An open letter to the Oxford Union regarding

President Rajapaksa’s visit

Brian Senewiratne
Australia

Alistair Walker 24 December 2010

Press Officer
Oxford Union Society
Frewin Court
Oxford, OX1 3JB
UK

Your invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit the

Oxford Union on 2nd December 2010

Dear Mr Walker.

I am responding to the „Statement from the Oxford Union‟ signed by you, „explaining‟ the „unfortunate
cancellation‟ of the invitation to President Rajapaksa to address the Oxford Union on 2 December
2010. I have reproduced your letter at the end of this response.

The delay in responding was that I was far from convinced that it was worth the time and effort. I
decided to do so for three reasons.

1. To invite someone with President Rajapaksa‟s human rights record, reflects poorly, not only on the
Oxford Union, but on Oxford University, and even on other Universities in your country. I am a graduate
of two (yes, two) of them – Cambridge and London.

Moreover, several members of my family have been to Oxford, including my uncle, S.W.R.D
Bandaranaike, who was the Secretary of your Union in 1923, at a time when it had a distinguished
record. I owe it to them to see that the reputation of Oxford University and the Union is not damaged by
the irresponsible acts of a few.

2. The Union invited President Rajapaksa in May 2008 when there was overwhelming evidence that
he was preparing to wipe out the Tamils, and allowed him to talk on some irrelevancy. It has now done
it again, after he has achieved his murderous intention, and wants to go down the same road. It is clear
that your Union has no idea of the background, intentions and record of your invitee. It is time that
someone dealt with this serious lack of knowledge, if only to further your education which is
presumably why you went to Oxford.

3. President Rajapaksa has a problem in that he needs a regular „ego-boost‟ and he will try again, to
salve his bruised ego. He will not hesitate to use one of the most expensive lobbying firms in the world,
Bell Pottinger 1 , and get poverty-stricken Sri Lankans to pay for it. His ego comes first, his family
second, his „hangers on‟ next, and below that, China and others that support and finance his ruthless
agenda for their own geopolitical and economic interests.

Way down the list comes the future of the country and its people (Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims), and
lower still, at the very bottom, literally as a footnote, the Tamil people who live in the North and the
East. That is not an opinion to be debated, but a fact to be faced.

In an interview with The Times UK2, Rajapaksa lamented, “We are very weak in our propaganda”.

1
According to Sri Lanka media reports, more than Rs 500 million has been paid to Bell Pottinger. To put this in context, a
tea estate worker (usually the sole breadwinner for the family), whose sweat and toil keeps Sri Lanka afloat, earns Rs
6,000 per month - Rs 72,000/year. Bell Pottinger has been paid what 700 families would earn in a year.
2
On 1 December 2010. James Harding and Ben Macintyre of The Times UK.
http://www.globalpeacesupport.com/globalpeacesupport.com/post/2010/12/06/The-Times-UK-Coverage-of-Rajapaksa-UK-
visit-aspx
1
Indubitable: but the fault lies with the „product‟ to be marketed (Rajapaksa), and not with the
propagandists or their methods. This is compounded by several factors.

1. The blatant untruths Rajapaksa and his regime have presented as „facts‟ to the intimidated and
censored media and the people in his country, but more importantly, to those outside, in the hope that
these will be believed. It is unlikely that they will be, given the „information explosion‟ today.

2. His absolute arrogance telling the UN, including Navaneetham Pillai, Head, UN Human Rights
Council, and those in your country (and elsewhere), to “go to hell” when they demanded an
international credible investigation into war crimes.

3. His propensity for self-aggrandizement, his lust for praise and power, and his ostentatious mode of
living and travel.

Rajapaksa trying to play a role on the world stage, or even the regional stage, is simply not working. He
is too insignificant for it to work, something his oversized self-image will not accept. The best he could
do was to sit next to the Indian Prime Minister at your Commonwealth Games in Delhi, 2010, sulking
because he was not invited to speak. He looked pathetic. I hung my head in shame watching the
Games with my Australian friends when they asked, “Is that your President?” Shame-faced I had to
admit, “I am afraid it is the Sri Lankan President”. Their laughter drowned the TV commentary.

There it was, the embarrassing spectacle of the „leader‟ of a crumbling „democracy‟, effectively a
Totalitarian State, sitting uncomfortably next to the leader of the world‟s biggest democracy, hoping that
something would rub off on to him. Unfortunately, good governance is not infectious, the opposite is
(highly) infectious.

Speaking at the Oxford Union for the second time, would have been a significant boost to his already
oversized ego. A bonus was a chance for him and his acolytes (I gather some 100 of them
accompanied him to London3 although it was a private visit, and 110 to New York for the UN meeting,
even though only five are allowed into the UN4), to do some shopping and sightseeing in London (and
New York), at Sri Lankan taxpayer‟s expense.

Mr Walker, could your please pay for him and his entourage the next time you invite him? If you do not,
you will become part of the problem faced by the struggling Sri Lankan taxpayers who have to fork out
thousands of dollars to meet the cost of Rajapaksa‟s extravaganza, because of an invitation from your
Union. If you want him for whatever reason, please pay for it - in full. To do otherwise is thoroughly
irresponsible, since it increases the financial burden of struggling people.

For all his embrace of China, and rejection of the West, he is still in thrall to Sri Lanka‟s former colonial
masters. The word „thrall‟ is not widely used, but describes Rajapaksa perfectly - „one who is
intellectually or morally enslaved‟. He barely conceals his desire to be accepted by the West, visit
Western capitals, rub shoulders with Western leaders, and even lesser beings such as members of
your Union. Why else would he revel in your invitation, (falsely) claiming that it was a unique honour,
even though it is being extended to all other world leaders as your Union website clearly states?

President Rajapaksa turns to China when he wants funds and military equipment to slaughter the Tamil
people, but turns to the USA when he wants medical treatment (as I gather he had just done). I will not
elaborate on this here.

Your „Statement‟

I will go through the „Statement‟ which you, Mr Alistair Walker, thought fit to release. I will be replying to
you but it is clearly intended for your Union, and a wider audience who go down this same road and
irresponsible invite President Rajapaksa to address them.

3
Commendably, the British Embassy in Colombo refused Rajajapaks‟s Tamil Minister, Douglas Devananda, a man with a
highly questionable human rights record, a visa to enter Britain.
4
I have a fascinating photograph of the completely depleted UN auditorium when Rajapaksa spoke. There were a huge
number of empty seats which he addressed with great gusto.
2
“The Oxford Union invited …..Rajapaksa, to address our members at a date convenient to him”.

“Address our members” on what? You did not specify the subject. Why? Was it not important?

“A date convenient to him”. And what was that date „convenient to him‟? December! Even Rajapaksa
should know that it is winter, with subzero temperatures and traffic chaos. Did it not occur to your Union
that it is the time when Christmas shopping is in full swing? Why else would someone, by choice, want
go to Britain in December on a non-urgent private visit? Those responsible for his security had to give
him special permission to leave the Dorchester hotel for an hour, with tight security, for him to do this
„essential‟ shopping.

Unable to see the difference between Colombo and London (in winter, at that), one of Rajapaksa‟s
Ministers, S.B.Dissanayake, complained that his limousine was pelted with „stones‟. It was pointed out
that London‟s well-paved streets had no stones, and what were hurled by the angry mob were snow-
balls!

The important question is whether the Sri Lankan taxpayer knows all this since it was they who footed
the entire bill (millions of rupees) for this private frolic of their President and his retinue, with no benefits
for them or the country, and for which your Union was responsible.

I will therefore, in a surge of patriotism, have this letter translated into Sinhalese and circulated to the
people of Sri Lanka. Can it be done without getting someone jailed or assassinated? I do not know. It
certainly is not without risk, in what is well documented by international organisations to be one of the
most dangerous places on earth for a dissenting voice. I am referring to the country of which the
Executive President and „strong man‟ is your invitee.

“The Union has a policy of inviting a broad range of prominent politicians and heads of state from
around the world”.

Really? To give this some credibility, have you invited Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan since 1993,
and Prime Minister since 1989, which is much longer than Rajapaksa‟s Presidency? He could have told
you all about Genocide, and how he is handling Dafur (for which he has been convicted by an
International Court, a wake-up call for President Rajapaksa).

Have you invited Kim Jong Il, President of North Korea? He could have told you how his father, Kim Il
Sung (President from 1972 till he died), maintained a one party State and a personality cult around him
and his family - which is exactly what President Rajapaksa is doing right now in Sri Lanka, and whom
you were so keen to hear.

Mr Walker, tell your Union that there are enough tyrants who are, or have been, Heads of State. Just
because Rajapaksa is a Head of State, it should not be a passport for an invitation to address the
Union. Your Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC), of the Oxford Union, no less,
housed right there in the Department of Politics and International Relations in your University, could
have told you all about President Rajapaksa.

Your Statement hilariously goes on:-

“The Union has a long tradition of hosting prominent speakers and upholding the principles of free
speech”.

And you pick President Rajapaksa, of all people, who has specialised in silencing free speech, and
whose regime has even murdered those who have defied this. So far, more than a dozen media people
have been murdered since he came into power (November 2005), and scores of others have fled the
country before they were silenced (murdered). Mr Walker, they were only doing their job. If they
express any opinion not in favour of the Rajapaksa regime, or reveal anything that the regime is trying
to hide or deny, their days are numbered. That is Media Freedom in Rajapaksa‟s Democracy, which
Constitutionally guarantees Freedom of Expression.

You must have heard of the award-winning Tamil journalist, J.S.Tissainayagam, jailed for 20 years
rigorous imprisonment for the „crime‟ of writing just two articles questioning what Rajapaksa was doing
3
to the Tamil people. Even US President Obama commented on this. On World Press Freedom Day (2
May 2009) he said:

“In every corner of the globe there are journalists in jail or being harassed. Emblematic examples of
this distressing reality are figures like J. S. Tissainayagam in Sri Lanka, or Shi Tao and Hu Jia in
China.”

With massive international protests, Rajapaksa „pardoned‟ Tissainayagam. Not surprisingly, he left the
country, as so many have.

Lasantha Wickrematunga, the outstanding Founder-Editor of the Sunday Leader, the only paper in Sri
Lanka to even question what Rajapaksa is doing, was not so lucky. He was bludgeoned to death in
broad daylight in the middle of Colombo by Rajapaksa‟s goons. He said what had to be said, and paid
the ultimate price. He was a Sinhalese, not a Tamil, but if anyone questions what the Rajapaksa
regime is doing, he/she is a “Tamil Tiger Terrorist”, whatever the ethnicity, and is dealt with as such –
„eliminated‟.

So am I. Despite the fact that I am a Sinhalese, whose cousin was the past President of Sri Lanka, my
stance in defending the right of the Tamil people to live with equality, dignity and safety in the country
of their birth, makes me a „Tamil Tiger Terrorist‟.

That is the reality of Press Freedom in Rajapaksa‟s „democracy‟.

When Rajapaksa next comes to England, get someone to drag him from the shops and take him to
Hyde Park Corner, literally on the other side of the road from the Dorchester hotel, where he will surely
be staying. He will see the famous „soap-box‟ orators, who attack anything and everything, and are
neither harassed nor intimidated, a living example of „Free Speech‟. It will be a steep learning curve for
him. Such „Free Speech‟ in his „Democracy‟, yes, in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, will
be a quick exit from this globe or years behind bars.

Freedom of Expression

There are a few, a very few, like Tissaranee Gunasekera, who writes articles critical of the Rajapaksa
regime. These exceptionally brave people, Sinhalese, I might add, are carrying their lives in their hands
(or rather, in their pens). It is only a question of time before they „disappear‟, or meet with an
„unfortunate accident, or, as has happened more recently, slaughtered in broad daylight as was
Lasantha Wickrematunga. This is not the exception, but the rule. It is brazen and done with the
assurance that there will be no action taken. That is what it is to live under a tyrannical regime.

Worryingly, Wickrematunge predicted his own murder in an editorial he wrote in his paper before he
was killed. He was killed two years ago (8 January 2009). No one has been arrested, let alone
charged. This is not surprising since his murderers are working closely with those in power, if not
sponsored by them. It is street-talk in Colombo, not „talk‟ but „whispers‟. Mr Walker, do you think the
detectives in your Scotland Yard can offer to investigate this? I‟d bet they would be told, “We have
equally competent people in Sri Lanka”. That is arguable, but what is not is the fact that the
„investigators‟ in Sri Lanka know where to draw the line.

There is Freedom of Expression in Sri Lanka, provided it is supportive of the ruling junta, and now of
the Ruling (Royal) Family. The „view from the ground‟ is tolerated only if it reinforces that from on high.
Any other view is lethal. An International Media organisation has clearly stated, not without reason, that
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places on earth for independent journalists. The 2010 Press
Freedom Index, http://en.rsforg.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034,html lists Sri Lanka at 158 of 178
countries. This is the lowest ranking of any country in your British Commonwealth. Why don‟t you throw
Sri Lanka out of the Commonwealth, since it diminishes this group? I suppose I should ask the British
people.

