return to battle the newly armed Geneva forces.

While that question does come up quite often, what caused the latest uproar was not so much in the UNHRC chamber but outside, where the opposition, academics and those journalists tore into Sri Lanka’s negative, lukewarm and desultory approach in the face of more aggressive charges by Sri Lanka’s critics. In his address to Parliament, the Foreign Minister laid out the reasons why Sri Lanka adopted the stance it did.

Well, if that is how the NPP government is going to behave in the future, caving into critics and international organisations, then we might as well fold up the tent and hand over to foreign interests and retire to wherever our new thinkers and advisors came from.

It appears that Minister Herath does not want to spend money, or rather waste money. I suppose he will next tell the country that political candidates will not be permitted an allowance for election campaigning.

If Minister Herath is serious about saving public or any funds, that should be a good starting point. But why stop at only that? He seems to think that taking on Geneva in its own den is a waste of money. Now that he thinks so, it sure seems like a good idea. I mean, if this is the kind of minister with this kind of defensive equipment in hand who is let loose in Geneva, he is better tied up and kept in the cabinet office.

Actually it would be far better—now that NPP is trying to save money, it would possibly meet the country’s budget.

It would be better if these intellectuals were provided with paper kept at home and whatever they had to say in writing on a piece of paper, making sure it is recycled paper from Beijing.

I am afraid the weather gods are not pleasant to me and are about to cut me off from entering into this interesting part of the discussion—the Foreign Minister’s views on the futility of debates, discussions and votes on resolutions he finds repulsive, fearing continuous defeat at Geneva since May 2009, when the Big Brothers from the North earned their uppance.

But that will have to await another day. Rain takes priority. So farewell until the rain gods turn more pleasant.

(Neville de Silva is a veteran journalist who was Assistant Editor of the Hong Kong Standard and worked for Gemini News Service in London. Later, he was Deputy Chief de Mission in Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London.)