Initially, President Mahinda Rajapaksa was invited to address the prestigious Oxford Union in the United Kingdom, but then bringing back memories of colonial harassment from over 60 years ago, Sri Lanka's First Citizen was told that he was no longer wanted at the Oxford Union, and that too after he had reached the UK.
And then, as if to insult Sri Lankans' level of intelligence, the mighty British claimed that the speech was cancelled because they "couldn't guarantee adequate security" for the President.
Even though it's tempting to explain what happened over the week along the lines of modern day colonialism, what really took place was probably worse than that: One of the most outspoken champions of global peace and security, the British, succumbed to pressure exerted by the supporters of a banned terrorist organisation.
To deconstruct the events that took place, The Nation turned to one of the world's leading and most sought after international terrorism experts, Professor Rohan Gunaratna. Among the many positions he [...]
