Dayan Jayatilleke’s position as Colombo’s ambassador to Paris is under threat because of opinions he aired in the wake of the recent UN Human Rights Commission’s resolution against Sri Lanka, press reports said.
In a series of articles published recently (see here and here), Jayatilleke has warned Colombo of the dangers posed by the resolution and urged the adoption of at least a superficial veneer of reform to ward off the possibility of greater international intervention.
This advice is apparently not welcome. Since publishing the articles Jayatilleke has been sent a letter by the External Affairs Ministry setting out various criminal charges against him and challenging him to respond, the reports said.
Interestingly Jayatilleke served as Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Geneva during the height of Sri Lanka’s military onslaught in the Tamil speaking areas. He made a name for himself there defending Sri Lanka’s slaughter of Tamil civilians with theatrical and fiery speeches framed in quasi realist language blended with name calling and some anti-colonial rhetoric, diplomats stationed in Geneva at the time said.
It appears that Jayatilleke’s realist thought is no longer welcome!
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