General Secretary Threatened in the UNHRC

While Rajapaksa’s government asks the diaspora to come and see the country and invest in so-called development projects, Kirithi Warnakulasooriya of Divaina newspaper, threatens them with imprisonment and implies that they will be killed in Sri Lanka.

(GENEVA) - A briefing organised by the International Buddhist Foundation in the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday 21 March, ended up in heated arguments and debate between proxies of Rajapaksa, the organisers and Tamils.

When Mr Dharamalingam Logeswaran a Tamil from Switzerland started to attack all diaspora Tamils as proxies of the LTTE, our General Secretary, Mr Visvalingam Kirupaharan who was in the same meeting, argued with Logeswaran.

Kirupaharan told the audience that what the main speaker said is not the reality in Sri Lanka.

Kirupaharan questioned the organisers, as to why the 60 years political struggle of the Tamils had not been settled by any government in Sri Lanka, yet there had been 30 long years of non-violent struggle. He further said that now Sri Lanka is forced to challenge the Human Rights Council resolutions and the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Celebrations of war victory, Buddistisation, Singhalaisation and militarisation of the Tamil homeland, the North and East are not the way forward for peace and reconciliation.

When one of the organisers talked about resettlement of Singhalese in Jaffna, Kirupaharan replied that there were only a very few Singhalese living before the war in Jaffna. He asked him whether the Tamils who were forcibly chased out from Kataragama and other parts will also be resettled.

Kirithi Warnakulasooriya of Divaina newspaper who presently acts like the spokesperson of the Sri Lankan government in the UN, told Kirupaharan that he will not be allowed to land in Sri Lanka and if he does go there, he will be either imprisoned or will have to “face consequences”. “You can’t come to Sri Lanka; I will see that you will be imprisoned or worse in Sri Lanka”. Kirithi Warnakulasooriya blasted Kirupaharan in pure filth.

As some educated people who were in this meeting were ashamed of Kirthi, they tendered their apology and told Kirupaharan that Kirithi Warnakulasooriya knows little English and uses language without knowing the meaning of what he says. Warnakulasooriya threatened Kirupaharan, saying that he has taken many photographs of him and that he will publish them in Tamil, English and Sinhala newspapers in Colombo.

While Rajapaksa’s government asks the diaspora to come and see the country and invest in so-called development projects, Kirithi Warnakulasooriya of Divaina newspaper, threatens them with imprisonment and implies that they will be killed in Sri Lanka.

Kirupaharan thanked Kirithi for giving him early warning, saying that he will convey this message to other persons in the diaspora.