What business does the US have with the Sinhala chauvinists in Sri Lanka?
According to a report in the Sunday Times, an English-language weekly in Sri Lanka, three US diplomats, including the deputy head of the US Mission, Andrew Mann, held a meeting on June 23 with members of the Sihala Urumaya (Sinhala Heritage) Party—an extreme right-wing organisation based on virulent Sinhala chauvinism, directed against the country’s Tamil minority. The meeting took place at the request of the US diplomats and was held at the private residence of S.L. Gunasekera, the party’s president. Details of the discussion are unavailable. But when approached by the Sunday Times, the US representatives confirmed that the meeting took place. According to the newspaper report, the meeting erupted in a clash. When US diplomats asked the party’s attitude to minority rights of Tamils and human rights in Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan politicians turned the tables and asked about the same issues in the US. Mann and his colleagues reportedly walked out. But the obvious question is why were the
