Sri Lanka on Tuesday hit back at a certain section of the diplomatic corps based in Colombo for organizing events for a particular region and community in Sri Lanka, that could lead to ‘volatile situations giving rise to the perpetuation of mistrust amongst communities’.
“A certain section of the diplomatic corps appears to be involved in a manner lacking in objectivity, in events organized for a particular region and community. This has led to the emergence of a pattern of such potentially volatile situations giving rise to the perpetuation of mistrust amongst communities at a sensitive juncture in the country’s history,” the external affairs ministry said with reference to an event at the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo on Monday.
A tense situation prevailed at a meeting organized by a NGO named, “Right to Life Human Rights Centre” involving families of disappeared persons from the North and representatives from US, France, Germany, Great Britain and Switzerland missions in Colombo, when, another NGO, the “Dead and Missing Person's Parents Front", had sought access to the meeting, demanding that their grievances be heard too.
Later the US, France, Germany, Britain and Switzerland issued statements condemning the incident and demanding the government to enforce the rule of law.
In yesterday’s statement the ministry also urged the diplomatic community to "be more conscious of local sensitivities when attending events of an emotive nature."