TERRORIST ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN a democratic government HOW??

LTTE rump wants travel ban on Lankan MPs

April 5, 2014, 7:42 pm 

By Sujeeva Nivunhella in London

After securing a resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva last month, pro-LTTE Tamil organizations in the UK are vigorously campaigning for the imposition of a ‘travel ban’ on Sri Lankan parliamentarians. 

The Sunday Island reliably learns that the ultimate goal of these pro-LTTE Tamils is to push for a ‘travel ban’, ‘trade ban’ and freeze assets of Sri Lankan parliamentarians. However, their short term target is to stop President Mahinda Rajapaksa attending the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. The opening ceremony is due to be held at Celtic Park on July 23, 2014.

"LTTE activists living in the UK are furious that they were banned by the Sri Lankan government. They have now started lobbying British parliamentarians of all political parties. These MPs have indicated that if they work hard, they will be able to impose a ‘travel ban’ before the Commonwealth Games, sources knowledgeable of the developments in London said.

"If they fail to impose a ‘travel ban’ in time, they are planning to gather in their thousands to protest against the President’s proposed visit", they said.

In the meantime, Sri Lankans domiciled in the UK are under the impression that the Sri Lanka government has not done enough to counter the UNHRC resolution. They are of the view that the government failed to win over the new British parliamentarians for their cause. 

"We have only a few Conservative MPs supporting us for years now. They were also won over at the time Acting High Commissioner P. M. Amza was in London", they opined, pointing out that Sri Lanka had failed to woo new MPs, especially from the Labour Party.

Can you imagine what will happen to Sri Lanka if the Labour Party wins next year’s General Election? Unlike the Sri Lankan government, pro-LTTE groups had many British MPs on their side, Janaka Alahapperuma, president of the British Sri Lankan Forum said. 

"Some high-profile people assured President Rajapaksa that their personal contacts would be used to stop British Prime Minister David Cameron taking any drastic actions against Sri Lanka, but it never materialized", he noted.

He said that Cameron is acting aggressively and wanted to set up a Sierra Leone type war crime tribunal against Sri Lanka. For the first time in the history, both ruling Conservative Party and the opposition Labour Party are jointly acting against Sri Lanka due to lack of aggressive lobbying by the government. 

President of Sinhala Association UK, Douglas Wickramaratne said that the voting in Geneva once again exposed the limitations of our diplomatic mission in London. The laid back approach is a complete failure.

"We have a good story, but are unable to tell it to the world. Organizing a demonstration outside number 10, Downing Street or in front of the UN building in Geneva wasting millions of tax payers’ money just before the voting in Geneva is too little and too late", he said.

Face-to-face meetings with parliamentarians of all political parties, regular briefings to the press, correcting the biased reports of the media like Channel 4 by demanding the right to reply are some of the ways our mission can justify its existence, he suggested.

British Prime Minster David Cameron has been reported saying that Britain will work closely with its international partners to support the implementation of the resolution on Sri Lanka to establish an international investigation.

In response to a question, Cameron told British Parliament on Thursday, "We believe that progress on accountability, human rights and reconciliation is important in establishing an enduring peace in Sri Lanka. Such progress will ensure Sri Lanka can reach its full potential as a strong and prosperous nation".

He also said ahead of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution vote on Sri Lanka on March 27,"…I personally engaged with a wide range of UNHRC member states including those from the Commonwealth."