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Honouring those to whom honour is due: Prof G.L. Peiris
President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared open the Russian sculptured statue of the late Mr Lakshman Kadirgamar at a solemn function on Monday on the 8th anniversary of his assassination, at the premises of the Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies, named after the late Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.
The statue was commissioned on a Cabinet proposal presented by President Rajapaksa as Prime Minister in the Chandrika Kumaratunga government, in the aftermath of the assassination of the late Minister on the night of August 12, 2005, by an LTTE sniper’s bullet from his neighbour’s residence. The statue was made at a well known Russian State-run factory in St. Petersburg, but its erection in Colombo was inordinately delayed, as government leaders procrastinated over the site on which it was to be – or in fact, whether it was to be erected at all.
External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris paid a glowing tribute to the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar after the unveiling of the statue, saying that the government is engaged in “one of our cherished values which we have nurtured over the centuries”, a part of the Buddhist tradition of ‘poojacha poojaneeyanan’, that of “honouring those to whom honour is due”.“
And in honouring Kadirgamar we honour ourselves, we pay tribute to a man who made a difference, he transformed life in this country in a variety of ways, he touched the life of a nation in many ways and left behind a legacy which indelibly remains in the conscious of the people”, Minister Peiris said.
“Lakshman Kadirgamar has many achievements to his credit; his was, in every sense of the word, a multifaceted career. But what he is most remembered for today is his singular achievement in turning round world opinion at a critical juncture in the contemporary history of our country, the Minister added.
He said that, at the time Kadirgamar began his work, the terrorist organisation was endeavouring to create the impression within the world community that they were not terrorists, but freedom fighters, and it fell to Kadirgamar’s lot to refute that contention with all the persuasive powers at his command.
“He (Kadirgamar) got the message out loud and clear to the international community, that there cannot be an isolationist approach to terrorism, Sri Lanka may be a country far, far away from the West, but what happens here, undoubtedly has a very direct impact on situations in Western Europe and other parts of the world.”
“He did this with great concurrence, and one of the striking features of the strategy he employed for this purpose was to link the circumstances in Sri Lanka to situations to which there was a sharp focus at the international level.”
The Minister said, a good example is the use that he made of the initiatives of Graca Machel, wife of Nelson Mandela. Graca Machel who, at the time, carried out a great deal of work at the United Nations system, focusing attention on the plight of child soldiers. “Kadirgamar was able to point out the harrowing ordeal of child soldiers in our own country and by doing so was able to rivet the attention of the world community to the unfolding scenario in our own country.”
The inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue: “No sacrifice is too great to preserve the unity of all the people of Sri Lanka”-- from a speech by Lakshman Kadirgamar at Diyatalawa. Pix by Indika Handuwala.
Minister Peiris added that the late Foreign Minister was very firmly committed to a unitary State, a State within which all communities would be able to live in harmony and in unison.” He saw absolutely no contradiction between the pride and the self-esteem of the Tamil people on the one hand, and the cohesiveness of the Sri Lankan nation on the other. He believed these were mutually reinforcing and enriching, rather than mutually exclusive.”
He said that, “another of the deepest convictions of the late Kadirgamar was that the country’s problem has to be resolved within the shores of this island. It is simply not possible to arrive at a sustainable agreement which is evolved overseas, that would not work at all, because one of the pre requisites of sustainability is that a solution must be evolved in keeping with the traditions, the cultural mores of the people and must have a homegrown, homespun quality.”
The Minister said that Kadirgamar, who was a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oxford, and insisted that Oxford had contributed to the ‘icing on the cake’. “In his own words, Kadirgamar insisted that the cake was baked at home, and the University of Oxford contributed to the icing on the cake. I think that is an apt remark, because everything he believed in, the values he held to be sacrosanct, evolved in the context of a national tradition, they derived from the soil of Sri Lanka, and found inspiration in one of the most remarkable personalities of our time.”
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Minister of External Affairs G.L Peiris’ Address following the unveiling of the statue of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, former Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies on Monday, 12 August, 2103, the 8th death anniversary of the late Minister.
Your Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Venerable members of the Maha Sangha, my colleagues in the Cabinet of Ministers, Your Excellency’s, Commanders of the three Forces, Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Executive Director of the LKIIRSS, Ladies and Gentleman.
It is my great pleasure to welcome you all here this morning for an event of unquestionable significance. A few moment ago, His Excellency President Rajapaksa unveiled the statue of the late Foreign Minister the Hon Lakshman Kadirgamar on the 8th anniversary of his death.
Lakshman Kadirgamar has many achievements to his credit. His was in every sense of the word a multifaceted career. But what he is most remembered for today is his singular achievement in turning around world opinion at a critical juncture in the contemporary history of our country. Today, the terrorist organization which arrested Sri Lanka’s economic and social development for three whole decades has been banned by no fewer than 34 countries, but this is not something that can be taken for granted; could not have been taken for granted. At the time Kadirgamar began his work, the extent and magnitude of his achievement has to be assessed in the context of the conditions, which prevailed at that time. The terrorist organization was endeavoring to create the impression in the world community that they were not terrorists, but freedom fighters, and it fell to Kadirgamar’s lot to refute that contention with all the persuasive power at his command. He did so in a variety of ways.
First and foremost, he got the message out loud and clear to the international community, that there cannot be an isolationist approach to terrorism,Sri Lankamay be a country far, far away from the West, but what happens here undoubtedly has a very direct impact on situations inWestern Europeand other parts of the world. These are interlocking, intertwining relationships and Kadirgamar succeeded in making the point with great conviction and emphasis that developments in this country were by no means irrelevant. They were part of the mainstream and were therefore worthy of intense attention on the part of the international community.
