Athas Replies to Govt’s False Propagandas against Him

Babe Govt teaching on Journalism for senior journalist Athas

(October, 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Sunday Times defence correspondent Iqbal Athas who has come under a fresh attack by the government is challenging the administration to press charges against him for any alleged offence committed under the prevailing laws. He has charged that instead of being both the judge and the jury about the contents of his defence column and attributing motive, the Government should press charges if he has committed any offence.

The government defence ministry website defence.lk slated Athas Tueasday and alleged that despite being a senior journalist, Athas has practiced his profession irresponsibly and passed on military sensitive information to the enemy through his columns, written unsubstantiated stories without obtaining or checking the official versions and demoralised the troops.

Refuting all charges raised against him, Iqbal Athas said this was a typical governmental response when embarrassed. "My writing has exposed corruption in the defence establishment. The traitor’s title is easily conferred upon any journalist refusing to toe the government line, but a journalist’s duty is to expose corruption and that’s what I have been doing," he said.

Challenging the government to prosecute him for any legal breaches, the international award winning journalist claimed to have undergone continued harassment and intimidation and charged that this reflected the state’s reluctance to resort to the legal mechanism for action.

"I do not claim special privileges as a journalist. I believe in exposing corruption and educating the masses through my writing. The course of action taken by the government is self explanatory and people now know why I come under attack," he added.
He also traced the government’s reaction to be a direct reaction to his repeated exposures on the controversial MiG 27 deal.

Responding to the charge that his stories were unsubstantiated, Athas said the government had sat in judgment on what he wrote whereas the rest of the world knew that the government had something to hide.

He added that the government has not attempted to officially refute his reports and alleged the objections are being specifically raised at a time when the controversial MiG deal is being written much about.

" What the state must understand is that the information I receive does not fall from the sky. I obtain information from reliable sources and these are military personnel who can’t bear to witness the ongoing corruption. Dilution of content is not possible simply because we are threatened overtly and covertly," he said.

As for demoralising troops through his writing, Athas added that while he is targeted today, all journalists who expose corruption could come under attack in the future. "They could attempt to silence the entire media community critical of them," he said.
"One thing is clear. The defence authorities on the one hand claim that I am not under threat anymore. On the other hand, they maliciously conspire to bring me to disrepute and extract a negative public reaction towards me which in itself is a threat."

When asked whether he was contemplating taking legal action, Athas said he was studying all possible avenues but quipped, "the defence establishment is obviously against me. That is not a new thing. I am mindful of the fact that even legal and investigative mechanisms come under the same state."

The government attack on Athas renewed Tuesday as the senior journalist resumed his regular column a fortnight ago after a brief self imposed censorship following a blistering government attack on him. He was overseas following security threats and has returned home to resume work.

Courtesy –Morning Leader