Wake me up when CHOGM ends

 To be frank, I am a little bored with the nature of CHOGM bashing and all the hype in the western media, and I am really confused as to why the GOSL is bending over backwards to please the Commonwealth, which I thought was a pretty dead duck anyway.  It was funny this last week when I was driving a visiting Indian colleague around the city, and she said looking at all the work that is going on on the streets of Colombo – “Oh, Commonwealth, Commonwealth.. not very different to the Games in Delhi.. incredible how the streets got cleared of rubble and the evidence of frentic labour overnight!”  Maybe the Jewel in the Crown and its neighbours are still not free of our colonial shackles.    

Though of course pleasing the Commonwealth is perhaps not what it’s all about. It could just be about showing off to our own electorate. Much like the Al Jazeera interview,  or the appearance on Hard Talk.

And it could be about strengthening alliances in the commonwealth south, with like minded HOGs (i.e. heads of government) and to hell with the global north and their western sensibilities, which we all know are based on the lobbying power of Tamil diaspora constituency.   I must admit  I have a problem with that too.  And it’s a difficult problem to articulate because I am from the majority race, and had I not been  a woman and  and a Christian (two ascribed characteristics that, thankfully, give me some legitimacy as disadvantaged and in the minority) I would probably not have said anything at all.  I agree wholeheartedly that the GOSL is not upholding the principles of the Commonwealth which emphasizes human rights and democracy, and which are, ironically, enshrined in the ‘Harare Declaration’.  The Harare Declaration (1991) reemphasized principles that were set out in the Singapore Declaration (1971) twenty years previously.  [Given the record of Zimbabwe and Singapore, maybe the next reaffirmation of the Commonwealth principles should be in Colombo!]
·         We believe that international peace and order, global economic development and the rule of international law are essential to the security and prosperity of mankind;
·         We believe in the liberty of the individual under the law, in equal rights for all citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, creed or political belief, and in the individual's inalienable right to participate by means of free and democratic political processes in framing the society in which he or she lives;
·         We recognise racial prejudice and intolerance as a dangerous sickness and a threat to healthy development, and racial discrimination as an unmitigated evil;
·         We oppose all forms of racial oppression, and we are committed to the principles of human dignity and equality;
·         We recognise the importance and urgency of economic and social development to satisfy the basic needs and aspirations of the vast majority of the peoples of the world, and seek the progressive removal of the wide disparities in living standards amongst our members.[1]
What the Commonwealth and all its hangers-on need to recognize is that the restriction of the liberties of the individual, or the lack of equal rights to all citizens, or the curtailment of an individual’s inalienable right to participate in a free and democratic process are no longer  confined to women and men living in the conflict affected areas of Sri Lanka.  The post-conflict situation of a state apparatus that contravenes the Commonwealth principles is no longer a Tamil issue alone – it is also a women’s issue, a Muslim issue, an issue for families living in the underserved settlements of Colombo as much as it is for women and men living in the Vanni or in Jaffna.  It could also be an issue for University teachers and students, for fishermen in  Kalpitiya, for villagers in Weliweriya, for all dissenting voices, whether they be from the north or the south.   


P.S.  It is only because the HOGs  decided to hold the summit in Colombo, that we have the opportunity to bring these issues once again to the attention of the international public - so it's probably a good thing that CHOGM is coming to this paradise isle.  After all, when the Weliweriya shootings took place, not that long ago, we were not yet a hotspot, and Channel 4 and other international media hardly had a mention on what happened.

PP.S. I have my young friend Sahani Maddugoda to thank for the title of this blog.  

Comments

  1. Jack Point11 November 2013 at 21:46

    I agree that the conference should go ahead sans boycotts. We have received some tangible benefits already including:

    1. The holding of the Northern elections
    2. Progress on the case of Khuram Shaikh and perhaps the Trinco 5
    3. The reigning in of the BBS.

    I think if properly handled the state can be prodded on further along the right road and the Commonwealth Chair may provide some leverage to this end.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Priyanthi Fernando12 November 2013 at 05:57

    Thank you for your optimistic comment, Jack Point. I was actually not making any suggestion for or against boycotts, just suggesting that we can look at the situation from a much wider perspective...

    ReplyDelete

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