Shenali Waduge
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or CEPA had been negotiated over two years ago. If India is now seen pressing for its activation we need to not only question why but more importantly ask whether our Government is likely to blindly sign & activate these documents without safeguarding the interests of the country.
One of the most discerning of arguments in Sri Lanka is that following the terrorist element that has had adverse effects on Sri Lanka for over thirty years, the country needs more than a little space to recoup, regroup & re-unite amongst each other. Thus, our own society needs to have some breathing space & we do not need to be tornadoed into trade agreements without giving time & room for the people to enjoy the peace & start their lives Without this time given to the people of Sri Lanka to engage in economic activity, develop their skills, continue their education it would be unfair of our political leadership to allow room for others to not only engage in business ventures in Sri Lanka, but allow their families to live & also work in our country. It is not that Sri Lankans are not competent to engage in employment with our fellow neighbors but Sri Lankans presently need to rise on their own feet & not only India but our own political leaderships need to understand this & cater to this need.
Most of us are unaware exactly what the agreement holds. Most of us hope that this agreement would not be similar to the controversial agreement signed by Ranil Wickremasinghe & the LTTE in 2002 facilitated by western interests. Given the nature of the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord & the amendments that resulted from that agreement to the advantage of the Indians & disadvantage of Sri Lanka, there are plenty of reasons to doubt how far the Government emissaries & the supposed advisors of the Government have studied & advised the Government with regard to the CEPA & other such agreements & pacts & how far the Government has been prepared to accept these wise counsels. The fact that the document is kept secret raises more suspicion as to why it should be kept away from the public. It is the onus of both India & Sri Lankan Governments to make these bilateral agreements public to quell any thoughts of invasion that the Sri Lankan people are presently harboring.
If IIFA event saw Indian film fraternity praising Sri Lanka warmth, kindness & hospitality it is nothing that none of us are unaware of & one wonders by the safety of Sri Lanka is questioned at all when the IIFA could have easily being held in Indiaof course, India is not a safe place anymore so much so that most Indian films are being screened overseas! But, while Sri Lankan fans may have thronged the SSC to watch their celluloid fans in action, when it comes to the Indian Government & Indian officials including Indian businessmen .Sri Lankans have a totally different opinion. That view certainly hinges on doubt, uncertainty & the awareness that Indians have been a key player & instigator in much of the troubles that has prevailed in Sri Lanka. Until India attempts to show the people of Sri Lanka it is not upto another one of its tricks then those doubts are unlikely to fade away & the more India attempts to pressurize the Sri Lankan Government, the more backing the Sri Lankan politicians are likely to receive from the Sri Lankan polity which would suit the Sri Lankan politicians perfectly.
We can but caution the present Government & officials that whatever actions they take & the results that eschews from it will certainly be a deciding factor for their future in government. Now that most of Sri Lanka ills are behind us whatever mistakes & follies made in the present context will certainly lie at the footsteps of the President of Sri Lanka & its Government, especially when it is a Government that boasts its actions totally in the interest of the integrity of its country & its people.
It is claimed that the CEPA is advantageous to Sri Lanka in terms of the investments Indians need to make to enter the country & bring in Indian employees. Why would any country be doing Sri Lanka any favors if it is not likely to get any returns. This obviously must have been weighed in when the clause was included & Sri Lanka may see first sight advantage but that is likely to fade away when rest of the systems fall into place.
The most important point we need to remember is that all our lives at least for the past 30 years we have been troubleshooting problems created by predecessors. We have now entered a golden period where Sri Lanka does not have to be indebted to any nation all those countries that helped us through the conflict ensured their interests were first met. including India. India has no reason to fear Sri Lanka, we have never harmed India in any way & certain not returned the eye of an eye India rights deserves.
Presently, it is a clash of egos that are in action. The western community, UN & other NGO/INGO lobbies are frankly annoyed & more than a little peeved at the manner Sri Lanka chose to ignore their repeated diplomacies, advice & then even threats during the last days of the LTTE battle. Naturally, that annoyance is now been shown through UN chief demanding an expert panel to be appointed, the EU threatening to withdraw GSP plus & so many other threats to add to the list. So, expert panel is appoint, GSP is withdrawn, sanctions are imposed on Sri Lanka who is going to suffer? It will be the common people of Sri Lanka, the average persons who want to make a decent living, work & live in peace just to chastise the few who dealt a blow to western egos the majority of Sri Lanka would be made to suffer the same prevailed in Iraq, where to supposedly punish Saddam Hussein sanctions were imposed & millions of Iraqis went in hunger, became malnutritioned & thousands more died, those that were born were disabled or had some type of malfunction this is eventually the punishment the UN & western lobbyists will have in mind to punish those that went against their norm of human rights!!!
Today the world is dictated by economic hit men who strategize on how to overturn governments, flush out every resource available in countries fooled enough to agreeing to false trade pacts. Corruption is what enables the manipulators to mislead the leaders but Sri Lanka sincerely hopes that we can look forward to better times. Let us not dig our grave knowingly but not be in a hurry to accept Santa Claus prematurely.