{"id":55167,"date":"2012-09-26T11:32:39","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T11:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=55167"},"modified":"2012-10-04T11:39:17","modified_gmt":"2012-10-04T11:39:17","slug":"a-lullaby-for-alan-keenan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/a-lullaby-for-alan-keenan\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lullaby For Alan Keenan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"\"<\/a>

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

Alan Keenan<\/a><\/span>,\u00a0Sri Lanka Project Director at the\u00a0<\/em>International Crisis Group<\/em><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0is doing his job.\u00a0\u00a0Good on him.\u00a0\u00a0The man has penned some thoughts:\u00a0\u2018<\/a><\/em>Sri Lanka: time for action, not action plans<\/a><\/span>\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s all about the Sri Lankan Government not doing what Keenan thinks it ought to do.<\/p>\n

This is not the first time that I’ve written about the man.\u00a0 A year ago I referred to him in an article titled\u00a0‘Towards a post-complicit moment for those in pre-slumber slumber’<\/a>\u00a0as part of a series on self-appointed Grand Abbots on All and Sundry.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
True to form, Keenan talks about \u2018some 40,000 civilian deaths\u2019 that are not being \u2018fairly examined\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Where that number came up from, goodness only knows.\u00a0\u00a0But that\u2019s not surprising.\u00a0\u00a0The likes of Keenan have been throwing around all kinds of figures without a shred of substantiation.\u00a0\u00a0And, if you really dig deep (you won\u2019t have to because that\u2019s how shallow these people are), you\u2019ll find that the \u2018primary sources\u2019 are utterly unreliable, and worse, traceable to LTTE operatives or persons who trotted out information at gunpoint.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now just as legality and officialdom was conferred on the infamous Darusman panel by continuous reference to it as the \u2018UN Panel\u2019, Keenan has twisted \u2018recommendation\u2019 (from the UNHRC) as \u2018directive\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0It was not a binding document and Keenan knows this.\u00a0\u00a0And yet, he is horrified that the Government has rejected (in his mind) the commission\u2019s \u2018central finding\u2019 (again, in his mind, for there was no \u2018finding\u2019 as such): \u2018the need to initiate independent investigations.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keenan in essence has rubbished Sri Lankan processes and implied that \u2018independence\u2019 has to be \u2018foreign\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0First we have claims made by terrorists and now we have this ill-informed and sophomoric commentator making grand statement of how things should be done based on an erroneous start-point. Keenan talks about the \u2018well-known Channel 4 video\u2019 but says nothing about the equally well known fact that Channel 4 in that video demonstrates abysmal media ethics and laughable media skills.\u00a0\u00a0They have deliberately lipsticked and eye-shadowed terrorists and their backers as chest-beating, tear-popping innocents.\u00a0\u00a0Keenan feigns ignorance.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He knows that the \u2018UN (sic) panel of experts\u2019 gave a report that was a joke in terms of information gathering and analysis, not to mention horrors such as mis-naming the Secretary of Defence.\u00a0\u00a0And yet, this Mr. I-know-Sri-Lanka-better-than-anyone actually takes the report seriously!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Then he moves on to \u2018talks\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0He blames the Government for not talking with the Tamil National Alliance.\u00a0\u00a0He doesn\u2019t mention that the TNA has played spoilsport from Day One.\u00a0\u00a0He gives the TNA a \u2018moderate\u2019 tag.\u00a0\u00a0Moderate as opposed to, Mr Keenan?\u00a0\u00a0The LTTE?\u00a0\u00a0But you\u2019ve treated the word of the LTTE as Gospel Truth and although that\u2019s not \u2018moderate\u2019 statement it is nevertheless holy, ain\u2019t it?\u00a0\u00a0For him the TNA is \u2018pro-engagement\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Well, the TNA is refusing to submit names to the Parliamentary Select Committee.\u00a0\u00a0Makes sense.\u00a0Being pro-LTTE it is natural for Keenan to evolve into backing the reduced-circumstances articulator of LTTE Word.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keenan then speaks on behalf of Sri Lankans. He knows better than us what we want.\u00a0\u00a0He knows what we \u2018need\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Come off it, Mr. Colonial Residue, we don\u2019t need you to make us inhabit your version of our reality.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ll handle our issues, thank you very much!\u00a0And yes, we do have serious institutional flaws and the constitutional flaws call for much overhaul.\u00a0\u00a0You are not helping, because when people who have conditioned their mind to swallow anything sent their way by pro-LTTE operatives start making prescriptions, the medicine list comes with a caution \u2018Poison\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Helps keep systems intact and makes it possible for system-beneficiaries to rubbish both prescriber and prescription.\u00a0\u00a0Doesn\u2019t help the citizen.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s why we say \u2018It\u2019s ok if you don\u2019t help, just don\u2019t mess things up at this end!\u2019<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Keenan is out of order, but we should not be surprised.\u00a0\u00a0The International Crisis Group has been undressed quite comprehensively (see David Cronin\u2019s\u00a0\u2018International Crisis Group: craving approval from blood-soaked elite\u2019<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0A year ago I did a bit of undressing myself (\u2018Let\u2019s get to know the International Crisis Group\u2019<\/a>).<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This busybody is pretending to sleep.\u00a0\u00a0He therefore needs to sleep for real.\u00a0\u00a0That way he might wake up.\u00a0\u00a0I am not betting on it!\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
**Malinda Seneviratne is the Chief Editor of \u2018The Nation<\/a>\u2018 and his articles can be found at\u00a0www.malindawords.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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