You go on, raising more questions than providing answers:-

4
“Since the invitation was accepted by Mr Rajapaksa, the Union has consulted extensively with Thames
Valley Police as well as the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on security arrangements for the
president‟s visit”.

Mr Walker, the Sri Lankan High Commission in London is not there to provide security, which is a
matter for your Police. Did you not think it appropriate to have consulted your Police before you sent
that irresponsible invitation? The saying goes, “Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
This „horse‟ had well and truly bolted from Sri Lanka to London (before the Christmas shopping was
over), when you were told that security (for a private visit, no less), could not be provided by the
relatively small Police Force in Thames Valley.

Did you really expect your Government to bend over backwards to provide security for a man on a
private visit, and who no government Minister was prepared to see officially?

“Due to security concerns that have recently been brought to our attention by the police, the Union has
regretfully found that the talk is no longer practicable….. ”

“Recently been brought‟ to your attention, Mr Walker? Knowing the efficiency of your Police Force, it is
more than likely that you did not ask the necessary questions in time to avoid one of the most
disastrous setbacks to Sri Lanka‟s international image.

The up-side is that it might (hopefully) have taught President Rajapaksa the lesson of his life and
bruised his ego as never before. For that I am grateful, even though it was unintentional: even though
the Sri Lankan taxpayers paid for it. This included not only first and business class fares for his jumbo
entourage, accommodation at the Dorchester and other very expensive Park Lane hotels, but also
reimbursements to international passengers on the flight back to Sri Lanka whose flight schedule was
altered by Rajapaksa to satisfy his ego and arrogance. This is just one of a multitude of examples of his
attitude, “I can do what the hell I want, and do not need to account to anyone”.

Just for the record, the mega-rich Michael Jackson and actress, Elizabeth Taylor always stayed at the
Dorchester hotel, I think in the very suite that Rajapaksa occupied. Taylor came there with her
succession of husbands (not all together, of course), while Rajapaksa did better, arriving with an entire
entourage, in toto. This is important. Liz Taylor, arriving with one husband at a time could stay in one
suite. Rajapaksa arriving with a retinue clearly needed several suites. So billionaire Taylor‟s cost has to
be multiplied several times for Sri Lanka‟s billionaire.

Mr Walker, don‟t you think the struggling taxpayer in Sri Lanka should be told all this? As I‟ve said, I
will, for entirely patriotic reasons, do my best to inform them. I am sure they will be concerned about it,
and with your Union for inviting him and not footing the bill.

Now that you know all this, doesn‟t your Union feel obliged to reimburse them for the cost of this totally
unnecessary extravaganza for which your Union was responsible? To claim that Oxford is short of
money is, of course, nonsense. Coming as I do from Cambridge, I am well aware of the endowments
and fees in these „red-brick‟ universities. A donation, not to that enormously wealthy man and brothers
who have (very) visible evidence of (very) invisible income, but to the starving Tamil people in the North
and East, not to mention the Sinhalese poor in the rest of the country. It is only a suggestion from my
Christian heart, bequeathed by your Christian missionaries – bless their souls.

“The decision was not taken lightly…”.

Well, the decision to send the invitation seems to have been lightly taken. “Act in haste and repent at
leisure” will have to be modified to the „Oxford version‟, “Act in haste and repent in haste”. The problem
is that this irresponsible act damages your prestigious University, of which the Oxford Union is only a
small part.

Was the suggestion to invite President Rajapaksa the „brain-child‟ of the Oxford Union or of the so-
called Sri Lanka Society (read „Sinhalese Society‟) of the Oxford University, that manipulated the
Union to issue this invitation? I gather there are just six Rajapaksa fans in Oxford, who, in effect, had
this invitation sent. Once they return to Sri Lanka, their future is guaranteed. That is the reality in Sri
Lanka.
5
“However, due to the sheer scale of the expected protests…”.

Was the word „expected‟ intentional? If so, then we are moving forward - at last. When did you „expect‟
that – before or after the invitation was sent? It surely did not suddenly appear – a bolt from the blue? If
you did expect a protest, why didn‟t your learned Society ask the views of the Police before the
invitation was sent?

Did you ask yourself why there should be a protest at all, let alone a protest of “sheer scale‟? Well, Mr
Walker, the British are not all asleep, many are awake, and these are not just the expatriate Tamils
(„terrorists‟ in Rajapaksa‟s language), or Sinhalese „traitors‟ such as myself, but the ordinary decent
non-Sri Lankan British whom I know so well after a decade and a half in your country.

True to form, they were out in the freezing cold, in numbers that brought enormous credit to your
country and showed the world how dictators, tyrants and those who have a case to answer for crimes
against humanity, should be handled when they step outside their country. Rajapaksa should be forced
to limit his visits to his new-found friends in China, Iran, Pakistan, the minute Maldives, and
occasionally India (just to show the world that the murderous Sri Lankan regime is still acceptable,
even superficially, to its great neighbour).

Rajapaksa has to learn (or be taught) that he simply cannot fly into the bastion of democracy and
parliamentary politics, with a human rights record such as he has, and not expect a protest of gigantic
proportions.

It is different from breezing into his village in the Sri Lankan South and boasting that not only
Bandaranaike could speak at the Oxford Union, he could too. His „rent-a-crowd‟ is expected to applaud,
and do, if they value their lives and future. „Spontaneous‟ expressions of praise, which does wonders
for ego-boosting, are expected and meticulously staged. “Ape Raja” (Sinhalese, „Our King‟). “Mahinda
Raja”, “Kau da Raja?‟(who is the King?). All together, now, “Mahinda Raja”. All of this is staged, at a
huge cost, all over Sri Lanka, and often. Do you see my point that President Rajapaksa needs a regular
„ego-boost‟?

The leaked video

In addition to the protests by thousands of people in London, there was the „small matter‟ of the
revelations from your outstanding British Channel 4 Television network. It was of video footage that can
convict him, his brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and, if ever freed, the former Army Commander,
General Sarath Fonseka (now jailed by Rajapaksa on a fabricated charge using a „Kangaroo Court‟,
but of that later).

The Channel 4 TV release was aired at the moment critique. It was an extension of the earlier video
aired some 16 months ago, which showed Rajapaksa‟s Armed Forces executing naked, bound (Tamil)
men who had surrendered. That, Mr Walker, is a serious war crime.

In the new video, instead of stopping after the execution of the men, the camera pans to the left to
reveal the naked and dead bodies of at least seven women, with an accompanying dialogue (in
Sinhalese), from onlookers who make lewd and callous comments which strongly suggest that sexual
assaults had taken place before their execution.

The Sri Lankan government says that the video is not authentic and has been "compiled by enemies of
the country who want to besmirch its international reputation".

Asked about this video by The Times (UK) reporters5, President Rajapaksa raised a hand and made a
swatting motion, “I deny the whole thing”. His claim that Channel 4 TV are a bunch of Tamil Tigers will
simply not be believed. Channel 4, and now WikiLeaks, are only doing what Media do in a democracy.
If Sri Lanka has moved away from this, then the problem is in Sri Lanka, not the UK or with Channel 4.

5
See reference 1.

6
A significant part of the international community, including UN Experts, believe the first video to be
authentic (its authenticity has been checked). Having seen the second video, the UN Special
Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions, Professor Christof Hayes, said, “It is
shocking indeed, and clearly deserves more investigations”.

Channel 4 has forwarded a copy of the video to the UN Secretary General‟s Advisory Panel on Sri
Lanka6.

I do not think that the Oxford Union is being completely honest about the cancellation of Rajapaksa‟s
address by claiming that it was entirely due to protests by the Tamil Diaspora. Much as they deserve
our thanks and admiration for standing in the freezing cold, I doubt if their protests were the only
reason. It should not have been.

Now, Mr Walker, do you think it plausible that we, on the other side of the world, know all this but you,
right there in the UK where Channel 4 TV is shown, did not see this? If that is your position, we simply
do not believe you.

Why don‟t you come clean and say that your Union saw this damning evidence aired by Channel 4,
and that the decision to cancel the talk was, at least in part, because to this serious evidence?

Half the truth

By presenting half the truth, you have enabled Rajapaksa to run head-lines in Sri Lanka‟s intimidated
press, “Pro-Tamil Tiger Diaspora surround the Dorchester. The UK Security Division advises the
President not to leave the Hotel….”.

For a start it is untrue. The photos I have of placards, “Rajapaksa mass murderer go home”, “Stay
around and face arrest for war crimes” etc were carried by „white‟ males. There are no „white‟ Tigers in
the UK, except two, and they are „Tigresses‟. There are no male „white‟ Tigers. Unless the Tiger has
changed its stripes (in this case its colour), they simply could not have been „Tamil Tigers‟. They were
ordinary decent British people whom I know well, who were outraged by the presence of Rajapaksa in
their country.

The cancellation

For the benefit of those to whom this letter is being circulated, let me put to bed the claim (by
Rajapaksa. his cronies and apologists) that the decision to cancel the address was pressure on, or
bribery of, those in the Oxford Union by the expatriate Tamils and the Tamil Tigers. You knew this very
well, but did not mention it in your Press Release. Fortunately the President of your Union, James
Kingston, clarified this in an interview with the Asian Tribune, a well-known mouthpiece of the
Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL), followed by an email inquiry:-

Tribune: What type of protest are you talking about?

Kingston: In the region of 5,000, possibly more.
Tribune: Where?
Kingston: In the Oxford City Centre.
Tribune: Who is going to protest?
Kingston: I believe it is going to be primarily from the Tamil
diaspora in the UK
Tribune: Is it the Tamil Diaspora or the Tamil Tigers?
Kingston: The Tamil Diaspora
Tribune: Have you asked the police for protection?
Kingston: ….we obviously want the President to come and give this speech. ….. without any doubt it
would have been the single largest protest in the Oxford history. It will be the largest protest
seen by the Oxford Police.

6
To give it its full name (and mandate) “The UN Secretary General‟s (UNSG‟s) Panel to “advise him on how
he should be proceeding with the investigation on violation of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law during the
last stages of war on Tamils in 2009”
7
 The interview continues by email.

Tribune: I have told you in my telephone conversation and other office-bearers of the Oxford Union
have been heavily bribed by rump LTTE to cancel this Oxford Union lecture. Your comments
please.
Kingston: The decision to cancel this was made entirely by the Oxford Union. No other groups had
any input whatsoever into this decision. We have accepted no bribes by any groups, nor
indeed have any other political organizations had any influence on our decision.

You see, Mr Walker, when you leave out crucial information such as this, the Sri Lankan government
and its numerous apologists (such as the Asian Tribune) struggling to do some face-saving for
Rajapaksa from the humiliation of this Oxford debacle, will blame others and create all sorts of stories
that are patently untrue. It happens all the time.

All of this is a steep learning-curve for Rajapaksa, an „educational exercise‟ interestingly, but
unintentionally, taught by Oxford. He hopefully will not forget it though he might, because of his
massive ego and unwillingness to learn. It is said that “Those who cannot learn from history are
doomed to repeat it”. I do not think Rajapaksa learns from anything, his fiasco in Oxford will not be the
exception. So I expect „another go‟, if not Oxford, then some other forum because, figuratively
speaking, „I know the beast‟.

Such speculation is unnecessary. Here it is from „the horse‟s mouth‟. A statement released by
President Rajapaksa and quoted by the BBC 7 , said that he was "very sorry" the talk had to be
cancelled, "but I will continue to seek venues in the UK and elsewhere where I can talk about my future
vision for Sri Lanka".

“The Union holds a politically neutral stance …”.

Mr Walker, this has nothing to do with political neutrality but with basic human rights, and now, the
right of the Tamil people to live with equality, dignity and safety in an area they have a right to be in,
and now, to live at all. The inability to live at all constitutes Genocide.

I am using this word as defined in The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide, as “an act to destroy in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious
group”. In Sri Lanka, this „part‟ is the part of the Tamil people who live in the North and the East.
Genocide has nothing to do with the number of people killed. It is the intention, backed by the act(s) to
achieve that intention, which defines „Genocide‟.

Your Union must be familiar with the UN Human Rights Charter (The Universal Declaration of Human
Rights) which is the very basis of human rights. Sri Lanka under a succession of Sinhalese „leaders‟,
has violated every one of the 30 Articles, except one, Article 16 (to do with marriage). Bad as the past
Sri Lankan „leaders‟ have been, your invitee, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is in a class of his own in brutality,
crimes against humanity and blatant lying – or to put it less harshly, „carelessness with the truth‟.

Lying

At the insensitive „celebrations‟ in Colombo to mark the first anniversary of the mass slaughter of
Tamils, with his massive military arsenal on display, the „Tamil conqueror‟, President Rajapaksa, told
his blindly adoring fans in Colombo, that the war he waged to crush the Tamil Tigers (which in reality
meant the Tamil people), was a „humanitarian operation‟ which caused „zero (civilian) casualties‟.
“Humanitarian intervention”, as Rajapaksa claims it was, is the term used by imperial Japan to
describe its bloody invasion of Manchuria, Mussolini to justify seizing Ethiopia, and Hitler when the
Nazis drove into Sunterland8.

