{"id":121270,"date":"2014-03-09T00:17:31","date_gmt":"2014-03-08T18:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=121270"},"modified":"2014-03-16T17:53:05","modified_gmt":"2014-03-16T12:23:05","slug":"the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/","title":{"rendered":"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Malinda Seneviratne<\/a><\/span>\u00a0–<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNHRC<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 That\u2019s United Nations Human Rights Commission.\u00a0 Key term, \u2018Human Rights\u2019.\u00a0 The UN system has all kinds of organizations mandated to deal with fairly well defined spheres of concern.\u00a0 \u2018Human Rights\u2019 does seem all-encompassing and that\u2019s both good and bad.\u00a0 Good because it provides comprehensive cover. Bad because it makes for selectivity.<\/p>\n

The current moves in the UNHRC against Sri Lanka, by a well-known incompetent to boot, shows up the negative rather than affirm the positive.\u00a0 The draft resolution authored by the USA, for example, menti<\/p>\n

\"Malinda<\/a>

Malinda Seneviratne<\/p><\/div>\n

on issues such as rule of law, judicial matters, \u2018healing and reconciliation\u2019 (whatever that might mean), independent oversight of security system (a recipe for insecurity, surely?), institutional reform (good governance from above?), sexual and gender based violence, devolution of power etc.\u00a0 They might as well have added things like water supply and sanitation, organic agriculture, protection of forest cover, medicines free of the pharmaceutical mafia and polythene-free packaging among other things.\u00a0 It\u2019s that ridiculous, folks.<\/p>\n

The authors have interjected liberally a lot of vague terms but nothing as ridiculous as \u2018widespread, \u2019followed of course by \u2018allegations\u2019.\u00a0 Now anyone anywhere can allege any number of things.\u00a0 What gives weight to allegation is \u2018widespread\u2019.\u00a0 How is widespread wrought, though?\u00a0 Longtime Tiger-lover Bishop Rayappu Joseph<\/span><\/a> sending a note to Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu<\/span><\/a> and Sara saying something to Jehan<\/span><\/a> which Jehan whispers into Nimalka Fernando<\/span><\/a>‘s ear and which Nimalka passes onto Callum Macrae<\/span><\/a> and which Callum emails Frances Harrison<\/span><\/a> and the whole bunch of them cross-posting this same message to each other and to ready recipients such as Michele Sison, John Rankin, David Cameron, Samuel Harper, John Kerry, Navi Pillay etc., etc., is that how?<\/p>\n

The Rule of Law Index 2014, recently put out by the World Justice Project, which measures how the rule of law is experienced by ordinary people around the world, covering 100,000 households and 2,400 expert surveys in 99 countries has yielded some numbers the UNHRC should reflect on.\u00a0 South Asia is the worst region but within South Asia, Sri Lanka bests the biggies India and Pakistan by quite a margin when it comes to absence of corruption (SL 39th<\/sup>, India 72nd<\/sup>, Pakistan 91st<\/sup>), fundamental rights (SL 56th<\/sup>, India 63rd<\/sup>, Pakistan 92nd<\/sup>), order and security (SL 59th<\/sup>, India 95th<\/sup>, Pakistan 99th<\/sup>), and in the overall \u2018Rule of Law\u2019 category is placed 48th<\/sup>, whereas India is 66th<\/sup> and Pakistan 96th<\/sup>. Begs the question: how about some knuckle-raps on the rest of the region, Navi Pillai?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider the USA.\u00a0 What\u2019s the \u2018Rule of Law\u2019 situation there?\u00a0 We can talk about institutionalized racism in the form of racial profiling, spot-checks, arrests, convictions and so on. We can talk of police brutality. We can talk of sexual and gender based violence. We can talk of freedom of expression or lack thereof, citing \u2018action\u2019 on protestors from the November 1999 anti-WTO protests to the wave of Occupy Wall Street protests.\u00a0 We can talk of the prison industrial complex and slavery 21st<\/sup> Century style.\u00a0 Let\u2019s consider some facts.<\/p>\n

