UN offers immunity to Indian diplomat accused of visa fraud

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 24 December 2013, 21:12 GMT]
In a blatant exhibition of skullduggery and political nepotism, Secretary General of the United Nations (UNSG), Ban Ki Moon, Monday, has approved the appointment to a diplomatic position, a New York-based Indian diplomat, accused of visa fraud, thereby affording her diplomatic immunity from alleged criminal conduct. Earlier, U.N. raised no opposition to UN appointments of Sri Lanka's alleged war criminals, ex-military General Shavendra Silva, under whose command Tamil civilians were massacred, and Palitha Kohona, who has a complaint pending in the International Criminal Court over his complicity the killing of surrendees in the Sri Lanka war. Political observers say U.N. has become a safe haven for friendly states to provide diplomatic protection from past crimes and to whitewash alleged criminal conduct.

However, US remains reluctant to drop visa fraud charges against the diplomat, Devyani Kohobragade, and while she got accreditation from the UN in her current posting at India's permanent mission paving the way for full immunity, observers say, absent a positive acknowledgement from the U.S. State Department, full diplomatic immunity may not be forthcoming.

Observers said that even at high levels of Indian Government, the propensity for doubletalk and misleading the public (and the U.S.) is visible in the Kohobragade case. India's stand was that the remaining dollars not paid to the "servant" was sent to India in Rupees, $350 was deducted for the maid's personal use of the facilities such as telephone, and a whopping 50% of the contractually agree salary was paid in "cash" with signed receipts.

Moon's political closeness to India cannot be not influenced by the fact that Mr. Ki-moon’s daughter is married to a retired Indian army general Siddarth Chatterjee, who also served in the IPKF and who had consistently been writing political opinion pieces in the Indian media against the struggle of the Eezham Tamils, India observers said.

"India, while conspicuosly silent and avoid comment on-going atrocities in the neighboring Sri Lanka, where rape, torture and other crimes against humanity were and are being perpetrated on women by the Sri Lanka state, appears to be flexing its diplomatic muscle to force U.S. to provide exception to India's woman diplomat who is accused of lying and committing visa fraud," Sri Lanka observers say.

Meanwhile, Tamil Naadu former Chief Minister and DMK leader M. Karunanidhi said that he was saddened by the fact that the Indian government was least bothered about the brutal killing of Isaipriya, a Sri Lankan Tamil broadcaster, but showed a lot of interest in the case of Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat in New York, Times of India reported.

Chronology:

24.12.13  UN offers immunity to Indian diplomat accused of v..

19.12.13  UN, a safe haven for alleged criminals?

Related Articles:
12.01.13   Nambiar, India's proxy in UN, complicit in white flag killin..
28.12.12   Takasu, Tamils' adversary in UN Security Council?
17.12.12   Tamil Nadu protest calls for investigation on 3 UN officials..
08.02.12   Boyle: Appointing alleged war-criminals to UN posts, a viola..


External Links:

ToI:

India-US diplomatic row

Canada says Indian diplomat acting as Sri Lanka's stooge

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 09 October 2013, 01:39 GMT]
Following Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper's public announcement of his boycotting Commonwealth meeting in Sri Lanka after accusing Colombo of "intimidation and incarceration of political leaders and journalists, harassment of minorities, reported disappearances, and allegations of extra-judicial killings," Hugh Segal, Canada's special envoy to the Commonwealth, launched a direct assault on the authority of Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma accusing him of "acting as a shill [a stooge] for the Sri Lankan leadership, defending their every mistake," the British broadsheet the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary

Segal's remarks intensified the row over the Commonwealth's decision to host its biennial heads of state meeting in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo next month.

Segal told the Guardian that Sharma, an Indian diplomat, had concealed crucial legal advice showing Rajapakse's sacking of the country's chief justice in January was "illegal, unconstitutional and a violation of international law." A spokesman for Sharma defended his position, saying "the advice was sought in confidence and it was not necessary for him to discuss it in public," according to the Guardian report.

Asserting that if Sri Lanka was not hosting the summit it would have faced suspension from the 53-country group months ago, Segal also told Toronto's Globe and Mail, "I went to Sri Lanka as a fact finder for our foreign minister in April of this year. I saw wonderful new highways and buildings in Colombo that would rival those in Toronto. I also saw the bullet holes above the sofa in the office of the editor of a Tamil language newspaper in Jaffna."

While India, the regional power, unwilling to expose Sri Lanka's complicity in the crime of the century in killing more than 70,000 Tamil civilians in Mu'l'livaaykaal in 2009, in its characteristic fashion, is delaying announcing its stand on attending the Commonwealth meeting.

Analysts in Delhi said that while Singh's attendance would anger India's substantial Tamil population and thus be a political risk for the Congress party, which is facing elections in spring, a significant boycott was unlikely, the Guardian wrote.

"India is very uncomfortable with that sort of thing," said Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary. "Though the relationship with Sri Lanka is not as cosy as it could be and there are strong domestic dimensions, there is a general recognition in government that both the relationship and the meeting, are nonetheless important," the paper said.