He did this with great concurrence and one of the striking features of the strategy he employed for this purpose was to link the circumstances inSri Lankato situations to which there was a sharp focus at the international level.
I can think of no better example for that than the use that he made of the initiatives of Graca Machel, the wife of Nelson Mandela. Graca Machel, at the time carried out a great deal of work at the United Nations system focusing attention on the plight of child soldiers, and Kadirgamar was able to point out the harrowing ordeal of child soldiers in our own country and by doing so was able to rivet the attention of the world community to the unfolding scenario in our own country.
The terrorist organization was banned in theUSAwhen Madeline Albright was Secretary of State. In theUK, there was a debate as to whether in terms of the applicable laws of theUK, this organization could be properly banned. Kadirgamar played a significant role in that debate. He pointed out that in terms of the applicable British legislation, the governing criterion was the method that was used by the organization in question, if they resorted to terror as opposed to persuasion no matter what objective they professed to try to achieve, the methods they used, the resort to terrorism, the recourse to violence, was sufficient in terms of the British legislation to characterize the organization in question as a terrorist organization. So he made a very able and persuasive intervention, on behalf ofSri Lankato bring about a result that the proscription of this organization took place in theUKas well. The proscription of this organization by the European Union meant that 27 countries barred this organization. So that was the extent of his activities in securely the banning of this organization all over the world. That is the most sticking, most prominent achievement that is remembered today, with gratitude and appreciation.
But that achievement sprang from a series of inner convictions on the part of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was a Tamil, the only Tamil Foreign Minister this country has had, and he was convinced deeply, irrevocably, in his own mind that the Tamil culture was something worthy of esteem. He had profound respect for the traditions and culture of the Tamil people and he thought that those traditions were worthy of emulation and perpetration within the national fabric ofSri Lanka. He was very firmly committed to a unitary state, a state within which all communities would be able to live in harmony and in unison. He saw absolutely no contradiction between the pride and the self esteem of the Tamil people on the one hand, and the cohesiveness of the Sri Lankan nation on the other. He believed these were mutually reinforcing and enriching rather than mutually exclusive.
He also realized that whatever solution is evolved to this issue inSri Lankawould necessarily have to take into account the reality that the Tamil community is not exclusively resident in the Northern or Eastern provinces of the island. The majority of Tamil people live in amity as they have done for centuries with the other communities in other parts of the country, in Colombo, in Kandy, in Galle, respecting each others culture without strain or tension, that is the proud history to which we are heirs and Kadirgamar’s thinking was very strongly influenced by the awareness of that noble and salutary tradition. He believed the solution to problems must arise ideally from dialogue, but he also realized that there was inherent risk and danger in making compromise when there was no reasonable expectation of reciprocity. The basis of any productive dialogue is reciprocity, both sides have to commit themselves to the accomplishment of a goal. But Kadirgamar, towards the end of his life, realized full well that the LTTE had no serious commitment to a negotiating process for a fundamental reason – the reason was they were convinced of their military invincibility and therefore they saw no reason to engage in a serious dialogue.
Now, it is this circumspection which was uppermost in the mind of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar that made him strongly oppose the P-TOMS agreement. The P-TOMS agreement was something that attracted a great deal of attention at that time. Kadirgamar was an implacable foe of the P-TOMS agreement because he was conscious of its implications and repercussions and he had no doubt in his mind that this agreement if implemented spelt great danger to the unity and integrity of our great mother land.
Another of the deepest convictions of the late Kadirgamar was that this problem has to be resolved within the shores of this island. It is simply not possible to arrive at a sustainable agreement which is evolved overseas, that would not work at all because one of the pre requisites of sustainability is that a solution must be evolved in keeping with the traditions, the cultural mores of the people and must have a homegrown, homespun quality.
So these were the cherished convictions of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar which infused the whole of his thinking with regard to this issue. Reference was made in the introductory remarks a little while ago to Kadirgamar’s achievement in having the UN system declare Vesak Poya Day as an international holiday. I think this was reflective of another dimension to the character and thinking of the late Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. He was at great pains to point out that the world consist of more than one culture, that there is a whole reservoir of wisdom and worthwhile values entrenched in other cultures and he wanted the world and the UN system in particular to take notice on the impact of those cultural traditions on the resolution of problems that dominate the contemporary world. This was exceedingly successful , particularly during the time of Judge Owada, a Japanese judge as President of the International Court of Justice. For the first time international jurisprudence evolved by the ICJ, began to involve not only sources from Western Europe but the court began to take note of the Dhammapada, Tripitaka, Bhagavath Geetha, Quran and Haggithall of which enriched the collective experience of humanity.
The final comment I would like to make is that Kadirgamar, who was a distinguished alumnus of the University of Oxford, insisted that Oxford has contributed to the icing on the cake. In his own words, Kadirgamar insisted that the cake was baked at home, and the University of Oxford contributed to the icing on the cake. I think that is an apt remark because everything he believed in, the values he held to be sacrosanct, evolved in the context of a national tradition, they derived from the soil of Sri Lanka and found inspiration in one of the most remarkable personalities of our time.
So these Your Excellency, Your Excellency’s, ladies and gentleman are reasons why today Lakshman Kadirgamar is honored by the highest in our land. His statue has just been unveiled by His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is one of our cherished values which we have nurtured over the centuries that we must honor those to whom honor is deserved. That is very much a part of Buddhist tradition ‘poojacha poojaneeyanan’, honour to whom honour is deserved, and in honoring Kadirgamar we honour ourselves; we pay tribute to a man who made a difference, he transformed life in this country in a variety of ways, he touched the life of a nation in many ways and left behind a legacy which is indelibly left in the conscious of the people. That is why President Rajapaksa, the highest in the land now honours the memory of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar.
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