Carried away by his own lies, he got into „mega-lies‟, absurdly saying that his „soldiers went to war
with a gun in one hand and the UN Charter of Human Rights in the other‟.

7
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11891866
8
Cited by Noam Chomsky.
8
The lying continued in London. In his interview with The Times UK reporters which I have referred to9,
President Rajapaksa claimed that, “Most of the civilians were killed by the LTTE”.

He went on, “Sri Lanka never killed any civilians as such. Our instructions were, „You must not touch
any civilians. This is a humanitarian operation‟.” He conceded that “one or two civilians might have got
caught in the crossfire”. Then, as if to clinch the argument, he added: “Many of our army officers
trained at Sandhurst10. That is why they will never kill a civilian.”

Gordon Weiss, an Australian, was with the United Nations in Colombo. He resigned from the UN after
14 years and returned to Australia. Speaking to the media11, he said that between 10,000 and 40,000
civilians had died during the final stages of the war. Here is what he said:-

"The Sri Lankan government said many things which were either intentionally misleading, or were
lies".

He said that after the war ended, a senior civil servant openly admitted that the authorities had
deliberately underestimated the number of trapped civilians “as a ploy to allow the government to get
on with its business.” That „business‟ was genocide.

Hitler did exactly the same thing. He coined the „Big Lie‟12 (leaving Joseph Goebbels to polish it up),
and „got on with his business‟ – genocide. The similarities between Hitler and Rajapaka are there for
all to see.

While many Sinhalese, members of my ethnic group, seem to have taken leave of their senses, and
(patriotically) believe the absolute untruths that come with monotonous regularity from Rajapaksa and
his spokesmen, they cannot expect these blatant lies to be believed by the rest of the world. That is
why there will be protests „of sheer size‟, as you put it, when Rajapaksa visits every major country
except China and Russia, which have their own geopolitical and economic agenda in Sri Lanka.

China and Russia

These two countries also have a shameful record of supporting tyrants and dictators. I need hardly tell
you that geopolitics and commercial gains are what are important to China, not human rights. As
such, Rajapaksa will always be welcome there. They can even give him honorary Chinese citizenship
or a position in their Government. He will teach them a thing or two about brutality and mass murder,
for which he has been „honoured‟ recently by a University in Moscow (see below).

China might benefit from all this, vis a vis Tibet (and elsewhere). President Rajapaksa can „teach‟
them what to do there, indeed he can offer to send his brother Gotabaya, Defence Secretary, and
even General Fonseka (making it unnecessary for the Sri Lankan taxpayer to feed him in jail), to do
what they did to the Tamil people. It will be win-win for all, except for the Tibetans and the Sri Lankan
Tamils. A bonus will be if Fonseka is killed in battle (in Tibet), which will make it unnecessary for this
„to happen‟ in Rajapaksa‟s democracy. This will be welcomed, indeed celebrated, by the entire
Rajapaksa junta. As a reward, China might get the whole of Sri Lanka, rather than just (large) chunks
of it!

Similarly Russia. Just recently (6 February 2010), Rajapaksa was awarded a Honoris Causa
„Doctorate‟ from the People‟s Friendship University, previously the Patricia Lumumba University, in
Moscow for his “contribution to world peace (sic) and outstanding success in defeating terrorism”! By
sheer coincidence, on the same day, the Russian Ministry of Finance signed a US $ 300 million credit
line at a ceremony attended by the Russian business community.

9
See reference 1.
10
The Royal Military Academy in Surrey where Officers in the British Army are trained.
11
Australian Broadcasting Corporation‟s highly reputed “Foreign Affairs” program (9 February 2010)
12
Coined by Adolf Hitler, when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf – that a lie if big enough and repeated enough
times, will be believed.

9
Since the mass murder of Tamil civilians has now been recognised as an “outstanding success in
defeating terrorism”, Rajapaksa can provide an invaluable template for Russia to deal with its
„problems‟ in Chechnya and elsewhere. As for a „contribution to world peace‟, yes, provided that the
Tamil people in the North and East of Sri Lanka are not part of this „world‟. Russia too might offer
Rajapaksa, honorary citizenship, not just a doctorate, honoris causa or not.

“….the decision (to invite Mr Rajapaksa) was not made in relation to any aspect of Mr Rajapaksa‟s
political position, the policies of his administration and any allegations against his government”.

Mr Walker, I can clarify Mr Rajapaksa‟s „political position and the policies of his administration‟. There
is no need to get it from him, if only because he will be „careless with the truth‟, as he always is. It is
really quite simple. It is to make multiethnic, multireligious, multilingual, multicultural Sri Lanka into a
Sinhala-Buddhist nation.

The problem he faced was what he could do with the Tamils, 18% of the country. There were four
options –

1. Drive them out of the country. A million have been and thousands more are fleeing as refugees
and asylum seekers. However, there are still some left, so he has to move on with other options.

2. Make them non-people – „internally displaced people‟ (refugees). Nearly half a million are, and
the numbers are not decreasing, President Rajapaksa‟s claims not withstanding.

3. Make them „disappear‟. Rajapaksa‟s Democratic Socialist Republic has the second highest
incidence of involuntary „disappearances‟, second only to Iraq.

Did you want to invite him to Oxford to find out how this is done? You need not have done so,
because it is street-talk in Sri Lanka. A white van with no number plate drives up, the victim is
bundled in, the van drives off, and that‟s it. “Simple, my dear Watson”, as your famous author of
crime and detection said.

Mr Walker, there is a 221 page publication by Human Rights Watch Sri Lanka.
„Disappearances‟ by Security Forces. A National Crisis and Recurring Nightmare. The State
Responsibility for „Disappearances‟. The „State‟ referred to is Rajapaksa‟s Sri Lankan State.

Today, the regime does not even bother to send a „white van‟. People are assassinated in cold
blood, and brazenly. Examples are too numerous. I will cite just two, because they are recent
and disturbing.

On 26 December 2010, Markan Sivalingam, Deputy Director of Education, Jaffna, a Tamil, was
gunned down in his home by armed men. All that he had done was to make a perfectly valid
comment on the outrageous recent decision by President Rajapaksa that the National Anthem
was only to be sung in Sinhala (and not in Tamil too – as has been done for years). Sivalingam
said that the (Tamil) children would not know the meaning of what they were singing. That was
enough of a „crime‟ to warrant assassination.

A month earlier, a Hindu priest in Jaffna was shot dead. Rajapaksa‟s military had announced
that temple bells were not to be tolled on „Heroes Day‟ (November 27th) observed by the Tamils
to remember those who have sacrificed their lives fighting the murderous Sinhalese regime. The
Sri Lankan military warned that there would be “serious consequences” if this was not adhered
to. There was – the assassination of the priest in charge of the temple. For those unfamiliar with
Hindu religious events, temple bells are tolled for all sorts of reasons, something that occurs
throughout the day, whether or not it is „Heroes Day‟.

The assassination is clear evidence that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala-Buddhist country, and a very
intolerant one at that. The gun was identified as belonging to the Sri Lankan Army. Major
General Hathureliya in charge of Jaffna, „apologised‟ for the killing! That‟s it. End of problem.
What surprises me is that there was an apology at all.

4. Kill them. That is genocide – which I have just defined.

10
“…..allegations against his government” – you say

Yes, Mr Walker, that is precisely why there is a growing chorus across the world, demanding a
credible international investigation into these alleged war crimes, which your invitee refused to have,
but prefers to have a bogus Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC).

Amnesty International (AI), your Nobel-Prize winning human rights organisation, the American-based
Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the world renowned Brussels-based International Crisis Group
(ICG), were invited to testify before this Commission, to give it the credibility it sorely lacks. Do you
know what they said? In a joint letter to the Commission (14.10.10), they refused to accept the
invitation because it lacked the ability to advance accountability for war crimes.

They said that they would welcome an opportunity to appear before a genuine, credible effort to
pursue political reconciliation and accountability in Sri Lanka, but that the Commission does not meet
the minimum international standards for Commissions of Inquiry 13 . Yes, Mr Walker, „minimum
standards‟.

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, HRW, wrote, “There is little to be gained by appearing before such
a fundamentally flawed commission. Accountability for war crimes in Sri Lanka demands an
independent international investigation. Thousands of civilians were killed in the last few months of the
war as a result of gross violations of international law by both the government and the LTTE forces.
The Commission is nothing more than a cynical attempt by Sri Lanka to avoid serious inquiry that
would bring genuine accountability”.

Mr Walker, did the Oxford Union know all this? If not, why not? It is a public document, which I
accessed from the net, which you could have too. It would have given some essential information to
your Union if it wanted to know anything about the person being invited. Perhaps you, like the
Rajapaksa junta, could not care less. If so, your credibility, like that of Rajapaksa, is at stake. While he
might have nothing to lose (his credibility being zero), Oxford does have a lot to lose. Your Union
simply cannot get into the moral gutter with the likes of Rajapaksa. If you do, protest we must, and
will. That can be the „take-home message‟ to your Union.

“As the President of Sri Lanka for the last five years…”

No, Mr Walker, he is not the President of Sri Lanka. He is the King of Sri Lanka and fancies himself
as such. There was an ancient Sinhalese King called Dutugemunu who fought a Tamil King, and killed
him. Rajapaksa who hails from the same area as did Dutugemunu – the „deep South‟, fancies himself
as the modern Dutugemunu, a reincarnation. That is why he arranged for larger-than-life cardboard
cut-outs of Dutugemunu and himself to be paraded in Colombo. Yes, he is a „card-board King‟, but a
„King‟ nonetheless.

When the ruler is a king, there are no citizens; only subjects. Subjects are bound to obey the king
unquestioningly, since monarchical infallibility was a belief that premised absolute monarchies.

The clear intention of this megalomaniac family is to rule Sri Lanka for decades. This will be achieved
by manipulating the Constitution, by eliminating any opposition, silencing criticism, and unleashing
whatever State violence is necessary on the populace, irrespective of ethnicity. What is of concern is
that Rajapaksa is getting away with all this, as is President Omar al-Basheer (Sudan) and President
Mugabe (Zimbabwe). The UN, for all its „expressions of concern‟ is not going to act. That is why we
must, and will.

The much-trumpeted „National Reconciliation‟ in Sri Lanka is not even on the distant horizon of this
smiling assassin of the Tamil people, his meaningless rhetoric notwithstanding. The rhetoric is only for
foreign consumption. The reality is utter contempt for the Tamil people, and crushing them – by
committing genocide if necessary.

13
http://www.hrw.org/node/93600
11
I have recently written an detailed article, “Why National Reconciliation in Sri Lanka is not possible”. It
is on the net14. A recent decision by President Rajapaksa confirms this. As I have said, he declared
that the Sri Lankan National Anthem will only be sung in Sinhalese (and not in Tamil too, as has been
done all these years). This, despite a Constitutional Amendment which made Sinhala and Tamil the
Official Languages of Sri Lanka. What „National Reconciliation‟ is he talking about?

Rule for ever

As for the reference to the duration of his rule, yes, it is five years (so far), but be assured that the aim
is that it will be forever. The evidence for this is that Rajapaksa has just altered the Sri Lankan
Constitution, the 18th Amendment, rushed through Parliament as an „urgent bill‟, to make life-long rule
a certainty.

Waiting in the wings to take over from him is son, Namal, a law student, who can throw away law
since his future is cast in concrete – „President Namal Rajapkasa‟. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is
clearly following your own Royal Family of lineal heritage. I am told that the brown shawl he and his
family wear is only worn by the Rajapaksa Royalty – just like the Tiara or Crown worn by your Royal
Family. I cannot check this out myself, since I have not been able to return to Sri Lanka since 1984. I
can return, but it will be a one way trip.

If you and the Union do not rock the Rajapaksa boat too much and if you „co-operate‟ with him, the
„King” might send you a Royal invitation for a jumbo delegation from Oxford to holiday in that blood-
drenched island on a quid pro quo basis. My worry about his „generosity‟ is that the Sri Lankan
taxpayer will have to pay for your jaunt.

“…the Union felt that Mr Rajapaksa would provide a unique insight into the political climate of the
region in his speech”.

For sure he could have. He could have provided a unique way of committing Genocide with no
witnesses. Never has this been done anywhere in the world, and worryingly, it will be a template for
other mass murderers to adopt, something that is already happening. Does that worry you? It must.

Export of State Terrorism

Equally worrying is the export of State Terrorism. The Army Chief, Lieutenant General Jagath
Jayasuriya, has recently said, “After the war ended, many countries have requested us to share some
of our strategies with them. They want us to share our experience with them.” He is therefore inviting
the heads of the military and defence establishments in 54 countries to a 3-day forum in Colombo on
31 May 2011.

