It was Dilan Fernando, D Phil student in Biochemistry/Immuno Genetics and President, Oxford Sri Lanka Society, who said sorry over President Rajapaksa's inability to address the Oxford Union on December 3.
It has come to light that Fernando had interacted with a Sri Lankan Parliamentarian to have the Oxford Union invite President Rajapaksa for a second time.
Even the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in London was unaware of the organising until the Foreign Office had contacted the Mission for logistical support.
Thereafter, Fernando had liaised with the nominated MP, a deputy at the Mission and a Sri Lankan envoy serving in another European station to organise what turned out to be a disastrous event. He is blaming everyone else other than himself for the fiasco. This is what Fernando said in an e-mail to colleagues and friends:
Subject: RE: Invitation to the Felicitation Ceremony and the Second Address of H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka
Dear Friends,
" I regret to inform you that the Felicitation Ceremony and Address of H.E. the President has been cancelled.
"The Oxford Union President James Kingston capitulated to pressure from the Tamil Tiger support groups and withdrew the invitation after the President arrived in the UK. We regard this as a huge insult to our country.
"I apologise for the inconvenienced caused. However, it was a matter beyond our control."
Yesterday he issued a statement (please see page 1 story).
This is how another Sri Lankan in Britain describes various student bodies in Oxford:
"In Oxford University, there are so many pocket associations and sangamayas set up by the students who have come from different ethnicities and countries. There are Indian students, Bangladesh students, Turkish students, Chinese students like that. All those students have their own association. They organise annual events. Some bring artistes from their countries or prominent figures for lectures. Whatever they intend do, they have to get permission from the University authorities.
"Then only they allow students to use university letterheads to send invitations with the Union secretary's signature. Thus Sri Lanka students have their own Sri Lanka association and there are only 16 students in it.
All of them are Sinhalese. Twelve Tamil students study there but they are not in this association. 16 Sinhala students are also divided into two. So the President's event was organised by 8 Sinhala students. Their leader Dilan Fernando is the one who had shown interest in the President making a second address.
"Oxford Union (OU) is a completely different one. It has nothing to do with other student associations. None of the Sri Lankan students studying in Oxford today is in the OU at least as a committee member. When we hear about the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike or Mr Lalith Athulathmudali's Oxford days and their activities in the Student Union, it is important to know that it was the main Oxford Union. They are not the pocket sized sangamayas.
The missing warning
Amidst the Oxford fiasco, External Affairs Ministry's senior bureaucrats are talking of a confidential report sent by Nihal Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka's High Commissioner in Britain.
Did it reach President Rajapaksa? Insiders at the 'Palace' say some of the latest reports had not reached his desk. They say the President has asked his Secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, to go into the matter.
The Sri Lanka High Commission in London has nine full time diplomats. They include two top Army officers serving as Defence Attache and Deputy. The top defence position carries the same salary as the head of the mission.
The confidential report, they say, strongly advised the President against making the doomed visit this week.
Dead student monk suspended
Sri Jayawardhanapura University Vice Chancellor Prof. N.L.A Karunaratne sent letters of suspension on Friday to 43 students.
Among them was a letter addressed to a deceased student monk. He had passed away in June this year due to natural causes.
Muddle over Zardari visit
The fallout from the official visit to Sri Lanka by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari was a talking point in diplomatic circles.
Sections commented that his host, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had breached protocol twice. The first was to visit the Bandaranaike International Airport to receive Mr. Zardari. That no doubt was an expression of goodwill, for Pakistan has been a strong supporter of Sri Lanka in its campaign against Tiger guerrillas and the host President wanted to show some special appreciation.
But the second was different. That was by going to Britain on Monday whilst a State guest, the President of Pakistan, was still in Sri Lanka. The visiting President left only the next day in his Falcon jet that lay parked at the BIA.
Some wondered whether the External Affairs Ministry officials had briefed President Rajapaksa correctly. A farewell call by the host on the visiting State guest is part of protocol and procedure. However, in this instance, there was none. Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne was to see him off -- from the BIA.
President Rajapaksa was also disappointed with External Affairs Ministry bureaucrats over the invitation list for the banquet he gave in Mr. Zardari's honour. One of those who was conspicuous by his absence was Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa, the President's elder brother and head of Parliament. His aides say the invitation arrived after the banquet.
As a result of this, President Rajapaksa has requested the newly appointed Deputy External Affairs Minister Neomal Perera, to oversee matters related to administration in the EAM. He got down to business straightaway by chairing a meeting of officials in the Ministry this week.
Besides envoys from Islamic countries, India's High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, the amiable Ashok Kant, was an invitee for the banquet.
Road closures for President Zardari's movements led to traffic snarls and complaints of long delays by motorists. An External Affairs Ministry source said Mr. Zardari rejected offers for the use of an Air Fore helicopter and preferred to travel by road.
All black Bahu at Tiger show
It was "Maveerar" or Great Heroes observations in Britain. One event was held in a soccer club premises in the London suburb of Harrow by a group styling itself the Tamil Forum.
Who should come all clad in black and deliver a speech - Dr. Wickremabahu Karunaratne, the leader of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP).
Table manners of
ex-Speaker's son
Udith Lokubandara, son of former Speaker W.J.M.Lokubandara, spoke in Parliament during the Budget debate on Thursday.
He directed much of his criticism against the UNP of which his father was an MP from 1977 and a Cabinet Minister thereafter. He was also the party's nominee for the post of Speaker in 2004.
He said his "apppachchi' (father) was not treated well. "My appachchi was the Leader of the House when the UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe ‘began his love affair’over the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) with the LTTE. He did not even know about it until it was signed," the young Lokubandara complained.
He also spoke of discipline and transparency in the SLFP as opposed to the UNP.
However, when sitting was suspended last Thursday after the turmoil of the Jayalath Jayawardena episode, he was spotted seated on a table. Talk of discipline?
Peiris in hospital
Amidst the Oxford fiasco, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, was temporarily hospitalised in London. One of his immediate visitors was Kshenuka Seneviratne, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
She had been tasked to travel to London and help in arrangements for President Mahinda Rajapaksa's planned address to the Oxford Union on December 3.
Danger marks on toilet
We Sri Lankans know to laugh even when adversity strikes. That's probably what kept the nation ticking during the three decade long bloody insurgency.
The joke that came back on Friday with the VVIP entourage that went to Britain after a harrowing journey to Heathrow airport was that many in the Sri Lankan delegation had not been to the toilet for the duration of their five day stay in London.
The reason being; that each time they went to any toilet in the hotel they found a board "WC" on the door. They had shuddered at the very thought of entering. They had thought 'WC' meant "War Crimes".
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