Daily News Editorial

Peiris, caught in no man’s land

22nd October 2015

Former Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris it was reported in an English daily wants the country's religious leaders to come to the forefront to save the nation at its present juncture. He has already written to 12 religious leaders including Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic prelates, the report adds. Peiris whose pleas for a national list slot was turned down by the SLFP hierarchy, has now turned out be a zealous crusader for protecting the nation from the enemy within and without.

He is today seen on platforms in the company of the backers of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on a mission to educate the public on the perils awaiting the nation, should the recommendation of the Geneva joint resolution be implemented. Peiris says that the recommendations has to be passed in Parliament by a two thirds majority and it is incumbent on his lot to educate the people and the people's representatives about the inherent danger. Co-opting religious leaders into the task will be an extension to this exercise.

Peiris is quite adept at outsourcing tasks to religious leaders. One recalls how after downplaying the loss of the GSP Plus facility Peiris and his Government dispatched a group of religious leaders to the EU to plead for its restoration.

The former law professor, when he was in the Ranil Wickremesinghe led Government (2001-2004) headed the Sri Lankan delegation to what was then called peace talks, to world capitals, with the LTTE. It was said by the then Opposition that among the compromises made was the confining of Sri Lankan soldiers to their camps that allowed the LTTE a free run in the areas under its control. The LTTE also was free to conduct naval exercises unhindered as result of the agreements reached by the two delegations, the Opposition contended. There were also other concessions granted to the Tigers, all of which resulted in a massive LTTE build up in Sampur that brought the LTTEs’ heavy machinery within the range of the Trincomalee habour.

This ‘danger to the nation’ prompted President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga to take over three Ministries including defence that effectively brought down the Government. According to CBK, at the time, that danger was the real danger to the nation. But we cannot recall G.L. Peiris the great patriot pleading to our religious leaders to come forward to protect the nation from the looming threat. Was it because he was then a Minister of the Government and did not want to rock the boat. Or was it that he did not actually feel that the endangered state of the Trincomalee harbour warranted the intervention of religious leaders, or that the matter would blow over in due course?

This was a time when the LTTE was really active (although there was an absence of war) and if ever the nation was in peril, this was that time. Peiris choosing to remain silent and not pleading for the intervention of religious leaders by rising above politics and acting according to his conscience indeed does not accord with his current emotions concerning the safety of the nation.

The LTTE is no more today. Peiris's own boss has already taken the credit for this achievement. India has resumed its friendly ties with Sri Lanka and the relations with the West, which we alienated, is back on track. Then, from whom is this threat to the nation going to emanate that calls for the intervention of the country's religious leaders, has to be asked? Is Peiris seriously suggesting that implementing the recommendations of the resolution is going to divide the country? He himself has conceded that a two thirds majority in Parliament will be required to implement the recommendations. We are certain that Peiris and his lot would go the extra mile to convince MPs not to cast their vote. He will also be having the added support of the religious leaders in this exercise. If he succeeds in creating the necessary bulwark to prevent implementing the recommendations, so be it. But raising the bogey of threats to the nation at every turn is unbecoming of the man, given his history.

Prime Minister Ranil Wichremesinghe is already on record saying that what is contemplated is not an investigation against our soldiers but a fact finding exercise. No war hero is going to be arraigned. It is the credibility of the country's judicial system that has been called into question in the UNHRC report. No one is going to be on trial. Neither is there any threat to the country's sovereignty. Peiris need not have fears on this score. If it is the West, as Peiris and his lot is always fond of reminding the public, that engineered the fall of Rajapaksa, it is hard to see how the self same West is going to make things difficult for the current regime.