http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2012/04/15/fea01.asp


Opinion:
Well-orchestrated drama to sling mud at Sri Lanka
by K.M.H.C.B. Kulatunga
* Hidden hand exposed
* Gunaratnam breached SL, Australia immigration laws
Premakumar Gunaratnam
Dimuthu Attygalle
Australian High Commissioner inSri Lanka
Robyn Mudie
Last week’s horror drama featuring Premakumar Gunaratnam, alias Noel
Mudalige, with the Australian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Robyn Mudie as a
‘support actress’, exposed the concocted stories of the so-called white van
abductions – a money-spinner for local NGO goons and bankrupt Opposition
politicians.
Thanks to the vigilance of the Security Forces, the well-orchestrated drama
to sling mud at Sri Lanka was uncovered in time, thereby exposing the hidden
hand behind the drama which hit headlines, not only in the local newspapers, but
in Australia too.
The million-dollar question is how the Australian High Commissioner Mudie
apparently turned magician to produce the original passport of Noel Mudalige.
When Gunaratnam, claimed to be the leader of the Frontline Socialist Party
(FSP), appeared from nowhere after his well-publicised drama, at the Crime
Detection Branch (CDB) Headquarters in Dematagoda last Tuesday, he did not have
his passport with him.
The authorities then requested the Australian High Commission in Colombo to
issue an emergency travel document to deport Gunaratnam, an adopted Australian
appearing as Mudalige. It was then that the cat came out of the bag as
Australian High Commissioner Mudie appeared at the CDB with the lost passport –
the original Australian passport issued for Mudalige. Only the Australian High
Commission knows how they produced the missing passport in next to no time.
False name
Having migrated to Australia a few years back, Premakumar Gunaratnam has been
appearing as Noel Mudalige, having disposed of his original passport under the
name Gunaratnam. Knowingly or unknowingly, the Australian immigration
authorities had issued a passport to Gunaratnam under another name. By arriving
in Sri Lanka last September using an Australian passport under a false name,
Gunaratnam has violated immigration laws of this country. Furthermore, he has
overstayed his Sri Lankan visa, after the expiry and as a result, his name has
automatically been blacklisted by Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration.
The person, on whose behalf the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka has
been making a big hue and cry and levelling allegations of abduction, is a man
who has breached immigration laws of both Sri Lanka and Australia. Under the Sri
Lanka Constitution, it is a non-bailable offence.
What puzzles Sri Lankans is the big hurry and the level of diplomatic
pressure exerted by the Australian High Commission to rescue a man who has
violated the immigration laws of not only Sri Lanka, but Australia too.
Gunaratnam has been staying in Sri Lanka illegally for more than five months.
His visa had expired five months ago.
Gunaratnam has changed his name three times. The first name, Wanninayake
Mudiyanselage Daskon, appears in his marriage certificate. A different name,
Rathnayake Mudiyanselage Dayalal, is used in his Sri Lankan passport.
Yet another name, Noel Mudalige, was used when he obtained the Australian
passport which he produced on his arrival in Sri Lanka on September 4, 2011.
The FSP, which Gunaratnam claims to head, is a breakaway group of the Janatha
Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Unlike when Wimal Weerawansa, now a minister, and many
seniors left the JVP, Gunaratnam and his rebels have been unable to make a big
impact. Hence, they have been looking for something sensational ahead of their
planned inaugural party convention.
Under the circumstances, the abduction of Gunaratnam and his party’s women’s
activist Dimuthu Attygalle could well be their own initiative. If that is so, it
has been a fruitful venture as Gunaratnam and Attygalle’s names, virtually
unheard before, became popular overnight.
As Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa has stated at a news
conference, the publicity the FSP got ahead of its maiden convention could not
be obtained even for millions of rupees and is easily the best public attention
any political party has got ahead of an inaugural convention.
Foreign hand
At the same time, a hidden foreign hand behind the so-called abductions could
not be ruled out, considering the manner in which the Australian High
Commissioner has acted in this episode.
When there was a split in the JVP, there were many stories doing the rounds.
One such news was that the JVP rebels were planning to join hands with the
rehabilitated LTTE cadre, so that they could jointly prepare for an armed
struggle. The Security Forces were on alert. This led the Ministry of Defence to
make a formal request to the Australian High Commission a few months ago to
obtain any information on Gunaratnam.
The Defence Ministry was compelled to make such a request as Gunaratnam is a
citizen of Australia. The Defence Ministry has requested the date of arrival of
the FSP leader, his passport number and the names he uses. However the Mission
had not responded.
