THREAT TO MEDIA
I must say that in a country where the editors, political commentators, opinion writers former killers during the 1987-90 period, political parties, could accuse the government of murder of Lasantha Wickremrtunga and of destruction of the Sirasa/MTV studios there must be some form of press freedom. In addition the usual demonstrations by the media personnel including those who are accused of corruption, against the government are being held without any interruptions by the police or the "agents" of the government. When one considers the degree of braveness of these writers and demonstrators one knows that they are engaged in all these activities since they know that there is no threat to their lives from the government. We did not see this braveness during the regime of Mr. Premadasa from this group of people. On the contrary some had ganged up with the government to kill anybody who was even supposed to have had some connections with the JVP. I know this because I was also accused of connections with the JVP during that time and I myself had to flee the country to save my life.
However, while condemning the above actions one has to be careful before accusing the government for them. There was "bheeshanaya" during the regime of Mr. Premadasa, when Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was a powerful minister, and we did not hear a hum from some of these writers and protestors then. In fact as mentioned earlier some of them were busy eliminating even those who were supposed to have some connections with the JVP. I must also mention that during those days the western ambassadors did not rush to the President's house to complain of threat to media or to accuse the government for the killings. Also no editor called it a war and no Samaritan thought it fit to weep for the innocent people who were victims of the "war". It may be that since there was no war there were no casualties according to the Samaritans.
Once upon a time though not long ago, there was much talk of white vans that were used to abduct people. The government was accused of these abductions and the brave were writing to the press of these perhaps "risking" their lives. However, a white van that had belonged to a UNP MP was discovered and soon the talk of the white vans was dropped. The braves in the country lost a topic until the threat to media was discovered in the tradition of Eureka that exposed the nakedness of Archimedes as well. The specific or just the gravity of threat to media has been very great and the media opposed to the government has gone on a safari and is having a field day.
When Taraki or Sivaram was killed the brave champions of press freedom accused the armed forces more than Chandrika Kumaratunga who was the President then. The Samaritans were hell bent on accusing the armed forces and not the government as such and during Chandrika Kumaratunga's time, and they were prepared to draw a line between the government and the forces. However, the situation has changed since Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse became the President and the armed forces are identified with the government, though the President is still spared of the accusations against the government, showing the degree of braveness of the champions of press freedom. In this context the difference between Chandrika Kumaratunga and the armed forces is important.
The armed forces for some time have been identified with Sinhala Buddhism by the "intellectuals". It was called the Sinhala army until recently and sometimes called an army that occupied the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. The interesting feature is that during the JVP days the army was not supposed to occupy the rest of the country. However, Chandrika Kumaratunga was not identified as a Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinist and the "intellectuals" could draw a line between the armed forces and the President. The government of Chandrika Kumaratunga was not Sinhala Buddhist but the armed forces were Sinhala Buddhist and they were separated from each other. It was the army that was accused of murders and disappearances and not the government.
However, at present the situation has changed. Not only the armed forces but the government, in spite of the Samasamajist and the communist ministers is identified with Sinhala Buddhism and no line is drawn between the government and the forces. However, it is ironical that Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse is not identified with the armed forces, though the political leadership in the present operations is given by the President himself. It is Mr. Rajapakse who has to be identified with Sinhala Buddhism and the armed forces, more than anybody else, and it speaks volumes for the bravery of the "intellectuals" when they spare him of accusations against the government.
Apparently soon after the assassination of Lasantha Wickremetunga the ambassador for USA in Sri Lanka has gone to meet the President and accused the government for the murder. What right has the ambassador got to accuse the government? Did he carry out an investigation? Could the culprit be some agent of a western country or India? The trouble among the middle class in Sri Lanka, especially among the English educated, is that this type of uttering by white skinned "important" people goes a long way in making "public" opinion. The middle class would take the uttering of the ambassador to be the gospel truth and they themselves would claim that even the ambassador has said so. These ambassadors should be told that they are here to represent their countries that cannot boast of press freedom, can anybody in USA engaged in a poster campaign let alone publishing a newspaper, and that they should not interfere with the affairs of our country. Could the Sri Lankan ambassador in USA even dream of meeting Bush and accuse the government of any discrimination? Do they treat all the cultures equal in the so called land of opportunity?
It is not my intention to come to any conclusion regarding the assassination of Lasantha Wickremetunga and the attack on Sirasa. However, one should consider other possibilities without confining to the accusations of the American ambassador. It is known that the current humanitarian operations against the LTTE led by the military genius of Solheim are not supported by the western countries. They have applied pressure on the government and have not assisted Sri Lanka with any military or financial assistance to carry out the operations. The President had to go round the non western world in order to raise funds for the operations. The western countries have been against Sinhalathva for the last five hundred years and at least since the time Dutch occupied the maritime provinces have been supportive of Tamil minority supremacy. In recent times the west has campaigned for Tamil minority supremacy and had applied pressure on various governments to boost the Tamil Chauvinist claim for federalism supported by some Sinhalas as well. It is the Rajapakshe government that did not succumb to western pressure and they have taken the human rights issue "very seriously" unlike during the "bheeshanaya" period. It is clear that the west is not happy with this government not because of the so called human rights record but because the government has now almost defeated the LTTE without bowing down to western pressure. They want the Sri Lankan governments to yield to Tamil minority supremacy and would want to topple the present government that has refused to do so.
One way of toppling the government is to make it unpopular and also create situations where human rights, fundamental rights etc. are violated so that western powers could intervene as necessary. In this regard they are even prepared to sacrifice their own people (billy boys in local parlance) as the lives of people are immaterial when it comes to continuance of western Christian domination in the world. A so called human rights situation could be created even by murdering people and we have to be very vigilant having known how the west has maintained its hegemony over the centuries.
India that wants its so called solution to the "ethnic problem" imposed on us is also waiting for an opportunity and as always opportunities can be created. A government that does not bow down to global or regional powers is not tolerated for long and we have to consider these external factors also in addition to the "internal factors" before coming to any conclusions regarding the assassination and the attack.
Professor Nalin de Silva
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