Rajiva Wijesinha

“ But generally countries realize that, to achieve their own interests, they have at least to be sensitive to the needs and desires of all those they are dealing with. Unfortunately, guided by their interlocutors in Colombo, those who should be advising their governments about how to promote mutual interests in cooperation have decided instead to engage in confrontation and efforts to undermine democracy. ”

“ So the willingness to work with government in a positive spirit, which the United Nations has so hearteningly evinced recently, has been put on hold by some donors who still think that aid is a political tool to advance their own interests. ”

“ Some of the urban elite approach arose from what might be termed the lemming effect, their determination to rush headlong to destruction whenever the opportunity arises to turn their backs on the rest of the country. ”

“ There are those who argue that this interference was in fact initiated abroad, and that it was not simply the effect of the chatter in the drawing rooms of Colombo. That is a theory that needs further exploration, especially in the context of the JVP involvement. But we cannot only blame foreigners, we need to consider too the role of our own alienated elite, who feed and are fed on fancies that can so easily translate into weapons of mass destruction. ”