‘Review your stand’ - Sri Lankans tell Obama

By Mendaka Abeysekera in New York
The Consortium of Sri Lanka Expatriates has requested United States Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama to review his stand on the Sri Lankan crisis in the name of democracy and fair play.

They pointed out that the Senator’s comments on Sri Lanka appeared as if he had been misled either by the lobby of the Tamil Tiger terrorists or misguided media.

In a letter to Obama, the consortium said that they looked forward to seeing him becoming the leader of the free world. Their letter also pointed out that the United States needed a directional change and not simply being politically correct. “You are the leader who can do so and our best wishes to you,” the letter noted.

“In Sri Lanka a democratically elected government is being compelled to fight a heavily armed outfit of terrorists who are attempting to carve a mono ethnic unit only for 8% Tamils. Even the Tamil leaders have mentioned openly that they do not support terrorism.

“Please do not be misled by LTTE lobbyists who always try to compare ANC struggle in South Africa and other similar struggles with that of LTTE. Remember ANC fight was against the tyranny of the white minority. Sri Lanka is completely a different case,” the Consortium of Sri Lanka Expatriates said.

Senator Obama is reported to have recently characterised the conflict in Sri Lanka as a ‘vicious civil war.’

He described the Sri Lankan crisis as the inability of people to accommodate others “who are not like us,” and mentioned Sri Lanka as an example, pointing out that war rages even when “everybody there looks exactly the same.”