The Warped Aryans against Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS) flopped in Oslo
by Sachi Sri Kantha, September 17, 2004
Last month there was quite a bit of publicity in the Colombo press and websites (including those handled by some demented Tamils who work against the Tamil interests), about a freak show which was scheduled for August 20th in Oslo. The organizers of this freak show coined a fancy name for themselves: World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka. In reality, the correct tag should have been Warped Aryans against Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS). I was a little bit curious about what happened during that freak show in Oslo.
A few weeks later, on September 8th, the truth spilled out from the horse’s mouth. H.L.D.Mahindapala, one of the leading anti-Tamil racists living in Australia, contributed a summary (to the Lanka Web website; www.lankaweb.com ) about the number of people who attended that freak show. The response provided by another Sinhalese, Dr.Peter Gunasekara of the National University of Singapore, the very next day, is an interesting rejoinder.
As a bit of introduction I should note the following. In the 1990s, I crossed swords on the theme of ethnic strife in Sri Lanka, with journalist Mahindapala in the pages of the Lanka Guardian magazine, edited by Mervyn de Silva. I was not the only Tamil who stood up to counter Mahindapala’s viscious anti-Tamil propaganda. M.Sivasithamparam, the late TULF leader – in his capacity as the President of TULF -, also had debunked and exposed the fallacy of Mahindapala’s demented logic in the Colombo press. Check the difference between Sivasithamparam and V. Anandasangaree, the current holder of that empty crown; Sangaree’s lips are closed shut on Mahindapala’s atrocious propaganda against Tamil political rights.
Though he has a talent for writing in English, Mahindapala suffers from logorrhea [too many words] – not unusual among journalists who have to earn their paycheck based on the number of words they pad into their commentaries and editorials. Not only logorrhea, Mahindapala is also handicapped by his loathsome vanity to an extent that J.R.Jayewardene, the past President of Sri Lanka, refused to grant a work visa to this journalist while he was in power. The reason: during his earlier tenure as an editor, Mahindapala rubbed Jayewardene the wrong way before the latter gained power in 1977. Think of it! If Mahindapala is such an anathema to J.R. Jayewardene (of all the Sinhalese racists in Sri Lanka!), then does one need proof, how vile Mahindapala’s mind is in his orgy of anti-Tamil writings? Other Sinhalese intellectuals like Prof. Carlo Fonseka and Regie Siriwardene have also stood up in the past to expose the muck of Mahindapala.
Here are the excerpts of the communications from Mahindapala and Gunasekara:
H. L. D. Mahindapala’s summary on the WAPS Conference [September 8, 2004]
“…This, incidentally, is the first ever conference held by a group of Sri Lankans on Norwegian soil to question its role as ‘facilitators,’ particularly in the light of Norway being ‘the haven for Tamil Tiger terrorists.’
At this conference, international experts on terrorism, journalists specializing on the Tamil Tiger terrorism and respected academics who had explored the role of Norway in the so-called peace process, presented papers tracing various aspects of the north-south crisis in Sri Lanka. It was attended by 73 participants among whom were representatives of PLOTE, EPDP, EPRLF, Norwegian journalists, Norwegian police investigating terrorism in Europe and Norway, Norwegian Foreign Office, Norwegian Buddhist Federation, Norwegian research students, Sri Lankans domiciled in Norway, and three from the LTTE, two of whom were allowed to video the proceedings for Prabhakaran to have a good look at those who spoke. Even G. L. Peiris sent two of his ‘kollas’ to attend the conference. Keerthi Warnakulasuriya of the DIVAINA newspaper was among the attendees. (emphasis added by Kantha)
Representatives of the World Alliance for Peace in Sri Lanka were also invited by the Foreign Office to meet Erik Solheim and Lisa Golden of the Foreign Office. Ranjith Soysa, Mahinda Weerasinghe and the writer met Solheim and discussed issues pertaining to the current situation for over an hour. We also met leaders of opposition parties in Norway who were very critical and cynical of the unprofessional way in which Solheim was conducting negotiations.
That, in brief, is the background. By the way, it must be stated that unlike other NGO conferences/seminars WAPS Oslo conference was not funded by foreign agencies. The money was raised by generous contributions made by the expatriate Sri Lankans who are committed to a durable peace that is acceptable to all communities and not just to one set of armed terrorists who are opposed even by the Tamil people…
…WAPS neither had the finances, nor the intention of marching millions either in Colombo or Oslo protesting against the dubious role of Norway…The plain intention of the Oslo conference was to raise the awareness of the roles of Norway and the LTTE. The speakers presenting their papers highlighted various aspects of the so-called peace process that was going nowhere. Among some of the aspects highlighted were that Norway had (1) totally ignored or denied the hard realities of the intransigence of the Tamil Tiger terrorists who had never shown signs of advancing peace except on their own terms; (2) played a partisan role in inviting Tamil Tiger terrorists to visit their military camps in the name of advancing peace; (3) provided a safe haven for Tamil Tiger terrorists in contravention of UN Resolution 1373 which it is morally and legally bound to honour; (4) turned a blind eye to the Tamil Tiger terrorist using Norway as the central bank for collecting funds in Europe, again in contravention of UN Resolution 1373; (5) violated UN Resolution 1261 which forbids the forcible conscription of children into Prabhakaran’s needless war: (6) been a party to the crimes against humanity committed by the Tamil Tiger terrorists because neither they nor the SLMM had acted impartially or effectively in restraining the brutalities against the Tamil people, let alone the others; (7) washed their hands of the crimes of their favoured group, like Pontius Pilate etc., on the convenient excuse that they were invited by both parties etc…
Norway was told that part of the crisis was the lack of credibility of the ‘facilitators’. They went in as the solution and now they have become a part of the problem. There are many strands that were explored at the conference where specialists from various fields expressed their opinions….Perhaps, awakening the awareness of the people is the prelude to it. But one of the objectives of the WAPS conference was to bring home to the Norwegians that they are doomed to fail if they go down the partisan track…
… Recently, the Tamils took their coffins and placed it at the entrance to the Norwegian embassy. This is a spontaneous reaction of the people driven to desperation by the indifference, or the nudge- nudge-wink-wink policies of the Norwegians and the SLMM who, like the proverbial monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil or speak no evil. The demonstrations have not only been against the Norwegians but also against the SLMM. The latest political phenomenon is the tide of opinion and protests now rising against Prabhakaran. The fishermen of Gurunagar who stoned the LTTE head office in the region is a good example of protests.