However, the Australian High Commission, upon the request after the alleged
abduction, had given the name of Noel Mudalige. The High Commission has inquired
of a man by the name of Noel Mudalige, claiming that he has disappeared. It was
only at that point that the High Commission has submitted the passport number of
Mudalige and his date of arrival to the Defence Secretary.
The most controversial was the reports on two persons being missing –
abducted by ‘white-vans’. According to local newspaper reports and JVP rebels,
it was their leader Kumar Gunaratnam who was missing. However the Australian
High Commission maintained the fact that it was Australian citizen Noel Mudalige
who was missing. It was not made public that Noel Mudalige and Kumar Gunaratnam
is the same person.
Missing person
If it was not disclosed even at the late stage, the abduction of Kumar
Gunaratnam would have been credited to the Government’s account, to bring
disrepute to Sri Lanka whereas the real Gunaratnam would have gone to Australia
under the guise of Mudalige. Gunaratnam’s name would have remained as a missing
person, having being ‘abducted in a white van’!
The international community and foreign missions should make a careful study
of the Gunaratnam-Attygalle drama. In the past, LTTE cadre have often used
different names and obtained citizenship in other countries, mainly in Canada,
Australia and France. Perhaps, the governments of those countries were unaware
of this ploy. No country or government could be accountable for gimmicks of this
nature where a person goes missing and emerges in some other country with a
different name to obtain fresh citizenship or permanent residency.
International organisations, which portray themselves as the godfathers of
human rights, should first and foremost look into matters of this nature. Over
the years, there have been many allegations against the Government about people
who have gone missing after the humanitarian operation. However, none of these
INGOs have ever considered their true circumstances. How could a government or a
country be accountable when there are people who duplicate their names and
obtain fresh citizenship in another country?
In this context, one wonders how many people who claim to be missing must be
in living in countries such as Canada and Australia under different names. Their
original names would remain in the lists of persons who have gone missing. No
government would ever be able to find their whereabouts as they appear under
different names in different countries. Is this the good governance that the
West has been preaching?
Could anyone say that the Australian government did not know Gunaratnam has
been using a different identity and has taken citizenship in Australia? Could
anyone say that the Australian authorities were unaware that Gunaratnam came to
Sri Lanka under a false name? How could an Australian lead a political party in
Sri Lanka? Is this what the West call good governance? These are the questions
that have to be answered by these authorities and INGOs.
Constructive criticism
While the Government is responsive to constructive criticism, it is important
that allegations of a volatile nature be based on facts properly ascertained and
objectively assessed. Whenever a person chooses to withdraw from the community
for personal reasons, or with the deliberate intention of causing embarrassment
to the government or his/her native country, it is grossly unfair to arrive at
the conclusion that there had been an abduction and point a finger at a
legitimate State.
This has been the order over the years and now seems to reflect a recurring
pattern. It is crystal clear that interested parties, both here and abroad,
target Sri Lanka in international fora on the flimsiest of evidence. What is
lacking by way of evidence seems to be amply compensated by emotion, surmise and
invective.
Those who made vigorous statements - leaders of political parties, academics
and civil society activists on abductions of Gunaratnam and Attygalle never
considered these stark facts. All these persons were united in making a variety
of grave allegations, the gist of which is to impute responsibility on the
Government for an alleged abduction. Gunaratnam was deported from Sri Lanka
because his stay in this country was in breach of the island’s immigration laws
and therefore illegal.
On the other hand, Attygalle, at a news conference on Tuesday, after she was
released by an unknown party, has alleged that the JVP was behind their
abduction. This statement could not be taken lightly as the JVP was all out to
eliminate their breakaway group. Moreover, the JVP has such a notorious history.
There are many features relating to the alleged abduction which throw
considerable doubt on the reliability and trustworthiness of the version of
events which have been released to the media. The abduction of Gunaratnam is
alleged to have occurred at 4.00 am on April 7, but a complaint to the Police
was made only at 4.10 pm in the afternoon - 12 hours later.
A complaint on Attygalle’s abduction was made 31 hours after her
disappearance. It is quite obvious that a genuine abduction would have been
reported to the Police far more swiftly.
The Gunaratnam drama is an eye-opener to all, especially to some of the
countries in the West which point accusing fingers at the Government the moment
a person goes missing. There is no doubt that a legitimate government is
responsible for the safety and well-being of its citizens. However that does not
mean that a government should be held responsible for persons who deliberately
go missing after changing names and obtaining different citizenship under false
names.