Chronology:

09.10.13  Canada says Indian diplomat acting as Sri Lanka's ..

08.10.13  "Rajapaksa, a serial abuser of human rights"

External Links:

Guardian:

Commonwealth chief is stooge of Sri Lanka regime – Canadian envoy

Indian diplomat hints at Colombo sitting on development crucial to Tamils

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 January 2013, 01:43 GMT]
Certain key development programmes that would really benefit Tamils are manoeuvred by Colombo for its own agenda, implied India’s Consul General in Jaffna V. Mahalingam, speaking to media in Jaffna on Wednesday. He was citing the example of Colombo sitting on the runway project making Palaali as an international airport. Mahalingam’s citation is an indirect acknowledgement of the structural genocide that is being carried out by occupying Colombo over the Tamils, political observers in Jaffna said, adding that Sri Lanka’s occupying Sinhala military only wants to permanently militarize and Sinhalicise the Palaali airport and its surroundings including the KKS harbour, sealing off direct communication of Tamils with India and the outside world.

V. Mahalingam [TamilNet Library Photo]

When the media in Jaffna asked Mr. Mahalingam whether the Palaali airport would be opened for flights to India, he said that the airport needs a minimum of 1350 metres of runway. Sri Lanka wanted to do the whole thing by itself, but later India was given permission for laying only 850 metres. Flights to India depend on who completes the remaining, he said, discouraging further questions on the topic.

Answering another question on the KKS harbour, whether it would be opened to the public and to commercial activities, Mahalingam said that India cleared around 10 sunken ships at the harbour within four months by giving the contract to a Singapore company and spending 20 million US dollars. India also plans to deepen the harbour from 4 metres to 8 metres, he further said.

He was also hopeful of the railway line ‘linking’ Jaffna with Colombo.

Mahalingam said that he is aware that there are encroachments of fishermen from India into the seas of the island. But the diplomatic mission is helpless, he said. It is a matter that has to be sorted out in the talks between the fishermen of both sides, he further said, adding that he was hopeful of positive outcome at the ministerial level talks to be held in New Delhi soon in this respect.

On the India-promised programme of 50,000 houses to the war-affected Tamils that has never been seriously taken off to this date, the Consul General said that India was able to sort out certain matters in this respect only recently.

Local partners for construction work have been identified and 11,000 houses would hopefully be completed within this year, he said, adding that India has also started direct disbursement of housing money in three instalments to those who want to build their houses on their own. 2648 people have already started getting the instalments, he said. Of the 50,000 houses, 42,000 would be built in the North, 2,000 in the East and 6,000 in the up-country, he further said.

The Sri Lanka government and its occupying Sinhala military are much smarter than New Delhi in the ‘construction’ activities, and New Delhi is either no match or is deliberately conniving with Colombo’s genocidal constructions of Sinhala military bases, cantonments, rest houses, communication network and Sinhala-Buddhist stupas that take priority over the development of Tamil land for Tamils, political observers in Jaffna commented.

Even it may not have the capacity but if it’s intentions are salient, New Delhi should at least openly acknowledge and tell it to the world that what is happening is not reconciliation or development but structural genocide. But New Delhi, like shielding the gravity of the genocide during the war, continue to do the same in the structural genocide too, political activists in Jaffna voiced their concern.

Mahalingam on Wednesday was distributing scholarships to schoolchildren in Jaffna in the names of Indian leaders and he made use of the occasion to speak to the media. Some of the scholarships were given in the name of Rajiv Gandhi.

Speaking to sections of activists in the diaspora, Indian diplomats express happiness over the diaspora renouncing violent polity. But many Eezham Tamils are not happy over India not reciprocating by eulogising the IPKF that committed war crimes on Eezham Tamils and by patronizing and training Sri Lanka’s Sinhala military that committed and continue to commit genocide on Eezham Tamils.

Until 1978, the Palaali airport was running flights to Trichy and Chennai in India. 850 metres of runway is not a problem to fly small commercial aircraft, if there is will in India to open the communication between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu. Colombo’s companies and its military have regular flights to Palaali many times a day.

Most of the Tamil diaspora would feel emotionally secure and contended if they could travel directly to Jaffna or via India, diaspora sources said.

Jaffna Tamils had their own passenger and commercial navigation from the KKS harbour to various ports in India up to Calcutta and even to British Malaya until the so-called independence.

Even a British Government Agent, who served in Jaffna for 35 years, felt in his heart that a railway line linking Jaffna with Colombo would affect the economy of Tamils depending on their own outside contacts, and in his time he concentrated on developing the harbours.

What New Delhi could positively achieve only will decide the long-term trust and relationship of Eezham Tamils with India, political activists in Jaffna commented.

On a practical side, they compared and cited the status of the refugees who went to the West and are now able to sustain themselves as well as their struggle, and the status of the gagged condition of the refugees who went to India.

Related Articles:
14.01.13   Sinhala military opens ‘holiday resorts’ in occupied Jaffna ..
01.12.12   EPDP mobilizes protest against Indian trawlers while backing..
14.07.12   SL military grabs more lands in Maathakal
22.06.12   SL military extends HSZ in Jaffna, evicts resettled people f..
17.05.12   SL military celebrating ‘victory’ in Jaffna insults Indian d..
12.04.12   SL military steps up harassment on resettled Tamils in Poona..
09.04.12   Colombo builds Sinhala cantonment in Maathakal
22.02.12   Rajapaksa secretly inaugurated China project in Jaffna
05.02.12   China to build airport in Poonakari to balance India’s Palaa..
19.11.11   China proxies get India's closest coast in Jaffna
16.11.10   Military fortresses and colonisation in Jaffna choke Tamils,..
02.11.10   Sinhala families to be settled in Jaffna with Chinese assist..