The people do not protest unless there are guided by thinking that awakens them to the new realities. In any case, WAPS didn’t go to protest in the streets. Among other reasons, WAPS went to Oslo to give moral support and courage to all the groups who are standing for the people brutalized by the inhuman terror of the Tamil Tigers. WAPS was successful in that – and that is the evidenced by the fact that the Tamil groups cowed down by Tamil Tiger terror had the courage to participate and express their protests at the WAPS conference. Which NGO in Colombo pretending to be defenders of human rights had ever opened the doors to these groups silenced by the gun of Prabhakaran? WAPS is proud of its record of sharing its forum with all shades of opinion, particularly in speaking up for the Tamil groups suppressed by the violence of the Tamil Tiger terrorists. For instance, Erik Solheim had not responded to nearly two years of requests for a hearing by these Tamil groups who were being persecuted in the streets and homes of these Tamil expatriates by the LTTE. Rejecting the sham theory of those who advocate that these issues should be left to be solved by the people of Sri Lanka WAPS took action on this issue. WAPS took up their cause and representations were made on their behalf by the WAPS delegation to Solheim. He promptly gave his card and requested us to ask them to ring him. Subsequently, they met Solheim who gave them a hearing….
All in all, the Norwegians had to sit up and take notice because this was a not Sinhala protest but an organized conference which drew together an array of experts ranging from universities, international think-tanks, journalists specializing in Tamil Tigers terrorism etc. There was no need to protest in the streets when the selected speakers presented unassailable evidence against the Tamil Tiger terrorists and their hidden sponsors in Norway.
It should also be remembered that the ‘salmon-eating busy- bodies’ were thrown out once. History has a way of repeating itself -and who knows when and in what form it will decide to do so next time? The disillusioned and wary-wary people hope that it will be sooner than later…”
Rejoinder by Dr. Peter Gunasekera (National University of Singapore), September 9, 2004.
“I thank Mr. Mahindapala for his reply. He has helped to keep this interesting and useful debate at an elevated level rather than descending to personal attack. I like to pursue this a little bit…
It is well known that expatriate LTTE sympathisers have high impact efforts, they being well targeted and well executed. In technical language the output /input ratio is very high. My own humble view is that Sinhalese people living abroad have not demonstrated such an ability and intenseness of purpose. Looking at emails received from abroad and at websites I find our campaigns are not well conceived in the first place…
The conception of an event (like WAPS) would depend on objectives: Picking up from HLD’s statement, the objectives of WAPS meeting at Oslo were: (a) not protest (b) creating awareness about the LTTE’s terrorist role and of the partisan nature of Norwegian facilitators. HLD contradicts himself when he, on the one hand, belittles the need for street support and on the other hand asserts that the objective of the awareness campaign is to get people to the level of street protest(so that government will be forced to act). The ultimate objective is to rid SL of the Norwegians. WAPS conference was, presumably, a step in the direction of mobilising support in Norway and SL against the Norwegians. The ultimate impact test of OSLO is ascertained in the question: how far has it led to such a mobilisation?
In assessing Oslo on this fundamental criterion, it does seem to have failed. Awareness of LTTE terror already prevails and there is little need to ring bells about that. Awareness about the alleged partisan character of Solheim and crowd is certainly worthy of effort because such awareness does not exist. However, has WAPS indeed created such awareness at Oslo? I have read their papers as presented online and I don’t see any conclusive evidence of this alleged bias. For every allegation that the delegation made before Solheim, the latter had an explanation that begs consideration. Solheim may be guilty, but WAPS delegates have been unable to point that out in any conclusive manner. This is the crucial point.
WAPS people should therefore really do their homework and ferret out evidence damaging to Norwegians, if their intention is to rid SL of these facilitators. I gather from HLD’s reply that the bulk of those present at Oslo have been PLOTE, EPDP, EPRLF, delegates from SPUR etc- all those who have a premeditated stance against Norway. Was not this a case of convincing the already convinced? Then what is the point of it all? Furthermore, the gathering had been small, especially if one leaves out the security officials who had come to pre-empt trouble, and the Foreign office officials. HLD should tell us if their conference had at least Norwegian press coverage. He has not. I have not seen any important Western press coverage to date. [emphasis added by Kantha]
…Hence, given that Norway is an offender, GOSL must be persuaded to get rid of these facilitators. I am sure Mahindapala understands that in making such decisions Governments deal only with each other and not with outside parties. Therefore, the government of SL will have to ask Norway to depart. In addition, we- WAPS and us- will have to pressurise the GOSL and no body else to take that decision….By the way, as I write this the news is that Norway is to give SL a 30 million US dollars grant!”
End Note
Now a week has passed, and Mahindapala has failed to respond [at least on the Lankaweb website!] to the rejoinder of Peter Gunasekara about the ‘target failure’ of the great freak show exhibited by the Warped Aryans against Peace in Sri Lanka (WAPS) in Oslo.