The „strategy‟ that the Army Commander refers to is predicated upon committing massive war crimes.
Starting in late January 2009, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces encouraged hundreds of thousands of
civilians to move into ever smaller government-declared “No Fire Zones” and then subjected them to
repeated and increasingly intensive artillery and mortar fire, and aerial bombing. This continued till
May despite the Government and Armed Forces knowing the size and location of the civilian
population and the scale of the civilian casualties.

The question is whether the slaughter of thousands of non-combatants is an acceptable „strategy‟. If

there is a credible criminal investigation into war crimes, and if that results in the arrest and trial of the
accused, other regimes might think twice before they adopt such a mass-atrocity measure to deal with
a rebellion.

Genocide without witnesses

Mr Walker, you might not know that 12 September 2008, is a crucial day in Sri Lankan, if not World,
history. That was the day the Rajapaksa junta ordered all humanitarian workers, including
international organisations (and even those of the UN), to leave the conflict zone in the North and the

14
http://www.sangam.org/2010/07/Reconciliation.php?uid=4018

12
East. 13 Aid groups that were providing emergency food aid, clean water, sanitation and medical aid
to 200,000 people living in refugee camps and under trees, were ordered to leave, and they left.

Mass slaughter of civilians

Then started the bombing, shelling and mass murder of civilians – men, women and children, refugee
camps, hospitals, the lot, including the government‟s own so-called „no-fire zone‟ which was the very
opposite of what it was claimed to be. That is how Genocide is done without witnesses. Is that what
you wanted to hear from „the horse‟s mouth‟?

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Mr Walker, I can suggest a better person for that – President Mahinda Rajapaksa‟s brother, Defence
Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. I do not want to plant dangerous ideas in your head, lest they take
root and „bear fruit‟, but he can provide a “unique insight (as you put it) into the political climate of the
region” (and more).

He is the man who directed the war, shot by shot, bomb by bomb, murder by murder, rape by rape,
creating not a flood, but a torrent, of human rights abuses and crimes against humanity. He was
certainly responsible, as the all-powerful Secretary of Defence who gave the orders to the military.
There is now evidence from that Nobel-Prize deserving15 Australian, Julian Assange, and WikiLeaks,
of some of the orders given by this man and others in the Rajapaksa regime. It is a very worrying leak.
Look it up as part of your „home work‟. Rest assured, there will be more, even if Assange is silenced.

Bombing of Hospitals

Gotabaya Rajapaksa in a TV interview in your country, stated unequivocally that hospitals are
legitimate targets to be bombed. His interview is in my dvds. Here is a small part of this, which will be
important when this American citizen is finally rounded up and charged with crimes against humanity
committed in Sri Lanka.

Yes, Mr Walker, Gotabaya Rajapaksa is an American citizen. However, I have heard that he has
recently given up this American citizenship presumably to lessen the chance of being prosecuted in
America for the crimes against humanity committed in Sri Lanka. Be that as it may, he has already put
a noose round his own neck:-

Reporter: “Aid agencies said that a hospital packed with wounded has been repeatedly shelled, killing
some patients, injuring many more. The Defence Secretary told us that right now everything is a
legitimate target”.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, “Nothing should exist beyond the no fire zone” (there was, in fact, no such
zone).
The
incredulous Reporter : “Even if the hospital is operating ……it is a legitimate target?”

Gotabaya Rajapaksa: “Yes. No hospital should operate…”

Mr Walker, this man was in the Sri Lankan Army, and left some years ago, for greener pastures in Los
Angeles, USA, took up US citizenship, and was, among other jobs, running a „7/11 Store‟ there.(How
he earned enough to get a multimillion dollar mansion, is unknown, perhaps good luck. Or was it a
Lottery ticket? I guess it was – a lottery ticket of sorts drawn by the Sri Lankan voters in their
stupidity). Election to power in Sri Lanka is not a mandate to run the country, but to plunder it as much
as possible, while the going is good. And the going will be good for a long time for this lot.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka, in effect, to run the country. Running a 7/11 store is
somewhat different from running a country. Not surprisingly, he has no idea of the Geneva
Conventions, and could not care less if what he said and did was in violation of them.

15
Interestingly, this suggestion, which I fully endorse, came from the office of the President of Russia.
13
The 1st Geneva Convention states:
“Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service, may in no circumstances be
attacked, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict”

The 4th Geneva Convention, Article 18, “Civilian hospitals organised to give care to the wounded and
sick, the infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstance be the object of attack, and shall at all
times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict”.

Sri Lanka signed the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, Geneva Conventions and signed and ratified the 4th, by
accession to it on 23 February 1959. So, Mr Walker, the Rajapaksa junta is in violation of these
important International Conventions. Did you know that? Or are you on a steep learning curve?

Killing Tamil and Muslim civilians

As has been mentioned, the Sri Lankan Armed Forces repeatedly attacked Tamil and Muslim civilians
trapped in the conflict zone, using multibarrel rocket launchers, helicopter gun ships and even Kfir jets
and bombers, firing into the government‟s own “no-fire zone” and targetting even hospitals and
refugee camps.

With nowhere to go, and with witnesses excluded from the area, the causalities were staggering.
Although the UN estimated that at least 7,000 civilians were slaughtered between January and May
2008, the International Crisis Group compiled evidence of the killing of an estimated 30,000 to 75,000
people.

There has recently been some disturbing evidence put before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission by the Catholic Diocese in Mannar.16 This is a very important document that must be
read. It states that Government records show that there were 429,059 people in the Vanni17 in early
October 2008. The UN OCHA18 update of 10 July 2009 states that the total number of people who
came out of the Vanni to government-controlled area was 282,380. This leaves a staggering 146,679
people unaccounted for.

Even after the end of the slaughter, when there were thousands of injured and dying, desperately in
need of help, even aid organisations were not allowed into the area – presumably to enable the
government to destroy evidence that would have shown the magnitude of the killing – “mopping up
operations” as the Army put it.

It takes about 6-7 hours to burn a body to ash. So it takes time to burn 75,000 - 146,000 bodies. I
gather that the GoSL moved in mobile furnaces, such as what Hitler used, so that the home-grown
Hitlers in Sri Lanka could speed things up. I have no information as to how this went since
independent observers are still not allowed into the area. Has anyone asked Rajapaksa the
justification for this exclusion? He will, of course, find some reason and say that there are still Tamil
Tiger „terrorists in the area. One simply cannot win with these people, they can „explain‟ anything.

Bombing and shelling are not the only way to commit genocide. You can starve them, deny medicines
and medical help – the possibilities are endless. The Sri Lankan government is guilty of all of these.

Concentration camps

Do you know what happened to the thousands of civilians (Tamil and Muslim, men, women and
children) who survived the slaughter? They were herded into „concentration camps‟ in violation of
International Conventions and Sri Lanka‟s own Laws and Constitution. Guess how many? A
staggering 279,263 people in 40 camps, according to the UN.

16
Submission by the Catholic Diocese of Mannar to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission 6
January 2011, signed by
Rt. Rev. Dr.Rayappu Joseph, Catholic Bishop of Mannar, Very Rev. Fr. Victor Sosai, Vicar General of Diocese
of Mannar, Rev.Fr. Xavier Croos, Representative of the Priests Forum of Mannar.
17
Vanni - four large provinces in the North held by the Tamil Tigers for a decade.
18
OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

14
 Mr Walker, some 25,000 are still there, almost two years after being put there, held illegally behind
razor-wire fences, guarded by the military, and held without charge or trial. They are the „forgotten
people of Sri Lanka‟. Their crime? To be born Tamil, in the North and East, where they had a right to
be born, since it is their home.

In addition, there are thousands of people, allegedly ex-combatants, held without charge or trial. A
senior Minister in Rajapaksa‟s Cabinet, D.E.W. Gunasekera (Human resources) interviewed on 1
August 201019 said that there were 7,000 ex-combatants in custody out of an initial 12,000 at the end
of the war. The rest were (claimed) to have been „rehabilitated and released‟. He said that there were
1,100 „hardcore Tigers‟. However he told another newspaper20 that only 700 could be charged. The
unanswered question is what is the justification for holding the rest ie 6,300 (7,000 minus 700) people
in custody if after 15 months of detention, there is no evidence to charge them?

Here is the arithmetic of the detention of ex-combatants:

Total number arrested and detained 12,000

„Rehabilitated and released‟ 5,000
Continuing in detention 7,000
To be charged 700
Held in detention without any evidence 6,300

Is that acceptable? Well, it contravenes several International Conventions21 signed by Sri Lanka, and
Sri Lanka‟s own Laws and Constitution.

General Fonseka

You want a „unique insight‟. Here is one you will not get from President Rajapaksa, or if you do, it will
be far from the truth. It is an „insight‟ into the legal system. General Fonseka, who „won‟ the war i.e.
crushed the Tamils, for Rajapaksa, made a fatal error. After the end of the war, he decided to contest
Rajapaksa for the Presidency. Worse still, he said that he would testify in any International Criminal
Court, that the orders to commit some of the most serious war-crimes (executing Tamils who had
surrendered) came from Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary of Defence, his immediate boss, and the
step up from there, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is not only the Executive President with
sweeping powers, but is also the Minister of Defence and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Force. That was game, set and match for him.

On some fictitious charge, Fonseka was „tried‟ by a Rajapaksa-picked military „Court‟, convicted and
jailed. He has been stripped of his awards, chest-full of medals and, in time will be deprived of his seat
in parliament, a seat he won from jail!

More „insights‟ in my dvds

You will find the “unique insights” you are looking for, in my dvds. They set out Rajapaksa‟s dictatorial
and murderous agenda, and the „nature of the beast(s)‟ that crushed the Tamil people, and
dismantled democracy, replacing it with a Totalitarian State. The last of these dvds, Sri Lanka.
Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, Violation of International Law has enough evidence to convict
the lot.

It also has an interview with one of your outstanding lawyers, Australian-born Geoffrey Robertson QC,
a leading British silk, who spelt out what steps could be taken to charge those responsible for war
crimes. It is important that you see this before you (or others of your ilk), go down this same path and
invite Rajapaksa for yet another meeting. Do you want a copy of my dvd for your Union?

One possibility is the International Criminal Court (ICC) but Sri Lanka is not a member. It will take an
Act by the Security Council to grant the ICC the jurisdiction to investigate. That will certainly be

19
Sunday Observer newspaper
20
Divaina 15 September 2010
21
UN Refugee Convention, UN Human Rights Convention, and even the UN Rights of the Child (since there
are children being held in detention without charge or trial)
15
blocked by China and Russia. There are, however, other possibilities that can be used to look into
this, as Mr Robertson explains in the interview I have referred to.

“…the Union wishes to apologise to our members”.

It will be more appropriate if the Union apologises to the Tamil (and Muslim) people in the North and
East of Sri Lanka who have been brutalised, tortured, raped and murdered by the Armed Forces
under President Rajapaksa, his brother, Gotabaya, Defence Secretary, and the Army Commander
Sarath Fonseka.

It is important to appreciate “Command Responsibility” 22 („Yamashita Standard‟23) – the hierarchical

accountability in cases of war crimes. Those in the „chain of command‟ all the way to the top, can be
charged. It is our duty to see that they are.

The future

Mr Walker, before you and others of your ilk go down this disastrous road and offer tyrants and mass
murderers an international platform to build up their ego, lie and mislead the international community, I
really should „educate‟ you. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of time, with some urgent issues that I
have to address such as the future of the Tamil people, dismantling the Rajapaksa tyranny, and the
outrageous treatment of asylum seekers/refugees, by my country, Australia.

I have set out the dreadful treatment of asylum seekers in detail24, focussing on Australia‟s outrageous
record, but the same applies to several other countries, including yours. Asylum-seekers are
desperate people fleeing murderous regimes in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, getting into
leaking boats, many of which sink to the bottom of the Indian Ocean (the „Indian Ocean Solution‟ to
the refugee problem), or reach Australia to be locked up in prison like criminals. This disgraceful
handling of a major humanitarian crisis is a violation of the UN Refugee Convention, signed by
Australia. Rajapaksa claims that they do not need to leave his „back-to-normal‟ country which is
another lie.

This is important since if Australia gets away with it, Canada, your country, the UK, and others, will do
the same. This is already happening.

With all these problems to be addressed, I have little time to „walk you through‟ the Sri Lankan crisis to
„educate‟ you. However, there is detailed information in a dozen, yes, twelve, dvds recorded by me
which I will be glad to send your Union if it helps to prevent another debacle. The only reason for
wasting my time and energy trying to educate you and your Union, is that should Rajapaksa reappear
in Oxford, your Union would know what questions should be raised – not that I really believe that they
will be.

The Sri Lankan Armed Forces

Rajapaksa‟s Armed Forces have gone from 175,000 during the war, to 230,000 after the war ended,
and now a call to increase it to 300,000. This is by far, the largest army per capita of population or
land area, in the world. Why double the army if the war has been won, as Rajapaksa claims? It is to
run a Totalitarian State. There can be no other reason since Sri Lanka has no external enemies. The
„enemies‟ are its own people – the „minority‟ Tamils (for years), and now that they have been crushed,
the majority Sinhalese (from my ethnic group) who dare to question what this Totalitarian regime is
doing. That is how Totalitarian regimes function. You will see a clear parallel with those of Hitler,
Mussolini, Stalin and others of their ilk.

