The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were given good wishes last week ahead of their trip to India and Sri Lanka next month, their official website said. They hosted a reception for members of British Indian and Sri Lankan communities at St. James’s Palace. They will make a nine-day visit to India next month before moving on to Sri Lanka, where The Prince will represent The Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
Photo courtesy www.princeofwales.gov.uk
Dushy Ranetunge / October 29, 2013
Lots of Yindians, but the war hero’s seem under cover in the video. A sign of the times. In 1948, we were ahead of India, but now it seems the upper classes of SL have chosen to stay in the shadows allowing the war hero’s to lead us to pariah status….
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Max Silva / October 29, 2013
What a shame that the boot licking so called Tamil diaspora wasn’t invited?Of course they are nothing else but the defeated Tamil terrorists.No Surendran or Rev Singarasa.At least they could have invited the PM of Ealam Rudrakumaran.But alas!it was not to be.Most probably these fellows might have been washing the dishes in the kitchen!
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Seetha Kanya / October 29, 2013
I can’t see any Sinhala-Rajapaksa terrorist economic immigrants too! What’s really going on ;)
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Yasodara Fukushima / October 29, 2013
How can you call our king a terrorist Seetha. Our highly qualified, elite, dilomatic, sensitive leader is like a ‘BO’ plantlet. Charlie uncle also an innocent man although some point a finger at him because of the suspicious death of Princess Diana. Similarly our king is also very innocent. If he feels guilty he wouldnt have presented a report call LLRC, would he?
Our king worked so hard to bring peace to this country. How many times he said that there was zero civilian casuality during the end last part of the war. Why dont you people trust him. After all he is a lawyer. His baby son the heir apperent is also a record breaking lawyer.
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kris / October 30, 2013
What a shame LTTE diaspora thought they can buy any person from their black money, only they were able few UK MP and cheap journalist like Callum Mcrae
What a waste of diaspora hard earn money
Shame Ltte diaspora not invited for Royal party
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JULAMPITIYE AMARAYA / October 30, 2013
KRISSA; [RUHUWAN FRERD]
They bought an Expensive Idiot journo called RUHWAAN FERDINDOS.
And hire Bum suckers like garbage, Mahlindha Sena for cheap propaganda .
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kris / October 31, 2013
Amarayo
Feel jealous
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Penn / October 30, 2013
I wouldn’t trust them even to wash dishes. They are two faced terrorists.
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Max Silva / October 30, 2013
You are correct.Instead we should assign the defeated Tamil terrorists to wash toilets!
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Ramesh Somasunderam / March 26, 2014
What are you stating. Killing innocent civilians by the government of Sri Lanka past and present is not terrorism.
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Thiru / October 29, 2013
This seems to be another world – a world of the royals and their subjects.
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Henry Merrill Fernando. / October 29, 2013
Its the time of change that has come in this century since our Independence in 1948 Ceylon well known in the East and West now called
Sri Lanka were ahead of India in the World scene, but now India is ahead a nation doing well, while SL stayed in the shadows dragging the country back to pariah status by loony misconception Politicians of the present time, while the educated upper rich classes of Sri Lankans chosen to stay silent in the shadows and live abroad. If I may add it also brought about a civil war that ravaged the country over a decade causing genocide of a people which other nations did not like which brought about shame to the country views held under the human rights that has to answered by the regime involved and not very popular in the world scene presently. Some of the commonwealth countries did not want to have this CHOGM held in Sri Lanka, and had protested to the Queen not to go. The tide of change we have to wait and see the outcome.
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Penn / October 30, 2013
Excellent! This is how real politics is done. CHOGM will be a grand success. After it is over MR will turn his attention Northwards.
Prime Minister Rudrakumaran couldn’t get time off work at Hanks Meatball Hutch to attend.
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punchinilame / October 30, 2013
Kamalesh is there representing MR already ahead for the game that both
will play from Novem. next onwards?
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Lankan / October 30, 2013
Prince Charles to Kamalesh Sharma….”when are you resigning your post Kamalesh?”
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Spring Koha / October 30, 2013
The usual gathering of brown sahibs earning their free drinks with a well rehearsed sound bite. What’s not to like?
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Hooker / October 30, 2013
Let’s not fool ourselves, dear chaps. The whole thing is an India-centric affair with a few minutes given to Kandyan dancing. Even our
HC Dr. Nonis is missing. A few from the SL-HC/UK may be.
Hooker
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Javi / October 30, 2013
,In a croak of gold at the end of the rainbow.,
The rich always “run”;
the rich always win;
the rich always have power;
the rich always get the best;
and,
most of all, the rich always break
their promises to the poor fools who
voted for them. LOL
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Len / October 30, 2013
Good to see Charlie talking to humans instead of shrubbery.
