Daily News Editorial

Protect our envoys

06 September 2016

The physical attack on Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Malaysia Ibrahim Ansar by a group of LTTE sympathizers should be roundly condemned by all right thinking people and political parties, irrespective of their ethnic labels. The High Commissioner who is a noted career diplomat who had also served a stint in India was only performing his official duties in seeing to the welfare of visiting Sri Lankan dignitaries to the host country. The Ambassador, it is reported was set upon by a group of Tamils outside the Kuala Lumpur Airport where only moments earlier he saw off a small group of Sri Lankan politicians who had been attending the International Conference of Asian Political Parties in Malaysia.

The Tamil groups had been staging protests against the presence of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa who they accuse of war crimes against their community in Sri Lanka. They had been pursuing Rajapaksa from the day he arrived in Malaysia and even stormed a Buddhist temple and allegedly roughed up the chief incumbent, for receiving Rajapaksa at the temple. It is not yet clear if Rajapaksa was responsible for war crimes or any member of the armed forces, for that matter. That decision is left to the appropriate investigative bodies that are soon to be set up to unravel, if indeed, war crimes were committed by the armed forces and those in command.

But it appears that the label has stuck onto Rajapaksa, going by the hostile receptions that he has now become accustomed to, especially in countries where there are large Tamil communities. Alas this visceral hatred towards the former President has had its knock down effect, taking its toll on all Sri Lankans. They (Lankans) today have become persona non grata in several Indian states, particularly Tamil Nadu, where even Lankan pilgrims had come under attack. One also recalls a close relative of Rajapaksa being placed under siege at the famous Thirupathi kovil where he had gone to worship the deities. Hence, it has come to a point where all Sri Lankans, let alone Ambassadors, are facing the risk of grave hostility, if not physical attacks, in countries where Tamils live in sizable numbers.

The government will have to take some drastic measures to ensure there is no repetition of incidents as that which took place in Kuala Lumpur the other day. If not, very soon Sri Lanka too will be in the same predicament as the USA which is compelled today to provide special security to its envoys in countries such as Afghanistan and Libya.

Be that as it may, the Malaysian government should have anticipated the hostility that awaited Rajapaksa, given the sizable Tamil population in that country and from where the LTTE’s chief arms supplier KP was deported not long ago. Equipped with this knowledge it should have taken additional security measures to ward off any untoward incident. This unprecedented physical assault of an Ambassador of a friendly country, on its own soil, is not going to win any kudos for the Malaysian government.

The Lankan government should insist on the Malaysian government to conduct a thorough investigation and expose the culprits behind this despicable act. It goes without saying that a diplomat is the property of the host country while serving his/her stint in that country and all efforts should be made to ensure his/ her well being and protection. The Malaysian government regrettably had been remiss in this regard leaving an Ambassador to its country fend for himself without providing him with the necessary security, knowing the risk he is placed in due to a hostile Tamil community.

For its part, the Sri Lankan government will now be saddled with an additional burden of looking into the security of its Ambassadors and envoys whenever Mahinda Rajapaksa visits countries that are home to a large Tamil population.

The Kuala Lumpur incident, no doubt, will be manna from heaven to the Joint Opposition, the only damper being the non Sinhala nationality of the Ambassador. But this will not deter them from drumming up the issue of Rajapaksa’s security. Already JO spokesman Dullas Alahapperuma has brought up the matter, making a strong case for the reinstatement of the military security of Rajapaksa. There are also different versions given by the JO to the airport incident. Some newspapers quoting JO members who accompanied Rajapaksa stated that the Ambassador had seen off MP Dinesh Gunawardena and WPC Samanmali Sakalasuriya while other reports state that the Ambassador had been accompanying Minister Daya Gamage and Deputy Minister Anoma Gamage. It is clear that an attempt is being made to portray the attackers as being hostile to the members of the Joint Opposition associated with MR and had roughed up the Ambassador for extending courtesies to the members of the JO among the delegation.

Be that as it may, the government henceforth should ensure that our envoys are treated with dignity in the host country. Gone are the days when our diplomats were treated as baggage carriers of visiting political panjandrums. A full report should be called for in respect of the Kuala Lumpur airport incident. Steps should be taken to provide our foreign envoys with additional security in stations where the risk factor exist, in concurrence with the host country.