Fishing in troubled waters

By M. H. Liyanage

(November 05, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The day was January 24, 2006. The place was Patiala in the Northwestern Indian State of Punjab. A person by the name of Gopal Krishan Kashyap was up to a deadly mission. The garlanded man who stood defiantly amongst a large crowd of onlookers had a death wish. A large number of media personnel armed with TV Cameras and other equipment came to the scene in a jiffy and started to beam a live telecast of the incident. For them the task was as fascinating as providing a live cricket coverage. Suddenly, bedlam staged by the media broke loose when Gopal set himself ablaze and was engulfed in flames.Believe it or not, this was not a scene from a Bollywood Film that you see fairly often. Gripping every Indian in horror and tear, the young lad succumbed to his burns on a hospital bed later in the day.

The above is exactly the sad situation that prevails in our country where a section of local media is projecting that a rift currently exists between the political leadership of the incumbent government and one of the top military commanders holding the senior most position in the Military. Many examples could be drawn from our long and proud history where we as a nation, have failed in our duty of venerating those who should be venerated. As we all know, one of the greatest sons and heroes of our motherland late Anagarika Dharmapala left for India with a firm determination of not coming back to Sri Lanka as a result of ill-treatment meted out to him. He finally died at Mula Ghandakuti Vihara, India, as a Bhikku by the name of Devamitta. Sri Lanka also has a dark history where some of our respected war heroes have been coerced into politics and finally making they become the prey of the enemy.

On the issue of whether any such rift exists or not, one may argue that there cannot be a smoke without a fire but given the bias and mere speculation with which the whole matter had been reported in various media, it would not be wrong to go by the proverbial "many a slip between the cup and the lip". What is most disturbing is how some opportunists in the Opposition as well as in the Government ranks are manipulating the situation to gain petty political advantage and cheap popularity.

In Gopal Krishan Kashyap’s self immolation case, the Indian Media didn’t do anything to avert the tragedy in the thought that showing live pictures of the immolation could bring them more publicity and popularity than what they could have achieved by saving his precious life. With regard to the Sri Lankan issue, clearly certain sections of Sri Lankan media have been working overtime to deepen the crisis rather than doing anything to mitigate it. This shows that there is some similarity in the approach of the media to the two issues although the incidents are entirely different in nature.

On the subject of media freedom too, it is important to bear in mind that there is a clear distinction between the rhetoric of media freedom and the reality of reporting. The public expectation of media is that the latter should be both the eye and the ear of a reader. However, certain sections of media do not seem to hesitate at any cost, to defend a critical report that they produce thus claiming to be acting in the public interest even when its contents are quite disdainful. Although media is often referred to as the "Fourth Estate" of a country, practically it is the credibility of reporting that determines the legitimacy of this institutional role. There is ambivalence as well as growing disdain in public attitude towards media and this gives credence to the doubt whether there exist any abuse of media freedom in our country.

Incumbent Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) addressing officers and men of the Sri Lankan Army at the 60th Army Anniversary Parade said that it would have been the last occasion that he addressed them. Explaining further, he mentioned that his obligations ‘dedicated to the Army’ had been fulfilled as he had reached different heights at the time. While a section of the media spiced up that statement in a such way as to create some doubt in the mind of the reader that the crisis that was said to exist had deepened, the state media that had used every opportunity to eulogize the General when he was the Army Commander, behaved in a manner that gave credence to the suspicion that there was a news blackout against him. While the General was in the United States (where he still is), and attended a function organized by the Washington Buddhist Vihara, certain sections of media fabricated a canard saying that the Sri Lankan Ambassador to the US had boycotted the event. It was later revealed that the Ambassador was out of the country on an official mission with the full knowledge of the General and the organizing committee. Certain media quoted the General as saying that he was ready to strip his uniform and come forward to safeguard if anyone tried to destroy his motherland. This contorted news gave the impression that he was soon going to take to politics. However, the video clip covering his full speech later published in the media revealed that what he had said was that he had been serving the Army for an additional period of 4 years from the age of actual retirement and was very keen to hang his boots. His assurance that he was ready to render his services to the country if the need arose again was deliberately quoted out of context by some media to suggest that he would soon take off his uniform and enter politics.

The steps that are being taken simultaneously at the UN, EU and US calling for action against Sri Lanka and the turn of events involving the General gives us enough reasons to believe that the hatchers of the conspiracy had not merely the blessings but active collusion of the ‘vested interests’. The witch hunt on our military and political leadership (not the opposition politicians) will continue unabated and the latest attempt to question the CDS while on a visit to US is also clearly seen as a part of the same conspiracy.

The level of restraint shown so far by the President, Defence Secretary and the CDS - three important figures around whom the whole story had been woven should be fully appreciated. The recent interview given by the Defence Secretary to The Island Newspaper and the subsequent interview given by the CDS to Lankadeepa Newspaper would quell any further speculation on the issue.

It would never be in the public interest to know whether it was the hen or the egg which came first. The victory belongs to the country and the nation. We are once again on a new threshold with all eyes focused on us. Unity can only make us work towards achieving the common objective of politically conserving and socially stabilizing this great victory. Every Sri Lankan including the misguided youth who are currently languishing in our prisons and the ex-combatants rehabilitated in various rehabilitation centres should become the ultimate beneficiaries if the military victory is to be made a permanent success.

Do we wake up to this reality and deliver or continue to ‘look up and spit’ are questions that we should be asking ourselves.

-Sri Lanka Guardian