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Saroja / October 30, 2013
HRH Prince Charles has been fated with a failed Royal will be confirmed by his visit to Sri Lanka. He has to ignore Tamil nation under military occupation. HRH has to support the continuing detention of Tamil detainees who have been detained for years and years. HRH will not meet the women who have been subjected to sexual assaults and there is a systemic failure. Judiciary has been compromised and he will have to brush aside the de facto chief justice. He will have to act shake hands with war criminals!
see the reports today!http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/10/30/chogm-host-sri-lanka-faces-rights-queries
…
UN will enforce independent inquiry for the 40,000-70,000 lives gone missing. United Nations commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay raised concerns in August about the authoritarian direction Sri Lanka is headed under president Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The rule of law and democratic institutions were being undermined, Pillay said, and the country was taking a worrying “authoritarian turn”.
Amnesty International says surveillance and harassment of human rights defenders, journalists and other citizens is getting worse.
The human rights watchdog’s deputy Asia-Pacific director, Polly Truscott, says countries such as Australia should agree on new measures to address the human rights crisis.
“Given the persistence of human rights violations in Sri Lanka, it would be ludicrous to reward the country with the commonwealth’s chair,” Truscott says.
Amnesty says there is a disturbing term used in the country – “white van kidnappings” – which describes people being bundled into vans and taken away for interrogation.
….
As for human rights abuses, the high commissioner says the UN is biased and those countries electing not to attend CHOGM will make their own decisions.
“We need support, not unfair criticism,” he said.
“There are some complaints that individuals have killed people, but they are punished and we continue to investigate. We are not shying away from any investigation.”
At least one independent report seems to back up claims of progress.
A Royal Commonwealth Society report which measured 168 countries on human rights criteria such as press freedom, democracy and inequality, ranked Sri Lanka 68th in the world, but 14th in the Commonwealth. New Zealand was fifth and Australia sixth in the Commonwealth.
Canadian PM Stephen Harper has said that if the Commonwealth is to remain relevant it must stand in defence of the basic principles of freedom, democracy, and respect for human dignity.
“It is clear that the Sri Lankan government has failed to uphold the Commonwealth’s core values, which are cherished by Canadians.”
Mr Abbott takes a different approach.
“I intend to attend CHOGM and will do my best to make a constructive contribution to the deliberations there,” he said in early October.
“You do not make new friends by rubbishing your old friends or abandoning your old friends.”
Mr Key’s office says while the prime minister agrees there is work to do on Sri Lanka’s human rights record, he is still attending.
Former diplomat Bruce Haigh says it does not reflect well on Abbott that he’s “pretending” no human rights abuses are being perpetrated against the defeated Tamil minority by the Rajapaksa regime.
He says this is because Abbott needs Sri Lanka on his side to stop the flow of refugees.
“It is unlikely that the Australian and Canadian high commissions in Colombo are sending back different information on the situation in Sri Lanka,” he wrote in a recent article for the Canberra Times.
“It might therefore be assumed that the Australian government is formulating foreign policy with respect to Sri Lanka solely on the basis of domestic political considerations.”
Admiral Samarasinghe says Tamils are leaving Sri Lanka not because of persecution but the “pull factor from Australia”, which he believes is an issue only Australia can address.
Sri Lanka is willing to co-operate on getting rid of the criminals behind people-smuggling operations, he says.
Having hosted the 2011 CHOGM in Perth, Australian officials have been helping their Sri Lankan counterparts plan the 2013 event which has the theme “Growth with Equity – Inclusive Development”.
With the eyes of the world on it, Sri Lanka has a chance to prove it is including its minorities in economic and social development.
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Paisa Must Appah / November 1, 2013
Forget everything. The human rights abuses, the CJ issue, the grease yakkas, the white vans, the Tangalle rape & murder. Everything. Now is the time to make some money somewhere. We will never get another chance to host the CHOGM again -maybe for another quarter century or so. So try and use this opportunity to make a quick buck for yourself somehow, someway. And remember, Sri Lankans are clever and ingenious people.International guests will be here soon to enjoy the sun and the Sri Lankan smiles after their hours of handshakes and pointless talks. Even Charles is coming with Camilla. So do your best and try and make some money for yourself. You can start with selling bogus credit cards to the African delegates or snake oil to the British visitors. You can even arrange a deal to import AK 47s from the Afghan delegates, posing as an acquaintance of the SL Army high-up.As for me, im planning to arrange dual-citizenship passports for the Indian delegates for a big, big fee. I have already got my VIP credentials as a very good friend of the CJ ready for the purpose. Good luck to everybody and remember the sun will never shine always.
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