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Nandikadal: Govt. blocks Pillay’s move
View(s):There was panic in the corridors of power that Navi Pillay, the UN Human Commissioner for Human Rights, was going to scatter flowers on the Nandikadal lagoon in memory of those who had lost their lives in the last stages of the war against the LTTE.
The reports were to cause a flurry of activity, both at the External Affairs Ministry and the Ministry of Defence. Officials sought clarification from the UN office in Colombo. They denied any knowledge. Later, senior officials of Ms. Pillay’s entourage were advised that such an action would be considered extremely offensive and could have serious consequences.
Questioned about this at her news conference yesterday, Ms. Pillay was clear that her gesture would have been in honour of the dead.
“About flowers, when I go to any country, I like to honour the victims, all victims, victims of LTTE, soldiers, families,” she said. “I have done this, for instance, in Moscow, done this in Guatemala where they are still doing forensic investigations of bones to establish the identity of the people who were killed by the military.”
“So this is something I like to do and I thought that I could do it here, but were still considering the thing and didn’t finalise it,” she said. Ms. Pillay’s office gave up its efforts after the Government made it clear that the entire Mullaitivu segment of her visit would be cancelled if the request was pursued.
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