Columbia Cans LTTE ‘Propaganda Event’ Expats Score ‘Quiet Victory’

By a Special Correspondent

Los Angeles, Ca - Responding to protests from the Sri Lankan expatriate community, New York’s Columbia University canceled a panel discussion, slated March 31, that would have given a prestigious platform for Sri Lanka-bashing to LTTE operative Rudrakumaran Viswanathan and two other Tamils.

Titled “The Impact of International Development on the Crisis in Sri Lanka: Various Tamil Perspectives” the discussion was to be held under the aegis of the Columbia University Partnership for International Development (CUPID). The event billed Sellathurai Kanagarajah Dhayaparan, MD, and activist-writer Ahilan Kadirgamar as expert panelists alongside Rudrakumaran.

CUPID’s website described the discussion as “a platform on which students, faculty and all interested parties may engage in a constructive discussion on how the relationship between Sri Lanka and international development organizations affects the escalating ethnic conflict.”

But seasoned LTTE watchers in the Sri Lankan diaspora say they immediately recognized all the hallmarks of a pro-LTTE propaganda stunt and decided to contact university officials.

Undaunted by the fact that they learned about the Tuesday event just twenty-hours before it was to take place, Sri Lankan Patriots, the leading expatriate activist group in Southern California, Australia-based SPUR, and other similar groups went into action with a flurry of emails and phone calls. Some SLP members worked late into the night, ensuring that all Columbia University officials who were connected with CUPID had been contacted.

One CUPID officer who did not wish to be identified said the emails were an ‘eye opener’ and that ‘certainly, more thought needs to go into organizing discussions around volatile topics such as the Sri Lankan war.’

The CUPID website did not provide any reason for the last-minute cancellation other than a brief statement that said: CUPID sincerely regrets that we have had to cancel the event "TheImpact of International Development on the Crisis in Sri Lanka:Various Tamil Perspectives", originally scheduled for Tuesday 3/31. We apologize for any inconvenience and will work to determine whether we can reschedule the event in the future.”

Co-founded by leading world economist Jeffrey Sachs, CUPID’s stated objective is ‘to facilitate multidisciplinary dialogue, awareness, and action on international development.’ However, with a panel composed of non-academics who have strong LTTE- bias, the proposed event did not hold the potential for achieving such goals and was sorely lacking in the credibility associated with an institution such as Columbia. For one thing, Rudrakumaran’s academic background is hazy. He sometimes presents himself to Sri Lankan audiences as a US-based attorney ‘practising in New York.’ He also claims to have studied law at Harvard. Interestingly, CUPID introduces Rudrakuman in its event description as a Juris Doctor (JD) – one who has completed a professional degree in law but has not been licensed as an attorney. There is also no mention of Harvard.

But there is nothing hazy about Rudrakumaran’s ties to the LTTE. In addition to being part of the LTTE’s legal team, he is said to be a ‘political adviser’ for the banned terror outfit.

As for Dr. Dhayaparan, with the CUPID website introducing him as ‘People’s Guides of Tamil Eelam,’ the New York internist’s qualifications to serve as a panelist are as dubious, if not downright amusing.

The LTTE's certain defeat at the hands of the Sri Lankan forces has led to frenzied activity among its overseas operatives and front organizations who are desperately trying to marshal international intervention by presenting outrageous claims of ‘genocide’ and exaggerating incidences of civilian casualties at the hands of the military.

SLP president Podinilame Dissanayake charged that ‘had the panel discussion been held, it would have been yet another platform for LTTE supporters to make wild allegations against the Sri Lankan military in order to build a case for foreign intervention.’

Dissanayake added that open discussion and debate about the conflict, which included all sides, should be encouraged. ‘But this particular discussion was going to be totally one-sided, without any doubt an LTTE- sponsored affair that Columbia University would have been ashamed of.’

He referred to the cancellation of the panel discussion as a ‘quiet victory for anti-terrorist forces’ and credited Consulate of Sri Lanka in Los Angeles with having taken quick action to notify expatriate groups of the event.

This consulate was responsible for a similar ‘quiet victory’ when it effectively countered disinformation spread by M.I.A. on the Tavis Smiley show. The rap singer made the infamous allegation of ‘genocide’ against the Sri Lankan government during an interview on the popular PBS program. The Consulate's negotiations with PBS resulted in Smiley interviewing Foreign Secretary Dr. Palitha Kohonna via satellite and providing an opportunity for the Sri Lankan government to disprove M.I.A.’s unsubstantiated allegations.