African-Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population and 14 percent of the monthly drug users, but 37 percent of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America. Studies show that police are much more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites. In New York City, 80 percent of the stops made by the NYPD were blacks and Latinos, and 85 percent of those people were frisked, compared to a mere 8 percent of the white people stopped. After being arrested, blacks are 33 percent more likely than whites to be detained while facing a felony trial in New York. In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that blacks receive 10 percent longer sentences than whites through the federal system for the same crimes.\u00a0 African-Americans are 21 percent more likely than whites to receive mandatory minimum sentences and 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than white drug defendants. In a 2009 report, two-thirds of the criminals receiving life sentences were non-whites. In New York, it is 83 percent. Blacks make up 57 percent of the people in state prisons for drug offenses. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that a black male born in 2001 had a 32 percent chance of going to jail in his lifetime, while a Latino male has a 17 percent chance, and a white male only 6 percent.\u00a0 Why is Navi Pillai not worried?<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t the UNHRC worried about the fact that in the USA, nearly 1 in 5 women are estimated to have been victims of rape?\u00a0 Is it not worrisome that the USA is No 6 in the list of countries with the highest rape rates?\u00a0 What do we make of the fact obtained by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) that 1.27 million American women were raped in that year alone (equivalent to one woman every 29 seconds) and that 5.1 million women were stalked (one every 7 seconds)? So what about the human rights of women in the USA and why aren\u2019t there resolutions against that country?<\/p>\n

If you want \u2018human rights\u2019 we could talk of all the atrocities committed in battlefield, through drone attacks and on prisoners in holding facilities.\u00a0 If you want \u2018demilitarization\u2019 (another word in the document), we can ask \u2018Why do you still have troops in Japan almost 70 years after the end of World War II?\u2019\u00a0 For each and every line of censure in this document, a bad-behavior file ten times as thick can be thrown at the USA (and of course India, UK, Canada and other resolution-supporters).<\/p>\n

And yet, even in these days of dark clouds over Ukraine and the threat of big powers clashing, \u2018Geneva\u2019 seems to think that Sri Lanka is bigger than Ukraine, Russia, the USA and the EU put together.\u00a0 Strange.<\/p>\n

For all this, the resolution on (sic) Sri Lanka (read, \u2018against Sri Lanka\u2019) is not a \u2018tightening\u2019 considering the wording in the 2013 document?\u00a0 If it is indeed a tightening, does it amount to pinch, punch or strangulation?\u00a0 Well, those who were salivating at a choking-prospect are dismayed.\u00a0 That should say something.<\/p>\n

At best it is a lazy (tired?) upgrading of the 2013 document (upping, if you will) that appears like a copy-paste exercise from some good-governance guidebook.\u00a0 There are keywords, though.\u00a0 There\u2019s \u2018concern\u2019 and \u2018deep concern\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018alarm\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018taking note\u2019 of this and that.\u00a0 There is \u2018recollection\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018reiteration\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018affirming\u2019 and reaffirming\u2019. There is \u2018report\u2019.\u00a0 There is \u2018allegation\u2019.\u00a0 There is underlying assumption. No, \u2018assumption\u2019 is not a keyword, don\u2019t get us wrong here; it is the thread that loosely ties one paragraph to the next and the next.<\/p>\n

Reading through the litany of woes (reports of woes, to be precise) and the usual disclaimer about \u2018intimidation and retaliation against civil society members\u2019 (who, by the way, roam around Colombo and party to their hearts\u2019 content), one might think the authors are talking about Albuquerque, New Mexico or Anaheim, California.\u00a0\u00a0 One could also think of places in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other places where the Democracy Squads of the USA have opened the doors to \u2018sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, intimidation of and reprisals against human rights defenders, members of civil society and journalists, threats to judicial independence and the rule of law\u2019.\u00a0 The USA has not only \u2018opened the doors\u2019 but done the honors too, let us not forget.<\/p>\n

