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AS the post-war era dawns in Sri Lanka it
appears that the first casualty of the newly secured peace is the
truth. For while the Tamil Tigers’ terrorist outfit may have been
dispatched to the bowels of hell and the pages of infamy, its
surrogates—conveniently camouflaged in the designer colors of the
human rights lobby—are still hell-bent on carrying on the fight in
the media, using a cornucopia of lies as artillery.
One such operative is right on the southern
doorstep of the Philippines in the form of a Catholic priest, namely
Sri Lankan Father JJ Bernard who is based in Mindanao as a Christian
missionary.
But it’s patently clear that his avowed
mission is less to do with implanting Christian virtues and more to
do with propagating the litany of fabrications that for so long have
been the staple of the Tamil diaspora that misguidedly chose (and
are still choosing) to spread the Tamil Tigers’ dogma of hate and
division—despite finding themselves now cast aside on the wrong
side of history.
Somewhat pompously, the Pikit, North Cotabato
based Father Bernard is calling on the Philippine government to
“revise its foreign policies and condemn the war crimes of the
government of Sri Lanka in bilateral and multilateral forum.”
Using the Church pulpit as his own political
forum, he has penned a rambling “open letter” to the government
of the Philippines which is laden with the weary rhetoric and
hyperbolic accusations that were spewed about even in the days when
the late unlamented leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Vellupillai Prabakharan was unleashing child soldiers and suicide
bombers to murder and maim countless innocent men and women who
stood in the way of his demoniacal dictates and ambitions.
Breathing brimstone and fire, Father Bernard
growls: “Instead of condemning the horrendous, callous and heinous
acts of the brutal and the ruthless government of Sri Lanka, the one
and only Catholic country in Asia gives credit to the government of
Sri Lanka for the military victory over the Tamil Tigers.”
The priest seemingly in Tigers’ clothing goes
on: “The whole world and the international community know about
the total collapse of the rule of law and high rate of impunity in
Sri Lanka.”
But being out there in the hinterland of
Mindanao, Father Bernard could be forgiven for being out of touch
with reality. For when the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC),
on behalf of the “whole world and the international community”
(to quote Father Bernard), called for a vote on a special session to
debate the very issues that he and others from the dwindling band of
Tamil Tigers’ apologists have been trumpeting on the global stage,
UNHRC member countries representing over four billion citizens of
the world voted down the motion.
Father Bernard’s ire was raised over Defense
Secretary Gilbert Teodoro congratulating Sri Lankan Foreign Minister
Rohitha Bogollagama on the military annihilation of the LTTE when
they met at the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Bellows the enraged Tamil priest:
“Congratulating the genocidal Sri Lankan government reflects
obviously the Government of the Republic of the Philippines’ own
governance, policies, international and internal politics,
independency of judiciary, and the genuine stand of the GRP toward
its own people.”
With all due respect to Father Bernard, we
don’t think the Philippines needs lessons on diplomacy and good
governance from an obvious supporter of a defeated terrorist outfit
that was a ruthless killing machine and serial human rights
violator.
Besides, there is some consensus in the
Philippines itself that given the same unwavering political will and
firm purpose that was displayed by the government of Sri Lankan
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the long enduring and costly
secessionist war in the Southern Philippines could also be finally
resolved.
Father Bernard claims: “Racial discrimination
is rampant and unleashed on the minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. More
than 300,000 Tamil people were made homeless and refugees in the
last few months. All those who are internally displaced are kept in
the detainment and internment camps without proper food, medicine,
shelter, access to information and communication.”
If that, indeed, is the case we then have some
unsolicited advice for the vitriolic priest: Scrap the tired clichés
and give substance to the courage of your convictions—not to
mention your calling—by going back to your homeland and serving
the cause of your people.
Surely, Father Bernard would be more useful over
there actually trying to do something about the problems he
highlights so passionately, rather than down here rabble-rousing
about it.
rjottings@yahoo.com
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