Info to Channel 4 raises another question on Fonseka’s discipline: Dallas

The Cabinet has not met as scheduled yesterday, instead a special media briefing was held at the Government Information Department this morning where Ministers G.L. Peris and Dallas Alahapperuma expressed their views.

Addressing the media, Transport Minister Dallas Alahapperuma said that it was not so important as to how Channel 4 had obtained the information claimed to have been smuggled out of the place where Former Army chief General (retired) Sarath Fonseka is under detention. The important fact was the way Fonseka had misused certain facilities provided him on humanitarian grounds by the President.

“This in itself raises another question of breach of discipline on the part of the former Army commander,” said the Minister.

Channel 4 championed Prabhakaran as the hero of the Tamils during the war. But it is sad to note that the same Channel 4 is now portraying Sarath Fonseka as the hero of the Sinhalese, stated Minister Alahapperuma. He asked what the stance of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was on this sorry situation.

Enterprise Development, Industrial Policy Investment Promotion Minister Professor G.L. Peiris said that an organization, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has published an unfavourable report on Sri Lanka and its human rights situation.

That was to be expected as the two members of the ICG who were the main architects of the report were none other than Louise Arbour who was the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the other member being Gareth Evans, a former Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia.

This report does not represent the views or aspirations of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka but only the aspirations and the demand for a Tamil homeland from the Tamil diaspora. Only those living here know what they want and a diaspora does not know or care what those living here want, said Prof. Peiris.