HE SL ambassador in Nepal leaves political refugees in streets!

Sunday, 26 April 2015

Sri Lanka’s ambassador W.M. Seneviratne, who identifies himself as His Excellency the Ambassador, thinking that he is above president Maithripala Sirisena, who has insisted that he be not referred to as the HE, has dropped the Sri Lankan journalists, who had a very narrow shave in Nepal, from frying pan into the fire, say sources in Kathmandu.

Acting on a message received from foreign affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera around 7.00 this morning, the journalists walked more than six kms through the debris and dead bodies, and reached the Sri Lankan embassy only to find it closed, with the gates padlocked. Then they went to the ambassador’s official residence and met him, who had told them to be at the airport at 9.30 am with their passports.

Trusting the ambassador, the journalists had returned to the place they had been staying, kept their computers and two clothes each, and distributed the kitchen equipment, their pillows and mattresses among the Nepalese people, with whom they had shared their lives, but now affected and rendered helpless by the earthquake. After that, they had gone to Kathmandu international airport with the hope of coming to Sri Lanka on board the Sri Lanka Air Force special plane that had arrived with relief goods. 

They had asked protocol officer Niranjala, who had been in charge of the plane, to include them in the Sri Lanka bound passengers list. She has asked them to come closer to the plane, but they noted that they could not do so due to security arrangements and kindly asked her to come to them and escort them to the plane. She first told them that she would have to get the ambassador’s permission for that, but later insisted that she could take them in only if they arrived near the plane by themselves. Becoming more helpless, the journalists tried to telephone the ambassador, but could not reach him. Later, both Niranjala and the ambassador kept their mobile phones switched off.

In the meantime, the AF plane left for home with 35 passengers. The helpless Sri Lankan journalists were more saddened when they saw that diplomatic officers of India, China and the EU, displaying flags of their respective countries, helping their countrymen prepare for evacuation.

The end result is that the deployment of ‘diplomuts’ like W.M. Seneviratne, who cannot put two letters together to write a coherent letter, but has only bodily prowess, leaves persons who become vulnerable due to such disasters, on the streets.