External Affairs Minister Prof. G L. Peiris says it is in India’s interest to ensure that there is a “stable, long-lasting settlement” to the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka. “Allegations of war crimes and Tamils being harassed are untrue and part of a vicious political campaign,” Peiris told Padma Rao Sundarji of the Hindustani Times in an interview. Minister Peiris said India has seen and made an immense contribution in the North.
“We believe, therefore, that she has a moral responsibility to support Lanka.
It is in her interest, no less than in ours, to ensure that there is a stable, long-lasting settlement. To do anything that would polarise an already complex situation would be a mistake.”
Asked what is Colombo doing to convince countries not to support a tough resolution by the US
at the UNHRC to make Sri Lanka culpable of human rights violations during the war against the LTTE. Minister Peiris said ; “Not everyone is pursuing Lanka.
I just returned from Japan. Officials there are amazed at the progress within just three years since the end of war.
Thousands of Tamils, including 595 child soldiers, have been reintegrated, demining is almost complete.
In how many countries of former conflict - many of whom are supporting the US resolution - have you seen such speedy work? On the allegations of Human rights violations Prof. Peiris said that this was a vicious political campaign.
The war is over, but for those who funded and nurtured the Tigers, only the modality has changed, not the objective.
“We have evidence of threatening letters written by such overseas Tamils to their local MPs.
We have proof of foreign MPs who repeatedly attacked us, taking on paid jobs with LTTE-friendly groups after their term.
The diaspora also commands a media network. Those ‘missing’ journalists showed up in other countries. Cases of alleged abuse that HRW gave us in Japan turned out to be uncorroborated applications for asylum.
QUESTION: What about the latest Channel 4 footage showing Prabhakaran’s dead son? Your military authorities are reportedly examining it. So is it authentic after all?
ANSWER: We have never refused to examine any new material brought up, eventhough our past experience shows that these videos were fakes. But why is it that Channel 4 material invariably surfaces on the eve of events like the UNHRC session?
If you have incriminating material, why not put it all up? Why in instalments? Is it admissible for an independent body like the UN to screen a film by a private party and accept it as evidence without conducting its own forensic investigation?
Definitely not. The UN is supposed to be an impartial body.
UNHRC chief Navanetham Pillai called for a probe into human rights violations by our Army a week after the war ended. What evidence could she have possibly gathered within seven days? We invited her to Lanka two years ago to assess the situation herself. She laid some conditions - which we fulfilled - and promised to come. We are still waiting.
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