22
Additional Protocol 1 of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, Article 86(2): “a breach of the Conventions…by a
subordinate does not absolve his superiors from…responsibility”.
23
Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita prosecuted in 1945 in the US for atrocities committed by his troops in the
Philippines, and found guilty by a US Military Commission. He appealed, but it was affirmed by the US Supreme Court. He
was sentenced to death and executed.
24
Sri Lankan and Afghan Asylum seekers. Australia‟s political football
http://www.tamilcanadian.com/tc_images/world/aus/asylum_seekers_brian.pdf

16
 The problem has been compounded by 50,000 Army deserters, who have quit the army with their
weapons and are now running amok in the South and elsewhere in the country, terrorising people,
robbing them, committing rape and all manner of dreadful things. It is a problem that is going to get
worse. It is taking Sri Lanka down a hugely dangerous path. It is also not going to sit well with the
tourists, especially when they are held up at gunpoint.

Mr Walker, is your Union aware that there is a major military presence (99% Sinhalese) in the former
war zone, the homeland of the Tamils, and that this military presence is continuing at war time levels?
This is „liberation‟ of the Tamil people from „the clutches‟ of the Tamil Tiger „terrorists‟. The reality on
the ground is that these unfortunate people, thousands of them, are now under the jack-boot of a
ruthless Army, that regards them, their lands and their property, as „the spoils of war‟. It is an „Army of
Occupation‟ and behaves as such, subjecting the people to intimidation, extortion, rape, and every
human rights violation in the UN charter. This is „liberation‟ Rajapaksa/Fonseka-style.

George Bush says that, “You‟re either with us, or you are with the terrorists”. We say, “No thank you.
We do not need to chose between a malevolent Mickey Mouse and the Mad Mullahs”. Mahinda
Rajapaksa echoes Bush saying, ”There are no minorities in Sri Lanka, only those who love the
country and those who do not”. We say, “No, President Rajapaksa, you do not know your country.
There are minorities. Unless you treat them with equality, dignity and in a manner respectful of their
basic human rights, protest we must, and will”. Mr Rajapaksa will have to be told that what he faced in
London when he tried to get to your meeting in Oxford, was only a sample. More will follow

Pograms – not a „civil war‟

There is a widely held misconception that there has been a „civil war‟ in Sri Lanka. Not so. What there
has been is a series of increasingly virulent pogroms against the Tamil people by the Sinhala State,
resulting in a degeneracy of Sinhala society and a rapid descent into barbarism. All this has been
achieved in the name of the Sinhalese and of Buddhism (my mother‟s religion) by the concerted
action of politicians, political opportunists, their armed thugs, and politically active yellow-robed
hoodlums who are a disgrace to one of the greatest teachers of Peace the world has ever known,
Gautama Buddha.

Tamil lands sold

There is a „fire-sale‟ going on in Sri Lanka. The country is being divided up and sold to China in
particular, India, and others, who want to get a foothold in this geographically crucial island astride the
Indian Ocean. That is the name of the game.

Most of the land that is being „generously‟ sold by the Sri Lankan government, is in the Tamil area and
belongs to the Tamil (and Muslim) people. The Sinhalese government is stealing Tamil lands for
geopolitical and economic gains. You will not get any of this from Rajapaksa or his cronies – all of
them notorious liars and twisters of the truth.

Geopolitics

Just a bit of geopolitics which you and your Union members might not have been taught by your
tutors, but is crucial to know if your
declared claim is genuine, “.. the Union felt that Mr Rajapaksa would provide a unique insight into the
political climate of the region”.
China‟s „String of Pearls‟

It is the international geopolitical

dimension of all this. This was set
out by US Admiral, Alfred Mahan,
a hundred years ago, when he
said, “Whoever controls the
Indian Ocean, dominates Asia”.
That, Mr Walker, is because 40%
of the World‟s oil production
occurs in countries that share the
17
Indian Ocean, it carries 70% of the world‟s oil shipments and 50% of the world‟s container cargo. So
to get a foothold in Sri Lanka is crucial for those who want to control the Indian Ocean and dominate
Asia i.e China, India and the US, among others. It is a capitalist agenda. Human rights of defenceless
people are being sacrificed on the altar of International capitalism, and Rajapaksa is exploiting this to
the full.

If you are confused, today China is one of the leading capitalist countries, no different from America. I
have been there. To call China a „communist country‟ is a joke.

Christopher Pehrson, Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S.Army War College, who in July 2006,
published a paper, String of Pearls: Meeting the challenge of China‟s rising power across the Asian
littoral. This is a publication of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code,
section 101. As such, it is in the public domain. You could have accessed it, as I did.

These „Pearls‟ are military bases to guard the oil supply from China‟s oil suppliers in the Middle East,
to oil consumers in energy-hungry China, and manufactured goods going the other way round. Sri
Lanka is one of the “Pearls” That is why China is in bed with Rajapaksa, and has funded and supplied
the weapons for him to crush his people and then to be sold (at nominal prices), large chunks of the
island.

One of these (many) Chinese „projects‟ is the nearly completed Hambantota Port, airport to follow, in
the „deep South‟, astride the Indian Ocean, and well-suited for monitoring „activities‟. Hambantota was
a tiny fishing village in Rajapaksa‟s political power base, when I was in Sri Lanka. It has now been
taken over by the Chinese and converted into a major Port for use, essentially by the Chinese Navy,
although the pretence is otherwise. Sri Lanka is effectively paying for this white elephant and the
Chinese are laughing all the way back to China.

The local people are out of luck, since the Chinese have even brought their labourers (some of them
criminals spending their jail-time as half-paid labourers in Sri Lanka). I was relieved to hear that they
brought their own prostitutes, which, hopefully, will spare the local girls and women. Unfortunately,
they do believe that „variety is the spice of life‟ as evidenced by what I saw in Indonesia, in similar
Chinese „projects‟.

A different type of prostitution, and infinitely more dangerous, is what I can best describe as
„international prostitution‟, that Rajapaksa is exploiting with a vengeance. His line to Russia is, “Sri
Lanka is now in bed with China. Make a bigger offer or you will be out of the equation”. This, of
course, is impossible since the Russian economy is far inferior to China‟s. His line to India is, “We are
in bed with China which you do not like, but we can make it much worse by getting into bed with the
US, the IMF in particular”. The IMF is not in the USA, it is the USA, from where Rajapaksa has just
obtained a loan for US$ 2.6 billion, President Obama‟s empty rhetoric notwithstanding. The IMF has
never worried about the suffering of ordinary people in the country to which it gives „aid‟.

You should have been taught all this (I mean the control of the Indian Ocean, the IMF „loans‟ and their
dreadful effects on people, China‟s “String of Pearls”, not the part about Chinese prostitutes) in
Oxford. Perhaps your tutors are not doing what they are supposed to be doing and you have to get
this information from Rajapaksa, of all people, with his blatant lies uttered without batting an eyelid.

Humanitarian crisis

I will now deal with the humanitarian crisis in Rajapaksa‟s Sri Lanka, which he is struggling to hide.

The vast majority of the Tamil and Muslim half-million refugees, „Internally Displaced People‟, if you
are more comfortable with the term, have not been resettled with even basic facilities or minimal
compensation. Many have had no compensation at all for the damage willfully done by their
government.

They have no place to stay. At best, they have been given a couple of tin sheets and a tarpaulin. This
is far from adequate to cope with the weather.

18
Right now, as the north-east monsoon lashes the area, the occupants of these „dwellings‟ are getting
drenched. The sanitary situation is dreadful. There is no clean water since the wells have been
destroyed. The toilets which Rajapaksa has graciously provided for the refugees, which are just holes
in the ground, are overflowing, and maggots and faeces are drifting into the camps. I am sorry to spoil
your Christmas-eve dinner, Mr Walker, but there are men, women and children waist deep in this
sewage. One of the Sri Lankan newspapers carried a headline, “Refugees swimming in faeces”. I do
have a photograph of this, which is in my dvd.

As I write, the entire Tamil East, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi and several other areas have
been devastated by floods. Even with the powers that Mahinda Rajapaksa has, I do not expect him to
stop the flooding, but it is his responsibility to do something about the consequences. I gather that
some 365,000 people (mainly Tamils) are affected.

Had Rajapaksa come to Oxford, would you have asked him about this? I doubt that you would have,
even if you had seen the photographs I have been sent by desperate people, Sinhalese, I might add,
who are deeply concerned about an outbreak of typhoid and cholera which will wipe these people,
even before Rajapaksa does so. Mr Walker, Rajapaksa will not tell you all this, you have to get it from
„traitors‟ such as myself.

„Karuna‟

Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, „Karuna‟, is a former LTTE commander who had committed some
dreadful atrocities including the execution of several hundred Sinhalese policemen who had
surrendered to him. He quit the LTTE and joined the Rajapaksa regime. He was sent to the UK on a
false diplomatic passport issued on the orders of Gotabaya Rakapaksa, arrested by the British police,
charged with fraud, convicted and jailed by your Courts in London.

Sent back to Sri Lanka at the request of the GoSL, on arrival was promptly rewarded with a Ministerial
position, Deputy Minister of „Rehabilitation‟. Amnesty International‟s comment was scathing – Sri
Lanka: Karuna‟s presence in Parliament a travesty of justice.25

Mr Karuna comes from Batticaloa which is his feudal empire. He sent two tonnes of relief material for
distribution among the people there – or so he claimed. This was handed over, not to the civil
authority (as it should have been) but to the Armed Forces! No prizes for guessing - the Sri Lankan
Army appropriated (stole) most of this and distributed it to the (Sinhalese) soldiers in the Army Camps
in Kudumpimalai (in the East). What has Rajapaksa or Karuna done about this? Nothing. That is
„rehabilitation‟ and „relief‟ Sri Lankan style.

Aid to Sri Lanka

I am not talking of war-times, I am talking of the ground realities today (in December 2010). Mr
Walker, it is important that people such as yourself who can ask the necessary question from
Rajapaksa (but don‟t), and more importantly, the aid agencies that provide this aid, know all this and
appreciate that aid to Sri Lanka handed over to the GoSL, is aid down the drain. This includes the aid
given to the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. 70% of the tsunami damage was done to the Tamil East and
North East, but received only 20% of the funds sent from abroad. The rest went to the „deep South‟,
Rajapaksa‟s political base, some of it even ending up in the pockets of his cronies, not to mention
members of his family (which he tacitly admitted by paying it back when legal action was about to be
taken for fraud. He claimed it was a „mistake‟!) Corruption and maladministration are at crisis levels in
Sri Lanka. That will have to be addressed before any „relief‟ is given, or the relief will have to be
delivered by the aid-givers, not by the Rajapaksa regime.

Tamils held iin prison without charge or trial

In addition, there are thousands of Tamil prisoners held without charge or trial in prisons all over the
country, such as in Welikada in Colombo, Bogambara in Kandy, Jaffna, Batticaloa, Vavuniya,
Anuradhapura etc. There are large numbers in completely illegal detention centres (prisons) outside
the regular prisons, such as the massive one in Boosa in the South and Omanthai in the North. All of

25
www.amnesty.org/.../sri-lanka-karuna‟s-presence-parliament-travesty-justice- 20081007
19
these people, citizens of Sri Lanka, are being held without charge or trial, let alone a conviction, with
no access to lawyers, ICRC26 and the National Human Rights Commission.

There is no centralised list of the detainees being held, for their relatives to even know where they are.

They are held under the dreadful “Emergency Regulations‟ or the notorious „Prevention of Terrorism
Act (PTA)‟ both if which override the normal laws of the country. If the war has been won, as
Rajapaksa claims, what is the „Emergency‟? If the „terrorists‟ have been eliminated, as Rajapaksa
claims, why is the PTA still in force? He cannot have it both ways.

Excluding Tamils

The „High Security Zone”, imposed by Rajapaksa‟s clique, is preventing people from generating their
incomes from lands they own, while outsiders (Sinhalese from the South, including and especially,
Sinhalese soldiers, and, God forbid, even Chinese), are being settled in the area that belongs to the
Tamils. These moves will drastically alter the demographic composition of the Tamil North and East,
the electoral consequences being to exclude Tamil representation and make the Tamils a „voiceless
people‟.

The involvement of the Security Forces in civil administration and public affairs is creating major
problems in the resumption of a civil administration.

Local Tamil youths have been totally ignored in appointments even as minor employees in
Government institutions in the North and East. This anti-Tamil discrimination is what led to the
problem in the first place some 50 years ago. It is now being pursued again with renewed vigour as
never before. What do you think the consequences are likely to be? Mr Walker, do you see why the
Tamils in your country turned up in thousands to protest against Mr Rajapaksa‟s visit? Rest assured,
these will continue.