So we have exaggeration. \u00a0We have selectivity too.\u00a0 Come on, there\u2019s worse stuff being \u2018reported\u2019 in other countries but no finger-wagging \u2018no-no\u2019 resolutions being tabled in the UNHRC about them.\u00a0 \u00a0Really, if this is what the UNHRC is about, and if it is indeed serious about right all (assumed) wrongs, the sessions should be 12 months long, for that\u2019s the time it would take to table, debate, listen to submissions and counter-submissions, prepare texts, pencil in amendments, take votes etc., on all the countries that deserve this kind of \u2018censure\u2019.<\/p>\n

And yet, this is still a watered-down resolution of the kind that would upset the delicate sensibilities of the likes of Fr (sic) Emmanuel, Navi Pillay, Callum Macrae, Frances Harrison, Louise Arbor, David Cameron and other Sri Lanka haters.\u00a0 Indeed it is surprising that the USA, such a mover and shaker, such a lover of those who love to hate Sri Lanka, has not upped the ante here.\u00a0 Makes one wonder.<\/p>\n

Is it that the USA fears a harsher document would get shot down because a) it is ridiculous, b) the membership has bigger things to worry about, or c) Sri Lanka might call the US bluff and say \u2018ok, let\u2019s investigate all atrocities committed by all parties from 1975 to 2009, India included, and if you want post-war stuff, let\u2019s go with that too; and since we need the world to be lovely let\u2019s extend the logic to include all nations, happy?\u2019<\/p>\n

It might be that in the aftermath of Obama\u2019s \u2018cost-warning\u2019 to Russia over Ukraine (which didn\u2019t stop Russia) and John Kerry\u2019s \u2018you can\u2019t invade a country on a trumped-up pretext in the 21st<\/sup> Century (although we invaded Iraq), the USA is worried that some countries might begin to figure out that Washington was, is and will always be full of sh**.\u00a0\u00a0 Some might even think that they would be digging their own graves by saying \u2018aye\u2019 to this blatant bullying, meddling, destabilizing and indeed wrecking the chances for peace and reconciliation.\u00a0 It might even upset India, come to think of it.<\/p>\n

Since \u2018Ukraine\u2019 remains unresolved and signs are that Obama may have to eat his words, voting representatives at the UNHRC might do a re-think of \u2018best do what boss says\u2019.\u00a0 If someone, anyone, gives the boss the finger then \u2018bossness\u2019 is under threat and a threatened boss can\u2019t exactly throw his weight the way he did before.\u00a0 Is that the problem, one might ask.<\/p>\n

With regime-change fanatics betting heavily on a fillip from Geneva, this kind of watering down will be seized by the Government as a victory that\u2019s sweet and, all things considered, adequate.\u00a0 If this is what all the frenetic lobbying by powerful persons (US and UK envoys in Colombo were canvassing the support of the voting members in blatant violation of protocol; this too is indicative of desperation) yielded, it is a sad indictment on their powers of persuasion. That too will be noted by the Government.<\/p>\n

Let Sri Lanka not entertain any illusions. The deck is stacked.\u00a0 Against Sri Lanka.\u00a0 Watered down or otherwise.\u00a0 The watering down, however, constitutes a \u2018blinking\u2019 on the part of Uncle Sam.\u00a0 Let Sri Lankans have no illusions.\u00a0 A \u2018come down\u2019 on the part of the USA would do the country good, but that does not mean Sri Lanka is a perfect nation. Its imperfections are many and quite apart from the fact that many imperfections flow from a flawed constitution, the arrogance of the powerful and a manifest reluctance of fixing the democracy-gap embedded in the constitution is not something to cheer about.<\/p>\n

*Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation\u2019\u00a0and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":105560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-08T18:47:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-03-16T12:23:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"135\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/\",\"name\":\"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-08T18:47:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-16T12:23:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg\",\"width\":\"130\",\"height\":\"135\",\"caption\":\"Malinda Seneviratne\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2014-03-08T18:47:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-03-16T12:23:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":130,"height":135,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/","name":"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","datePublished":"2014-03-08T18:47:31+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-16T12:23:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","width":"130","height":"135","caption":"Malinda Seneviratne"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-politics-and-humbuggery-of-the-united-states-of-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Politics And Humbuggery Of The United States Of America"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/Malinda-Seneviratne-150x150.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121270"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121764,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121270\/revisions\/121764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}