By Colombo Telegraph –
“I was however faced with certain situations or combination of factors which you are well aware of. Now I will not go into that but I will just say that what I have stood for here has been the following. And it is by standing for these principles and these ideas that we have enjoyed your support, understanding and solidarity. I have stood for the idea that the main duty of a Sri Lankan Ambassador in any part of the world is to represent his or her country in the country or State to which he or she is accredited. Now this does not mean the neglect of the Sri Lankan community but that is not the primary function of a Sri Lankan Ambassador.” says Dr Dayan Jayatilleka, the Sri Lankan to France.
Dayan Jayatilleka
On November 30, 2012, Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka hosted a civic reception, at the Embassy premises, to say farewell to the Sri Lankan community in France.
Dr Jayatilleka said; My second principle was that the ‘Sri Lankan community in France’ meant just that, the Sri Lankan community. It was not my job and in fact it would go against the spirit of what I was doing, to identify myself with or serve one political party, or one faction or one family, or one religious denomination, or one linguistic community, while representing my country that is democratic, that is multiparty, which is multi-faith, multilingual, multicultural and pluralistic. My wife and I thought that it was our duty to represent the totality of Sri Lanka, not simply this or that component which thought that it was by definition privileged, or should be.
Read the full speech here
Safa / December 4, 2012
Well said Dr Jayatileke. Thats what we all must stand for if we want to have a united, strong and prosperous Sri Lanka. People must decide to throw their old baggage and live side by side.
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Ben Hurling / December 4, 2012
Ambassador DJ makes us proud to Sri Lankan.
Compared to embarrassing, corupt & violent family clan, their cronies and henchmen running the country in Colombo.
Hope he will not leave public service altogether. Sri Lanka needs people of his intellect and character in the government.
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C. Wijeyawickrema / December 4, 2012
Sri Lankan foreign service was an anti-national Colombo-crowd run affair.
When Wilmot Prerera was appointed as first ambassador to China in 1957, he could not get even basic things he asked and he finally quit. That was the power of foreign office in Colombo.
Dayan was a non-traditional ambassador. But an ambassador is a person rep of the president. He must do what P wants or get out. It cannot be case of P using D or D using P.
I am glad D has given up his 13+ plan and we only expect him to be reasonable. I hope he has now time to read LLRC documents and see the seven river basin, language-blind ecology-based solution proposed by me as a witness.
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Bedrock Barney / December 4, 2012
You couldn’t speak your mind, you were straight jacketed by the government, you had to conform, yes yes we know. Many, in the past, have had similar excuses.
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gamini / December 4, 2012
Rats starting to desert the sinking ship. Let 2013 dawn with the Promise that all Sri Lankans can move to a system of Governance for all of her citizens, with qeual Rights and a Law and Order System where no one is above. Let Honesty, Decency and Gentlemanliness prevail over Rowdysm. Let us regain the Paradise Lost.
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PresiDunce Bean / December 4, 2012
“An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.”
Henry Wotton, Sr.(English Author and Diplomat 1568-1639)
Sadly, in the case of Sri Lanka’s (present day) “Embassy Duhs”, they are either government sycophants, retired generals (with allegations of war crimes against them) or close relatives of the president who are sent abroad to cover up war crimes and lie on behalf of the ruling family and the majority Sinhalese…standard procedure of any third world banana republic.
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John Bunyan / December 5, 2012
Oh PresiDunce
//Sadly, in the case of Sri Lanka’s (present day) “Embassy Duhs”, they are either government sycophants, retired generals (with allegations of war crimes against them) //
do some research and check how many Political appointees that Mr Barak Obama sent abroad to represent USA. His top fundraisers were given plum posts as Ambassadors.
Vogue editor is set to go to St James Court
Typical case of poor PresiDunce again carried away with his hatred for the present Regime …Beanie , you can howl and howl long , but the present regime is here to stay , geddit ???
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Wuliangguobinjiu / December 6, 2012
Quote”His top fundraisers were given plum posts as Ambassadors.”Un
A case of the blind not just following the blind but advising others to follow the blind! HOoooooooo.
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Wuliangguobinjiu / December 6, 2012
Spot on! Honesty is the best policy and the man who follows it is not an honest man.
The school teacher was no exception but vulgar nulike Nonis therefore the French felt it was necessary to have a new broom to sweep clean.
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John Bunyan / December 6, 2012
//Sadly, in the case of Sri Lanka’s (present day) “Embassy Duhs”, they are either government sycophants, retired generals (with allegations of war crimes against them) //
do some research and check how many Political appointees that Mr Barak Obama sent abroad to represent USA. His top fundraisers were given plum posts as Ambassadors.