President Rajapaksa – the Human Rights activist

If I have not shocked you already, let me do so now by telling you that Mahinda Rajapaksa, believe it
or not, was a human rights activist. Indeed, the first, and hopefully the last, time I came across him
was in a UN Human Rights meeting in Geneva, where he had commendably come to express his
concerns. Much water has since flowed under the bridge.

Rajapaksa is an excellent example of what Barack Obama referred to in his famous speech in Cairo
(4 June 2009):

“…there are those who advocate democracy when they are out of power: once in power they are
ruthless in suppressing the rights of others”.

My stance

My own actions have been guided by John Reith (Lord Reith), the Founder of your BBC, who said,
“There are some people whom it is one‟s duty to offend!” For some inexplicable reason, more than my
fair share of such people have come my way in the past 79 years. The top of this dreadful list is, most
certainly, Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Totalitarian Supremo of Sri Lanka – invited by you to address your
Oxford Union.

„Hard Talk‟ – a suggestion

Talking of the BBC, why don‟t you in the Oxford Union exert the considerable clout you have (or have
had in the past) and explore the possibility of getting BBC Hard Talk to interview President
Rajapaksa? He might do better than brother Gotabaya did in his disastrous appearance on the BBC.
Gotabaya put a noose round his own neck regarding war crimes. President Rajapaksa might be able
to remove that noose from his brother‟s neck and put it round that of General Fonseka.

26
International Committee of the Red Cross
20
The worrying possibility is of Hard Talk then putting Fonseka in the hot seat, and he will predictably
remove the noose and put it round Rajapaksa‟s neck.

This series of Hard Talk comedies will be far more entertaining than anything that has come out of
your country. More importantly, it might be crucially important for those of us who simply want to know
the truth.

This highly desirable event might, of course, be entirely theoretical since President Rajapaksa, for all
his bravado, will think twice about appearing before these well-informed Media people, and his
advisers in Bell Pottinger will urge him not to attend. However, I still have enough faith in Rajapaksa‟s
arrogance to believe that he will tell his advisors to go to hell and that the „Lion of Sri Lanka‟, the
„World‟s Most Important Politician‟, and one who has „Nothing To Hide‟, can take on anyone and „win‟,
indeed triumph.

A ray of hope

Mr Walker, you might not realise that the recent events in the Tunisia and Egypt are a ray of hope for
Sri Lanka. This was recently pointed out in an in a Sri Lankan newspaper 27 by a Sinhalese
columnist28, no less. It is so important that I will quote substantial parts of this outstanding article, titled
„Recipe for Revolution‟. My additions are in parenthesis.

“Tunisia is proof that revolutions can happen. Egypt is proof that it can spread (not just in the Arab
world but elsewhere, including Sri Lanka). Throughout the Arab world, aging dictatorships are being
challenged by young people simply marching in the streets….they seem to be succeeding. (They will
be challenged, not just in the „Arab world‟. And will succeed, not just in the „Arab world‟ but elsewhere,
since if the problem is similar the solution will be the same).

“It takes young men to fight wars, it also takes young people to stage revolutions. In the 1970s and
„80s, Sri Lanka had a mass of young people that launched not one but multiple insurrections”. (Yes,
both Sinhalese and Tamil youths in separate insurrections).

“In Tunisia, Egypt and Iran, there are masses of young people who have not yet been brought into the
system. Indeed, many have never been offered a job.” (So also in Sri Lanka).

“When governments can pay them off with oil revenues, they can survive, but many Arab
governments either don‟t have or mismanaged oil money. These governments are now finding
themselves subject to revolt”. (Sri Lanka has no oil, and the revenue –from tea and aid – is being
squandered by a totally corrupt and incompetent regime).

“….modern revolutions…are efficiently coordinated via social networks like Twitter and Facebook and
cellular technology like SMS. While aging dictators have been adept at censoring mainstream media
and obstructing public assembly, they have been slow to crack down on social media. by the time they
do, like Egypt shutting off Internet, it is often too late”.(This has happened in Sri Lanka where the
mainstream media has been extensively censored, and some Tamil websites such as Tamilnet shut
down).

“What is being coordinated is a piercing of the veil, the illusion of power that dictators must maintain”
(The Sri Lankan dictatorship is, most certainly, maintaining an „illusion of power‟ which is already
beginning to show cracks).

“All they can do is set a few symbolic and suitably violent example control the media and perpetuate
that illusion that their strength is unbreakable”. (All of this has been done in Sri Lanka). “They can also
use the tools of democracy to perpetuate illusion…”.(I am just putting together a paper on the
dismantling of democracy by a succession of Sinhalese regimes using the tools of democracy.)

“… however, they cannot coerce large masses if they simply walk onto the streets” (That is what now
needs to happen in Sri Lanka, and it will).

27
Sunday Leader 30 January 2011
28
Indica Samarajiva
21
“Underneath all of these is also a common thread….The protesters are more broadly calling for
democratic representation, jobs and better economic prospects”. (and the Tamil youths, an end to
discrimination and to free the area they live in from the stranglehold of developmental power which
has been in Sinhalese hands since „day one‟).

“…if a nation can‟t provide jobs for a growing youth population, they should brace for trouble”. (The
Rajapaksa regime is too stupid to see this and feel that because it militarily crushed the Tamil revolt
with massive military power, the same can be done to any other revolt. Such „success‟ is unlikely. As
Obama rightly said in his address in Cairo which I have referred to, “Suppressing ideas never
succeeds in making them go away”).

“The trend spread by the Tunisian revolution seems to be that coordinated youth protests can
destabilise governments without the resources to pay them (or a large military) off. (Sri Lanka is
almost bankrupt, with an illusion of prosperity. The military is, in fact, growing at an alarming rate.)

“The general algorithm is that human rights abuses can fuel protest by a coordinated opposition,
especially if the government doesn‟t have the power to project power nationally, and if there has been
unrest in the past”. (Sri Lanka fits this perfectly). “It seems the recipe for revolution can be made at
home. (It sure can be, and will be).

This mass uprising of people, led by the youth, but strongly supported by ordinary people who are
facing escalating problems simply to survive under brutal, corrupt, despotic regimes, will spread, as is
already happening in Libya, Iran, Bahrain, Morocco, and Algeria. Sri Lanka will not be the exception.

Waiting to happen

What is now needed is a rising up of the youths (Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim) who simply want a job
and a fair deal, an end to corruption, the „high life‟ of a privileged few, good governance and the end to
a fascist dictatorship. These are the same demands that operated in Tunisia and Egypt, and now in
Yemen, Libya, Bahrain. Iran, Algeria, and Morocco. These are problems faced by thousands of
citizens who have endured intolerable living conditions for years. As such, the support of masses of
ordinary people will be assured.

Such a „revolution‟ will most certainly be put down, as is currently happening in Yemen, Bahrain,
Libya, Iran, and Algeria, with more to come. The barbaric Sri Lankan regime will not be the exception.
However, it is simply not possible to mow down thousands of people who are simply walking on to the
streets. The eyes of the world will be on any attempt at a mass killing of unarmed people, as it was in
Egypt.

What about the Army? The Sri Lankan Army is split down the middle, thanks to President Rajapaksa
jailing (ex-)General Sarath Fonseka, who still has substantial support from the Armed Forces. It is
possible, but unlikely, that the Army will fire on protesting youths, especially if they are Sinhalese, and
have a reason to protest. All this was seen in Egypt.

So Mr Walker, your invitee seems to be sailing into rough weather.

In conclusion, I will raise one (hypothetical) question, and make a suggestion – a challenge if you like
– to the Oxford Union.

1. What if the proposed meeting went ahead?

In answering this question, there is a problem. On what topic did you ask Rajapaksa to address your
Union? What was his brief, or was there a brief at all? Was it a „blank cheque‟ such as:

“To President Rajapaksa – an invitation to address the Oxford Union on any subject, and to set the
ground rules. For example, no „uncomfortable‟ questions allowed, there must be nodding of heads in
agreement with what is said, there will only be cheering but no jeering, well known trouble-makers,
undesirables, and traitors (and, of course, Tamil Tigers) must be denied admission” You get my drift,
don‟t you?
22
Since you have not stated the topic, the best I can do is to get it from Rajapaksa himself. After his
devastating excursion into unknown and unpredictable territory (I gather despite advice that he should
not go), he returned to Sri Lanka and addressed his „Parliament‟, more appropriately called his „servile
listening chamber‟. He said he had intended to explain his political solution in his address to the
Oxford Union, but that „sinister elements‟ prevented him from revealing his political proposal to be
offered to Tamils in Sri Lanka.

This is fascinating. Why does he need the Oxford Union forum to reveal a political package to address
Tamils‟ grievances in his country? When did the Oxford Union become the place where a major
political strategy is announced? Why could he not present it where it should have been presented, in
the Sri Lankan Parliament, and then get the majority support he commands (by fair means or foul),
and implement it?

Whatever Mr Rajapaksa has done to the people in Sri Lanka, he has done one thing for me, who now
has no connections with Sri Lanka, except a bleeding heart and aching soul. He has made me laugh.
Rajapaksa seriously underestimates our intelligence and thinks that we are all fools. We are not – not
all of us.

As for the Oxford Union, it is only marginally better. You would have had my respect if you had written
to Rajapaksa:

“Dear President Rajapaksa,

We in the Oxford Union are deeply concerned about the widespread international demands for an
independent credible investigation into what actually took place in the closing stages of the war in Sri
Lanka and the order expelling aid agencies and humanitarian organisations from the conflict zone. We
are particularly concerned about the refusal of international credible organisations, including our own
Nobel Laureate, Amnesty International, refusing to appear before your „Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission‟.

We have therefore decided to provide you, the Executive President, Minister of Defence and
Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, with an international forum to tell us (and the rest of the
world) what happened, and then answer questions from those who are troubled by the increasing
evidence that something dreadful took place, and that both parties to the conflict have a case to
answer.

We are confident that as the undisputed leader of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, to
which our country bequeathed Democracy hoping it would take root and flourish, you will readily
accept our invitation.

You can come at a time of your choosing but we draw your attention to the obvious, that in winter it is
dreadfully cold and miserable, and not the time to visit England, especially since this is a non-urgent
visit.

We in the Oxford Union will pay for your ticket. Oxford University security staff will provide security for
you.

We will also explore the possibility of members of our government meeting with you, as several of our
other international speakers, especially Heads of State, have been able to do. ”

Your Union did not write that, did it? If not, what exactly did you write?

Without this crucial information, it is not possible to answer questions about an event that did not
occur. However, there is a past experience to go by, and history has a disastrous habit of repeating
itself.

23
Rajapaksa‟s 2008 Oxford address

Mr Walker, President Rajapaksa addressed your Union in 2008, and spoke on “Strategy towards
Empowering the Rural Economy of Sri Lanka”. That was clearly his choice, not yours. But his visit was
in response to an invitation by your Union, and your Union, not Rajapaksa, had the right to state the
subject. Your Union did not do so. Why? Do I really need to tell your Union its rights?

Looking at it from a different angle, it was the obligation of your Union to look after the interests of
your members, not to pander to Rajapaksa‟s wishes, and to waste the time of your Union members
listening to all this „information‟ about rural Sri Lanka.

Was “the Rural Economy of Sri Lanka” the critical issue? Here was your chance to apprise your
students, yes, students who pay huge sums of money to come to Oxford University for an education,
of the situation in a country which was governed by your country and which your forefathers left in an
absolute mess; to provide them with essential information on human rights and the rapidly
deteriorating human rights situation in that country (Sri Lanka) which is of major international concern?
Your Union did not look at it that way, did it? Why not? This is not a viva voce examination to award
you a degree, but some basic commonsense and the setting out of basic rights, in this case, student
rights.

The other side of the coin was that here was Rajapaksa‟s chance to tell you and the rest of the world
what was going on Sri Lanka (at least, as he saw it) and how he, as the Executive President of the
Democratic Socialist Republic, was handling it. Here was his chance to address the mounting
international concerns, extensively documented by credible human rights organisations and many
others. Here was his chance to counter „Tamil propaganda‟ (as he sees it). Such chances do not
come often with people as evasive as Rajapaksa, and who can talk about anything except what is
important. Your Union fell lock, stock and barrel, into Rajapaksa‟s trap, did it not? Well, it should not
have, not in a University as important as yours.

He would certainly not have got away with this in Cambridge, at least not during the time I was there. I
have known people who were to address the Cambridge Union, spend endless nights worrying about
it. I‟d bet that Rajapaksa did not spend a minute worrying about addressing your Union. He knew he‟d
get away with it, and did in 2008. He now wants another go.

I will send a copy of this letter to the President of the Cambridge Union Society, the equivalent body in
that University. It is the oldest student society in the world and Cambridge University's largest. I‟d hate
to see that body, dear to my heart as a graduate of that University, taken for a ride by Rajapaksa,
should he have any such ideas.

