(October 26, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Sri Lankan government decision not to give publicity about deaths of combating government forces has been taken lightly by the extremist patriot parties JHU and Weerawanse group. The government announced its decision following media publicity about the scandal involving the government’s official claims of deaths of soldiers.
The independent media exposed the government by publishing evidence of false claims of deaths of soldiers. There was wide variance between daily deaths claimed and the official monthly disclosure by the Prime Minister in the parliament. This decision not to publicise did not invite any criticisms from the self elongated patriots JHU and the Weerawanse group.
According to Tamil sources close in contact with Vanni, fighting within the past seven days have cost the army heavy casualities. Body bags of nearly 125 soldiers were sent to the south for silent burials. The government officially acknowledged only 47 deaths. With the momentum building up on false accounting of the deaths of soldiers, the government has now decided to stop releasing facts and figures on casualties.
The so-called patriots aligned with the government have to give into this government decision, as it is claimed that their patriotic mission will be undermined with the publicity of the count of body bags taken to Colombo.
For nearly one month, the government is claiming that it is two miles away from capturing Kilinochchi. It is a fact that the ‘truth is the first victim’ in any wars. But the news generated by the government about its war efforts has reached the stage that the government must be made accountable for the deaths and destruction on its mission.
The government is also remains accused of over simplifying civilian deaths in Vanni. The Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama has said that only few civilians have died in the government operations. The government is still to give statistical evidence to spell out the exact number of deaths of civilians without making generalised claims of miniscule few to stage manage its achievements.
( R. Jayadevan is a political activist in Tamil Diaspora. ) - Sri Lanka Guardian
The independent media exposed the government by publishing evidence of false claims of deaths of soldiers. There was wide variance between daily deaths claimed and the official monthly disclosure by the Prime Minister in the parliament. This decision not to publicise did not invite any criticisms from the self elongated patriots JHU and the Weerawanse group.
According to Tamil sources close in contact with Vanni, fighting within the past seven days have cost the army heavy casualities. Body bags of nearly 125 soldiers were sent to the south for silent burials. The government officially acknowledged only 47 deaths. With the momentum building up on false accounting of the deaths of soldiers, the government has now decided to stop releasing facts and figures on casualties.
The so-called patriots aligned with the government have to give into this government decision, as it is claimed that their patriotic mission will be undermined with the publicity of the count of body bags taken to Colombo.
For nearly one month, the government is claiming that it is two miles away from capturing Kilinochchi. It is a fact that the ‘truth is the first victim’ in any wars. But the news generated by the government about its war efforts has reached the stage that the government must be made accountable for the deaths and destruction on its mission.
The government is also remains accused of over simplifying civilian deaths in Vanni. The Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollogama has said that only few civilians have died in the government operations. The government is still to give statistical evidence to spell out the exact number of deaths of civilians without making generalised claims of miniscule few to stage manage its achievements.
( R. Jayadevan is a political activist in Tamil Diaspora. ) - Sri Lanka Guardian
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