Vogue editor is set to go to St James Court
Typical case of poor PresiDunce again carried away with his hatred for the present Regime …Beanie , you can howl and howl long , but the present regime is here to stay , geddit ???
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Wuliangguobinjiu / December 6, 2012
Rajaporkistan don’t know what to do? Repeating record! :)
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John Bunyan / December 6, 2012
Chinkie
stop being a pain in you know where
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Wuliangguobinjiu / December 6, 2012
I’ve only been in love with a rustynail and a mirror. ;) :)
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dicky Bird / December 4, 2012
An Ambassador is not a honest man but a Cunning Man sent abroad to look Honest.
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Punchinilame / December 4, 2012
Now Rajiva his friend is also making the same noise, the rats are jumping off the slowly sinking ship, as gamini says – also in the guise of Patriortism?
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Bandu de Silva / December 4, 2012
C.Jayawickrema says: “When Wilmot Prerera was appointed as first ambassador to China in 1957, he could not get even basic things he asked and he finally quit. That was the power of foreign office in Colombo.”
I do not know who this Jayawickrema is. He says elsewhere he gave evidence before the LLRC. So he must be an important person and well informed too.Though this is not reallly relevant to the issue of Dayan J’s issue,it shows how opinions are made and ‘versions’ creep into the public domain as ‘facts’. My intention is to expose this. i can claim to be the only person around now out of Amb. Wilmot Perera’s diplomatic entourage to China in 1957.I was also the one who accompanied him to Hong Kong on the long 4 day train journey in those days and saw him off on board his ship.
There was no problem he faced with the Foreign Office over things he asked for. I joined him 3 weeks after he arrived. He had already decided to leave China then and sent his family and his Private Secretary, Lionel Fernando, former journalist, to Ceylon a week after I arrived.He had aleardy made up his mind to leave after the Chinese National DAy celebrations on October 1st.In the meanwhile,the Govt’s decision to send Senator Sarath Wijesinghe and T.B.Subasinghe Parly. Secy. (Deputy Minister) of External Affairs as co-leaders of the SL delegation to negotiate the second Trade Agreement was taken as an affront by the Ambassador. He asked me to make travel arrangements for his return before the delegation arrived.My senior colleague, A.T.Moorthy and I had to pacify him. Moorhy with longer experience,told him that it would be better for him to remain above the delegation to intervene only if any problems arose. That was how things turned out finally. Problems arose because the Chinese refused this time to pay the additional premium for Rubber over Singapore base price.The Ambassador had, in fact, conditioned the Chinese mind over this earlier. He thought SL had held the Chinese to ransom by demanding this additional payment. Sarath Wijesinghe argued with the Ambassador later that he had been an Ambassador for China rather than SL Ambassador, and told me he wanted to leave Beijing. Subasinghe listened without showing any emotion. There were other factors where the Ambassador had not persued SLankan govt’s claims. He told me definitively “You shall not take up these issues. Not under me.”
The story is too long to narrate here.What i want to point out is that many things are said about the Foreign Office from mere hearsay and this reference to Wilmot Perera episode is one such.
Bandu de Silva
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Native Vedda / December 5, 2012
Hi Bandu (de Silva)
I am still awaiting avidly to read your rewritten history of my ancestral island.
When are you planning to publish it?
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Mahanama / December 5, 2012
Dayan, Your attitude is impeccably correct in your definition of a Sri Lankan community.It is extremely sad and unfortunate that almost every Sri Lankan diplomat serving in the foreign climes is partisan in their responsibilities when dealing with their own communities in that they differentiate their services according to the wishes of the government that they represent. Sadly our foreign service has lost its former illustrious position when the country could boast of having some of the best men in foreign service who could hold their own with the best in the world when politicians of questionable integrity thought that they could fill the bill with their own henchmen and transformed it into what it farcically is today.Added to this is the pressure being applied on our diplomats by the community rabble groups in those capitals who serve the political dictates of the rulers in the mother country.
Bearing well in mind the political mood of the government that you served you did to your best ability in appeasing those sentiments and helped the nation in many a situation at international forums.You stood out among st others of our diplomat community as the most erudite and articulate negotiator and no doubt fell out of sorts with those who thought otherwise and had a different agenda to satisfy.
Your resignation truly vindicates your integrity.
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Perera / December 6, 2012
Dayan
I feel sorry for you.
You are one of the unlucky Sri Lankan indiviauls.
You were blamed for the JVP killing by President Premadasa and now you are blamed for something which you knew nothing.
This how a failed state will work.
Everyday we learn something new.
Take care – be cautious of your next appointment.
If it is to any part where the Tamil diaspora is living, do reject. Otherwise you will be compel to carry more burden.
Good bye.
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