Government notes double standards

Cabinet spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella today accused '5 star' democracies of double standards by demanding freedom of assembly and speech and yet condemning a protest staged by an NGO earlier this week at an event attended by some western diplomats.Speaking at the weekly post cabinet press briefing today, the Minister noted that the British Government had allowed protests to take place against President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he had last visited Britain. However he says Britain and a few other countries had objected to the protest staged against a meeting held with the participation of families of the disappeared and some diplomats in Maradana this week.

'There is a feeling that one sector of people are being taken care of by some interested parties with western interests,' Rambukwella said. He also insisted that the police acted in the best way possible to bring the situation under control when tensions erupted at the venue of the meeting in Maradana. A mob had on Monday threatened families of missing people who were attending a meeting organized by a Non-Governmental Organization in Maradana.

The meeting was organized at the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR), at Dean's Road, Maradan to listen to the plight of the families of those missing and was attended by some foreign diplomats as well.Organisers told the Colombo Gazette that one hour into the meeting, which was by invite only, a group of monks and some 20 others had attempted to enter the premises and disrupt the meeting.

The mob hurled verbal abuse towards the families of the missing who were at the meeting and also at the organizers. The police later arrived at the scene but found it difficult to control the mob for several minutes.

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