BLUFFING Of NOOR NISHAM, a lecturer at McMaster University, Canada:

Noor Nisham, a Sri Lankan Muslim, turned his hat and bluffed in an interview to a news reporter of a Singhala news paper in Sri Lanka.  The first question for you is who told you that More than half of the Tamil diaspora in Canada are against the LTTE ?  You also compared the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora to alcoholics and drug addicts.  Shame on you Mr. Noor; being a lecturer in Communication Science you have been used well and paid well by Sri Lankan Government. Your God Allah will not forgive you for communicating lies.  You cannot hide a pumpkin inside a rice pot.  The extract of his interview is attached bellow.

By Rathindra Kuruwita

As a Sri Lankan Muslim living in Canada how do you view the Tamil diaspora? Canada has a large Tamil population and there are many pro – LTTE organizations operating in Canada?

All Tamils in Canada are not pro LTTE but almost all of them are anti Rajapaksa administration. More than half of the Tamil diaspora are against the LTTE but they do not trust the government as well. The good thing about them is that they believe in democracy.
I would like to compare the pro-LTTE Tamil diaspora to alcoholics and drug addicts; their drugs are the dream of Ealam and the LTTE propaganda. If we want them to give up that belief we should create an environment that is conducive for change. These men are still operating in Canada and they collect money from Tamils and try to lobby against the Sri Lankan government.
Since I spend at least four months a year in Sri Lanka I also feel that a similar environment exists in Sri Lankan too. Some Tamils still have the separatist ideology at heart and some Sinhalese look at every Tamil with suspicion. Unfortunately, this is also prevalent among local civil administrators and this attitude is blocking Sri Lankan development. These administrators look at everything with suspicion and in the last two years such administrators have prevented 34 Board of Investment approved projects being carried out in the North and East. So the first thing is to create the right environment and I have suggested that we should transfer these Tamil administrators to the South and the Sinhalese administrators to the North.

You said that there should be an attempt to create an environment conducive for change. Do you think that the government is doing enough to create that environment?

Well, the main tool that the government has is, its diplomatic corps. It can counteract all the lobbying done by the pro LTTE groups. As you know, thousands of LTTE sympathizers took to the streets of Toronto carrying Ealam flags last year and they burned Sri Lankan flags. Did our mission do anything?
Finally it was a few of us that spoke to the Canadian officials to at least stop the protesters from burning the Sri Lankan flags. I mean, why do we need to get involved when there are well paid diplomats living in grand mansions, driving a fleet of cars and live the jet-set life style using government funds? The only thing our diplomats in Canada do is to print a news letter that they send to the highest authorities. In these news letters, they take credit for things done by others as well, for example they used the Canadian government taking action to ban the demonstrators in the news letter claiming that it was their prompt action that prompted the Canadian authorities. These news letters reach the presidents office, Palitha Kohona, Romesh Jayasinghe and a few other similar institutions. And I am sure after reading these news letters Sri Lanka’s top administrators are convinced that their diplomatic corps is doing a great job.

As a resident of Canada and as a member of an ethnic minority you have a better understanding of how the diaspora feels. Therefore, what can the government do to improve their perception of the Sri Lankan state?

The government can start by appointing directors of information to its mission, for example; the mission in Ottawa has none. And the mission in Toronto has no head after the last. So who is there to talk to the people and to spread the government’s message?
I have suggested that the government should appoint qualified and eloquent individuals to missions in countries like Canada and maybe they can recruit Sri Lankan residents in those countries. There are many patriotic Sri Lankans living in Canada who have done a lot more than the diplomats, and their efforts are never appreciated. There were a handful of people who went in front of thousands of pro-LTTE protesters carrying the Sri Lankan flag. Why not use these women that have a good understanding of the Canadian political landscape?

What is your opinion about the panel of experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary General?

I think the panel is a breach of the UN charter. The UNSG can only appoint a panel of this nature only if the UN General Assembly, the Security Council or the Human Rights Commission approves. And he is saying that this panel is appointed according to an agreement he made with President Rajapaksa but a proper look at that joint statement shows that there is no exact mention of this kind of panel.
So, we should use proper political communication to target the other UN members that this appointment is illegal and that we have appointed a commission to look in to these matters. That is the message we should constantly communicate, we should be diplomatic and rational.