“Empowering the Rural Economy…. ”. Indeed. He would now have told you, if he had the chance, that
Sri Lanka is, or is going to be, “The Asian Miracle”. Excuse me while I laugh. There is no evidence of
the „Miracle‟ yet, and time is running out. A Tamil friend of mine put this better than I can:-

“Manipulating figures, whether it is inflation, GDP, Per Capita Income, Trade Deficit, Containers
handled in the port, number of tourists, („real‟ and not diaspora arrivals), hotel rooms built, Middle East
income, (where half is remittances from the diaspora), will fool the country (and the world) for only a
limited period”.

Rajapaksa should be reminded of Abraham Lincoln‟s well-worn quote, “You can fool all the people
some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.
Perhaps the Sri Lankans are the exception.

When Rajapaksa addressed your Union in 2008, did he have a fawning audience that cheered wildly
and did not ask any questions about things that really matter? Did anyone question him on the
conduct of the „war‟, the „Rules of War‟, the Hague Convention, the Geneva Convention, their
violations, and his responsibility and obligations as Head of State, Executive President, Minister of
Defence, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, to see that his Armed Forces did not act in a
manner that was in violation of these?

24
Did anyone ask him, or would anyone have asked him, for the evidence to back his claim that his
soldiers went to war “with a gun in one hand and the UN Charter in the other”? If this was true, why it
was necessary to expel independent observers from the area?

Did anyone ask him about his claim, oft repeated by him and his Ministers, that his Armed Forces
were not responsible for “a single civilian death”, and how that squares with the International Crisis
Group, one of the world‟s most reliable sources of information, that there were an estimated “30,000
to 75,000” civilians killed? As I have said, the Submission by the Catholic Diocese of Mannar to the
LLRC are much higher (146,000 people unaccounted for).

If, as Rajapaksa and his regime claim, “it was all the work of the Tamil Tigers”, why did he prevent
independent observers from checking this, which, if confirmed, would have helped his country which is
facing a serious crisis in credibility?

It is as though the Tamil Tigers killed all these people and themselves, just to make the Sri Lankan
government look bad! These are the „mega-lies‟ I have referred to, which Rajapaksa expects us to
believe.

All this was despite indisputable footage of government helicopter gun-ships and Kfir jets and
bombers, arcing across the sky dropping thousands of bombs and firing even more shells. I have
recorded all this in my last dvd. I have sent a copy to the UN Secretary General‟s Advisory Panel on
violation of Human Rights and Humanitarian law during the last stages of the war on Tamils in 2009 in
Sri Lanka. I am not holding my breath waiting for the UN to act. It never does, as Geoffrey Robertson
points out in his outstanding book, Crimes Against Humanity. The struggle for Global Justice. I hope
this is the exception.

Under pressure, the GoSL admitted that some civilians may have died. This was entirely because
Tamil Tigers were „hiding‟ among the civilians. Clearly, the only morally acceptable strategy the Tamil
Tigers could have pursued was to march out into the open and be bombed or mowed down by
machine gun fire. Anything short of that was cheating.

Let me clarify one legal point about this „problem‟ of Tamil Tigers „hiding‟ among the civilian
population. It has been well established in International Law, in the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) that:

“Where there are certain individuals within the civilian population who do not come within the
definition of civilians, this does not deprive the population of its civilian character”,

So, Mr Walker, tell President Rajapaksa when you meet him, perhaps on a holiday in blood-drenched
Sri Lanka, that even if there were Tamil Tigers „hiding‟ among the civilians, to bomb the latter
contravenes International Law, and he is therefore culpable. He is a lawyer and should understand
what this means.

What about the targetted bombing of schools, orphanages, churches, Hindu temples, markets, entire
villages, and the whole infrastructure of the Tamil areas in his country, of his Tamil people (as he
claims with staggering hypocrisy)? Did no one think that these dreadful actions must be explained by
the man at the helm, an Executive President with more powers than anyone else I know of?

With great power comes great responsibility. Was this raised when there was an opportunity in 2008
to do so? If not, why not? It sure was happening „bigtime‟, when he came to Oxford in 2008. Or was
this „not on the agenda‟ of the Oxford Union despite the claim that the purpose of getting Rajapaksa
there was to “provide a unique insight into the political climate of the region”. Or are these just words
with no meaning?

Mr Walker, all this was happening in Sri Lanka when President Rajapaksa addressed your Union in
2008. Rajapaksa denies it all. Harold Pinter, in his epic acceptance of the 2005 Nobel Prize for
Literature, referred to a “vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed”. Across Sri Lanka, particularly in
the Tamil North and East, countless human beings, almost all of them Tamils, are undergoing
immense suffering and death. As Pinter put it, “But you wouldn‟t know it. It never happened. Nothing

25
ever happened. Even while it was happening, it never happened. It didn‟t matter. It was of no interest.”
That just about sums it up.

George Bush the First said something similar. On 3 July 1988, USS Vincennes, a missile cruiser in the
Persian Gulf accidentally shot dwn an Iranian aircraft 290 civilian passengers. Bush, at the time on his
presidential campaign, was asked to comment on this. He said. “I will never apologize for the United
States. I don‟t care what the facts are.” A variation would have been more apposite, “The facts are
whatever we want them to be.” President Rajapaksa is just the same.

If these important issues were not raised, it was certainly not for lack of information. The Sri Lankan
conflict is about the most extensively documented conflict in the world, thanks to a highly intelligent
expatriate Tamil community and others, such as myself, who have dedicated every moment we could
spare, and have done so for decades, and internationally credible organisations such as AI, HRW and
the US State Department „Country Reports‟, that have published a dossier of Reports for years.

This stack of information is readily available. For those who have a short attention span, I have gone
to the extent of having the numerous talks I have given across the world, recorded and uploaded on
„Youtube‟, not to mention the dozen dvds, many of them on the net, available at no cost.

If what Rajapaksa had in Oxford was no more than an applauding, fawning, audience like he has in
his country where he expects it as „the norm‟, what purpose would have been served by getting him
there again?

Oxford is not Rajapaksa‟s Sri Lanka, where any dissent, or even questioning what he has done, or is
doing, is treason, and dealt with as such. This means 20 years in jail, or execution or an involuntary
„disappearance‟ at the hands of Rajapaksa‟s Armed Force, Police, paramilitaries working with the
government, or just hooligans and thugs who are now part of governance in that lawless country.
Accountability for the actions of those supportive of the government is non-existent. Rajapaksa really
must be made to „face the music‟ when he gets out of his protected cocoon in Sri Lanka.

When Rajapaksa addressed his „listening chamber‟, which doubles as a Parliament, to „explain‟ the
Oxford debacle, no one, not one of the 225 „sheep‟ there, had the courage to ask him how much this
extravaganza cost. Not that he would have answered the question.

Mr Walker, I do not expect you to know the Sri Lankan Constitution, so let me „educate‟ you. A few
months ago Rajapaksa rushed through the 18th Amendment as an „urgent Bill”. This not only ensured
Rajapaksa-rule for as long as he wanted, but also had a clause regarding his attendance in
parliament. He has to attend on only four days a year. Attend, but not answer any questions put to
him. So, he would have been „immune‟ from answering a question on the cost of this, or any of his
other mega-jaunts, for two of which your Union was responsible.

So, the Sri Lankan taxpayers will have to find this out as best they can - the chance is not high. This is
one more reason why this letter should be translated into Sinhalese and circulated in Sri Lanka. Pure
patriotism, not sabotage, as Mr Rajapaksa would have you believe.

Just a word about the use of words. If Rajapaksa is caught lying or giving false information, and is
asked a direct question, “Honourable President, you lied did you not?”, he, a lawyer, would reply, “No I
did not lie, I mis-spoke”.

Perhaps you could let me know what exactly occurred when Rajapaksa addressed you in 2008, so
that I can convey it to the „hungry‟ (for information, I mean) international community. I need hardly
stress that the reply must not be a „mis-speak‟.

2. A Debate

Mr Walker, the Oxford Union is a Debating Society and should not become a platform for
demagogues to boost their ego. I suggest that your Union gets back to its raison d‟etre and arranges a
debate:-

“This House supports an International Investigation into War Crimes in Sri Lanka”.
26
Since you clearly do not have people with the necessary knowledge to make this a meaningful
debate, I suggest you get people from outside Oxford, or even from outside the UK.

Proposition

As someone who has watched the Sri Lankan situation deteriorate from day one (1948) when your
country handed over Ceylon, as it then was, to the Sinhalese majority (74%), leaving the Tamil
„minority‟ (18%) at their mercy, I have seen Sinhalese-majoritarianism getting firmly established . I
have been witness to the progressive discrimination against the Tamils, to get the votes of the
Sinhala-Buddhist majority (70% of the country) to get into or remain in power, the entirely justifiable
Tamil non-violent protests that followed, the violent response of the Sinhala State and the armed
resistance of the Tamil youths.

I have seen “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean” turned into “The Killing Fields of Asia”, ending in the near
Genocide of the Tamils. What is on show in Sri Lanka is political opportunism of the worst kind that
has prevented the building of a nation. Not surprisingly, it is now falling apart.

Of equal concern is the dismantling of Democracy, the establishment of a Presidential dictatorship,

the drift to a politico-military fascist State, and now, a Totalitarian State under one family, the
Rajapaksas.

With this experience over half a century, I feel obliged to come to Oxford (or anywhere) at my
expense, for a discussion or a debate with those who hold a different view.

I will therefore come to the UK from Australia, at my cost, and present the case for the proposition. I
will try and get three experts on human rights and humanitarian problems to be part of the team for
the proposition. I have in mind one of our British lawyers, a world authority on Crimes against
Humanity, an American Professor of International Law, and Australia‟s most outstanding human
rights and refugee advocate. The first two can set out the violation of international conventions and
human rights law. The third has done extensive work over a prolonged period, on asylum seekers
and refugees. He has had to pick up (in Australia), the pieces of Rajapaksa‟s brutality in Sri Lanka.

Opposition

For the opposition, President Rajapaksa can present the case, and be assisted by any number of his
numerous relatives, „yes men‟ and his jumbo Cabinet of Ministers. Who he brings is up to him but I‟d
suggest that he includes three people because we will be directing questions which only they can
answer.

One is his brother, Gotabaya, Defence Secrerary, who directed war. There will be a number of
questions for him. It will be helpful if he brings (retired) Army General Sarath Fonseka (temporarily)
releasing him from his illegal jailing, since we will raise some questions which only he can answer.
Fonseka can come in full military regalia to stamp his authority, with his once chest-full of medals (now
stripped by Rajapaksa, but which can be (temporarily) restored, just for the occasion). It will also be
helpful if he can bring a member of the Chinese government, since we have questions that only such
a person can respond to.

For the motion (Proposition) – a tentative list

Two internationally recognised lawyers on human rights and crimes against humanity.
A refugee advocate and human rights lawyer with extensive experience with asylum seekers and
refugees.
Myself - a doctor of Medicine, a Sinhalese and not a Tamil, or a „terrorist‟.

The first three will present our case, since they are more than competent to set out the International
Conventions that have been violated. I will merely show video evidence of the actual bombing and the
military assault on the civilians, the bombing of orphanages, schools and hospitals, the human
carnage, which those against the motion will be struggling to hide.

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Summing up.
This I will do. It will only take a couple of minutes, since our case is flawless, and if our main speakers
have not been convincing, I, an aging (79) medical practitioner, will not be able to do so, however
good the summing up. After a few sentences, I will, as lawyers say, „rest my case‟.

Against the motion (Opposition) - hopefully

President Mahinda Rajapaksa – Executive President, Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief

of the Armed Forces who single-handedly won the war (so he claims).
(Retd) General Fonseka – who „delivered‟ the victory, currently jailed by his President, but who can be
given a (temporary) „Royal pardon‟.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa - who can defend his order to unleash the Chinese-supplied, lethal weapons on
civilians, and the bombing of hospitals, schools etc.
A Chinese Government nominee – who (hopefully) will defend China‟s agenda and why the weapons
and money were supplied so generously, when they knew that they would be used against
civilians.

Summing up.
His Excellency, Mahinda Rajapaksa.
He can, with no objections from our side, go on ad nauseam, ad infinitum, trying to justify the
unjustifiable, or just opt out, claiming that all the facts presented by us are lies, and the video evidence
is fabricated, including the Kfir jets and the extensive use of banned bombs etc, because his Buddhist
country has no such weapons and killing was not what Buddha ordered.

The Chair will have to ensure that it is a proper debate and not an exercise in thuggery or become
what regularly occurs in Rajapaksa‟s „debating chamber‟ (unkindly, but accurately, referred to as “The
House of Hooligans and Rowdies”) – the Sri Lankan „Parliament‟. The regular „incidents‟ in that citadel
of „Sri Lankan Democracy‟ occurred in spectacular fashion, a few months ago, (with scores of
schoolchildren in the galley who had to be hastily ushered out). An MP, a Buddhist monk at that, was
attacked by Rajapaksa‟s supporters in the „Well‟ of the House, as he tried to get to the Speaker to be
confirmed as an MP. He had to be admitted to hospital with injuries that will constitute pornography, if
I describe them in detail.

