May 5th 2008
Mr. Lasantha Wickramatunga – The Editor
The Sunday Leader
Leader Publications (Pvt) Ltd.
24, Katukurunduwatte Road, Ratmalana
Sri Lanka
Fax : +94-75-365891
email : editor@thesundayleader.lk
Dear Mr. Wickramatunga,
We are sending the reply of the Asian Human Rights Commission to the column written by Pachoris. Since Pachoris refers to the AHRC and to me personally please be kind enough to publish this reply.
Reply to Pachoris (Mr. Liar).
We refer to the column written by Pachoris in the Sunday Leader edition of May 4th. Now for readers outside Sri Lanka Pachoris means liar. Therefore, we will refer to the columnist in the future as Mr. Liar, as this is his chosen title. The column is a sort of fools column and of course, there is justification for such columns, either for satire or just for fun by way of writing humorous nonsense. So, for our reply we take this column in that lighter spirit.
Mr. Liar chose to misunderstand our reply to Mr. Rajiva Wijesinha of the Peace Secretariat. He says that the AHRC came to the defense of Sir Nigel Rodley. I suppose misrepresentation is an art that should be allowed in a fools column for the purpose of achieving whatever the humour that is intended. However, the AHRC did not come to the defense of anyone; in fact, it defended its own work since, long before the IIGEP spoke out about various problems such as the questionable role of the Attorney General, the question of witness protection, the collapse of the policing system, the question of the routine use of torture throughout the country in all police stations, and the helplessness of the victims of crime including those who suffer gross human rights abuse in Sri Lanka, the AHRC was talking about them. It was this that the Peace Secretariat was attacking by denying these problems and treating them as if the IIGEP were saying things that were completely untrue. In fact, we have documented these matters in great detail for over ten years. We thought the re-statement of some of these issues by the IIGEP would help to facilitate the discussion better and that there would be an earnest attempt to try to resolve these problems. Therefore, we intervened to say, never mind who makes these criticisms, but look into what they say.
Of course, Mr. Liar, who says he has visited all our websites, does not refer to our extensive documentation on these matters. But, many people in Sri Lanka know about the AHRCs contribution on these issues. It was several years ago that the AHRC started its work in a small office at the residence of Dr. Nalin Swaris. Many people used to go there and narrate their stories of the brutalities they had suffered and their inability to obtain redress. Ever since this work has expanded into many areas of the country and we have intervened, in literally thousands of cases by making representations to the government, by providing legal assistance and also making publications in the press both within Sri Lanka and outside.
Naturally such work is intensely disliked by those who believe that torture, extrajudicial killings and similar practices are justified for various reasons. In the course of this work one of the victims who complained about torture, Gerald Perera, was killed before he could give evidence in court. Many others had to face a lot of difficulties simply because they did not want to give up their complaints.
This alone is our conflict with the Peace Secretariat. The means by which expression is given to these ideas include the writing of many books, including several books in Sinhalese, articles to the press and also various forms of satirical writings. As much as Mr. Liar has a right to write a fools column as his method of expression, any organisation also has a right to find suitable modes of give expression to its realisations.
Surprisingly, Mr. Liar who himself is writing a satirical column has taken great exception to Chaucers, Summoners Tale. Chaucer in this tale is making a damning criticism of the clerics of his time. Of course, clerics, whether they are in profession or out of it may find such exposures not to their taste. The word for hypocrisy in Sinhala is kuhakakama and creative writers such as Martin Wickramasinghe, have pointed out that perhaps the most prominent trait among the Sri Lankan elite is this kuhakakama. Unfortunately the extent of satirical writing in this field is limited. We did have persons like Mahinda, the Tibetan monk and several other Colombo poets who wrote satirical poems, but the Sri Lankan tradition molded by the Brahmins ensured that the elites, including the monks, are not exposed to such severe criticism. They perpetrated the idea that you would be exposed to leprosy if you criticise the elites.
In fact, Mr. Liar, who aspires to be a satirist, should study such great works as the Canterbury Tales and then he might avoid the language of a pundit and use more the language of the common folk to create the sort of humour that will be conducive to the greater enlightenment of his readers. But for that Mr. Liar himself should develop a vision of what he wants, a kuhakakama society or an honest one. As for the scholars and pundits that Mr. Liar seems to admire it is better to recall the story of the learned doctor and the dog. The learned doctor, having read so many books finally lost his memory. He could not find his way about, even within his own house. It was the dog that showed him the way, for the dog had the memory, although it had no learning. Loss of memory is what often causes a pundit to degenerate into a fool.
So we have tried to engage Mr. Liar and I hope in the next column he might try to reflect on the content of the type of justice we have in Sri Lanka. Is it as the AHRC says: a country with an exceptional collapse of the rule of law or not. Now is the turn for the fool to reply in good humour.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Basil Fernando
Asian Human Rights Commission