Nearer home, Mr Walker, did you hear of an alarming incident that occurred after President Rajapaksa
returned empty-handed from your cancelled meeting because of the protests in London? Dr Jayalath
Jayawardene, a senior Minister in the previous government, was falsely accused of organising the
protests in Britain, insulted, attacked and manhandled in the Sri Lankan parliament by several of
Rajapaksa‟s Ministers, to show their fealty to the President. They now want him expelled from
Parliament for violating the 6th Amendment29 which makes it illegal to support a Separate Tamil State
(which, of course, Jayawardene did not do). If this succeeds, it will be one more weapon Rajapaksa
will have to silence the Opposition. The slide to a Totalitarian State that brooks no opposition is there
for all to see.

Worryingly, the President before returning to Sri Lanka ordered the Defence Attache at the Sri Lankan
High Commission in the UK, Major General Prasanna Silva, to immediately send photographs and
information of all those who have participated in protesting against his visit. The President had said
that he would then issue the orders as to what action is to be taken.

I have just heard that a Tamil youth who was protesting in London, was arrested on his arrival back in
Sri Lanka, bundled into a „white van‟ and taken away. His outlook is not good in Rajapaksa‟s
„democracy‟.

Mr Walker, your Westminster-type Democracy and „Parliamentary Traditions‟ have not taken root in
Sri Lanka. You simply cannot take a system of government that has evolved over hundreds of years,
graft it on to a country where many of the politicians are thugs, hooligans, and crooks, and expect it to

29
“No person shall, directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote, finance, encourage or
advocate the establishment of a separate State within the territory of Sri Lanka”.

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work. It does not work. This accurate description of Sri Lankan politicians appeared in an Editorial in
the widely read Sunday Leader newspaper. As I have already mentioned, the Founder/Editor of this
paper was murdered by assassins working with the government.

Given the „norm‟ in Sri Lanka, of violence during a debate (in parliament), it is always a risk to get
people from there for a debate since they might have a different concept of what it is all about. Hence
the need for a strong Chairperson.

Although I expect a smooth debate, an unexpected development could be the sudden crossing of
Fonseka to our side to testify against President Rajapaksa, and his brother, Gotabaya, the Defence
Secretary and Fonseka‟s former boss. That, Mr Walker, would provide you with a „unique insight‟
which you were in search of. In the interests of the debate, I will discourage such a betrayal, although
it will strengthen our case considerably and even win the debate for us.

The debate will have to be televised since this will minimise unruly behavior and „unparliamentary
language‟, such as what Rajapaksa used in the Dorchester hotel when he heard of the cancellation of
the Oxford event. Moreover, the debate will have a huge international audience since it might provide
answers to questions that are troubling a number of people in many countries. It could break box-
office records.

It is appropriate that this debate be held in the Oxford Union since it would be an excellent example of
„Free Speech‟ and Democracy in Action. After all, Harold Macmillan, said that the Oxford Union was
"the last bastion of free speech in the Western world.”

Having been to your famous Thursday evening debates, I doubt if the debate I propose could be held
in that particular room which, as far as I remember, does not even have a microphone, let alone a
television camera. Some other venue will have to be found.

If the protocol, red-tape, „tradition‟ and inflexibility in Oxford will not enable such a debate, perhaps the
BBC might be the next stop. The BBC is known to do „strange things‟ and might well agree to host
this.

I hope we are not forced to approach Channel 4 TV, which will be seen as „partisan‟. We might simply
ask them to present, without prejudice, what I can best describe as a cabaret item, at the dinner that
will have to follow the debate (and not precede it) so as not to affect the debate or the voting. This
„cabaret‟ will be a presentation of the invaluable video footage they have of the execution of Tamil
men, and the execution after rape, of Tamil girls, after they had surrendered to the Sri Lankan Forces,
and document its authenticity.

The downside

The downside of all this which could make this entire suggestion an „exercise in futility‟, is that
President Rajapaksa might find this „Free Speech‟ and the „British version of Democracy‟ (which is
different from his version) too threatening, and will almost certainly get cold feet and duck out, rather
than face the music. Although he is a lawyer, he is not much of a debater, since what he says in Sri
Lanka cannot be opposed. As such, the mere idea of a debate with opposing views being presented
will be very threatening and totally unacceptable to him.

There is, of course, nothing we can do if Rajapaksa decides to duck-out, except to give him an
absolute assurance that nothing presented at the debate will be used to issue an arrest warrant. So
he need not be constantly looking over his shoulder to check that there is no one carrying handcuffs.
He can also bring any number of his military (which he did when he arrived for the December 2010
meeting), and be reassured that they will all have a safe passage back home.

Ironically, it might be President Rajapaksa himself who might strongly object to this safe passage back
to Sri Lanka, and demand that Fonseka be arrested and tried for war crimes. He will be ill-advised to
go down this path since the „chain of command‟ (which I have detailed earlier) can go all the way to
the very top, and there might be no stopping this, especially in Britain. The British are particularly
unpredictable in such things, (I know it since I have been there for a decade and a half), and as the
massive protests at Rajapaksa‟s visit convincingly demonstrated.
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The result of the debate.

The result of the debate is by no means certain. The motion could be lost, and I will have to return to
Australia, with my tail between my legs, disgraced, and face an even greater volume of hate-mail that
floods my computer daily. I will have to stop being a pain in the neck to the Sri Lankan regime (which I
have done for four decades, irrespective of the party in power), put my pen down, and take a long
walk into the night, never to be seen or heard from again.

Should Rajapaksa win, the „spoils‟ will be enormous. He can make a triumphant return home, where
he is already King of Sri Lanka, and might even be deified – God of Sri Lanka.

The Golden President

The deification of Rajapaksa is well under way. As is well known, statues of Buddha are often golden
– real gold in Buddhist temples, gold-plated in homes. Rajapaksa‟s will be in real gold. In December
2010, “Jewels Sri Lanka 2010 exhibition” was held in Colombo. It has just been revealed that the
Chairman National Gem and Jewellery Authority (NGJA), had demanded gold and gems from a gem
miner, Ananda Miners, to craft a gem-studded golden replica of President Rajapaksa for the
exhibition. Rajapaksa is nearly there – a Golden God, in real gold, not gold plated.

Under pressure, newspaper reports say that the Chairman was fired. If he was, he does not need to
grieve about it since he will be rewarded with a diplomatic position for his attempt at making a „Golden
Rajapaksa‟ – the usual reward for supporting the King30.

Even if Rajapkasa does not get a Honoris Causa Doctorate from Oxford, the very fact that he won the
debate might enable him to change his title to “Oxford-Rajapaksa”. Be that as it may, one thing is
certain, he can roll up the Electoral map for a very long time, even for ever, since he will be anointed
“President-for-Life” (and even longer). Bell Pottinger, can justifiably lift their already astronomical
charges even higher, for achieving the impossible.

Off the record, I gather that there is a move to re-name Sri Lanka in honour of Rajapaksa, (at his
request, I am told by habitual liars), as „Rajapaksa-land‟, or if that is phonetically cumbersome,
„Rajapakistan‟, or even „Sri Rajapakistan‟ – „Sri‟ meaning „deserving respect‟, which it most certainly
does not.

The ball is in your court

Mr Walker, as is obvious, I have taken a great deal of time and trouble, sitting up night after night
burning the midnight oil (or now, running up a huge electricity bill). I have not only responded to your
„Statement‟ but (hopefully) have also educated you, doing what your tutors in Oxford should have
been doing. I have gone well beyond that and have made positive suggestions. The ball is now in your
(doubles) court, the court of the Oxford Union and its (temporarily) abandoned partner, President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, „Raj‟ (King) for short.

In closing this letter that looks more like a submission to the Nuremberg Trial, let me send a note of
caution to you in Oxford, and a note of encouragement to my Sinhalese countrymen in London.

To you

You are fortunate that Rajapaksa does not know that it was the Oxford Union that (in 1933) passed a
motion

“This House will in no circumstances fight for King and Country”

30
To date, some 14 Sri Lankan military men, many with blood on their hands and a case to answer, have been
appointed by President Rajapaksa to Sri Lankan missions overseas and to state institutions in Sri Lanka.
There will be more of the same. That is certain. I will set out this serious problem with all the details in an
article to follow.

30
Churchill called it “that abject, squalid, shameless avowal”.

This motion, passed by the Union, even if it was in 1933, will not go down well with Sri Lanka‟s leader,
far more powerful than Churchill ever was, and much more prone to temper tantrums and violent
outbursts. He might do to you what he did on 4 August 2006 (two years before he appeared before
your Union) to the 17 people working with the French NGO, ‘Action against Hunger” in the Tamil East
– line them up and shoot them. Ulf Henriccson, Head, Nordic Monitoring Mission said it was,“ ..one of
the most serious crimes against humanitarian Aid workers worldwide”.

Rajapaksa has blocked every investigation into this, including that by the International Independent
Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) who walked out in disgust because of obstructions. I know exactly
what happened since a member of the IIGEP was on the podium with me in Sydney University
speaking at a „Democracy Forum‟ organised by the Faculty of Law and International Law.

Given President Rajapaksa‟s unpredictability, if you ever invite him again, I‟d advise beefing up
Security, not for him, but for your Union. You can never predict what Rajapaksa will do. He is a man of
many „talents‟.

For my countrymen

On this Christmas Eve, as a genetically half-Christian (the other half being Buddhist), I will cite a
popular hymn about bringing “Glad Tidings of Great Joy” to members of my ethnic group, the
(patriotic) Sinhalese in your country, who are shedding unnecessary tears because of Rajapaksa‟s
humiliation. As your famous bard would have put it if he was still around: -

“Friends, Sinhalese, Countrymen, lend me your ears. I come not to bury Rajapaksa, but to praise
him, for everyone says he is an honourable man. I come not to disillusion and upset you, but to
comfort you. Weep not, for he will return as sure as day follows night, in one form or another, and will
reappear somewhere, sometime, and destroy the „Tamil Tiger Diaspora‟, as he did to the Tamil Tigers
and the Tamil civilians, men, women and children, born and unborn, in the North and East of Sri
Lanka. I give thee my troth. I have complete faith in him, and so should you. That is what patriotism is
all about – to believe in tyrants even if they are proven murderers.

Stand close to the National Flag, even if it has a ferocious Lion with a menacing sword with his tail up,
even if it is drenched with the blood of innocents. The person31 who said that “flags are bits of coloured
cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people‟s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to
bury the dead”, and then went on to rub this in, “when independent thinking people blindly yoke their
art to the service of the nation, it‟s time for all of us to sit up and worry”, is a traitor, like the writer of
this letter. The latter deserves execution, at the very least. That is what Mother Lanka expects of you.
May the blessings of the Buddhist Triple Gem be on you, even if this is not what Lord Buddha taught,
because Buddha got it wrong. Who says so? Our National Leader who is never wrong.”

Wishing you and your Union a more informed and responsible New Year in 2011

Brian Senewiratne
MA (Cantab), MBBChir (Cantab), MBBS Hons (Lond)
MD(Lond), FRCP(Lod), FRACP
Physician
Brisbane, Australia 24 December 2010
Updated 8 February 2011
copy President, Oxford Union
Vice-Chancellor, Oxford University
President, Cambridge Union Society
President Mahinda Rajapaksa

31
Arundhati Roy. The Ordinary Person‟s Guide to Empire. Harper Perennial, page 15.
31
 The OXFORD UNION

Statement from The Oxford Union on the visit of

President Rajapaksa, December 2nd 2010

Earlier this year, The Oxford Union invited the current President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, to address
our members at a date convenient to him. The Union has a policy of inviting a broad range of prominent
politicians and heads of state from around the world and the invitation to Mr Rajapaksa was made within the
context of this policy.

Since the invitation was first accepted by Mr Rajapaksa, the Union has consulted extensively with Thames
Valley Police as well as the Sri Lankan High Commission in London on security arrangements for the
President‟s visit. Due to security concerns surrounding MrRajapaksa‟s visit which have recently been brought
to our attention by the police, the Union has regretfully found that the talk is no longer practicable and has had
to cancel his address.

This decision was not taken lightly and the Union deeply regrets the cancellation. The Union has a long
tradition of hosting prominent speakers and upholding the principles of free speech. However, due to the
sheer scale of the expected protests, we do not feel that the talk can reasonably and safely go ahead as
planned.

The Union holds a politically neutral stance with regards to speakers and the decision was not made in
relation to any aspect of Mr Rajapaksa‟s political position, the policies of his administration or any allegations
against his Government. As the President of Sri Lanka for the last five years, the Union felt that Mr Rajapaksa
would provide a unique insight into the political climate of the region in his speech. The Union wishes to
apologise to our members for this unfortunate cancellation.

Oxford Union Society

Alistair Walker
Press Officer
press@oxford-union.org
The Oxford Union, Frewin Court, Oxford, OX1 3JB, Great Britain
Telephone: +44 (0)1865-241353 Facsimile: +44 (0)1865-250092

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