Sri Lanka: The Road to Reconciliation

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Interview III – Neela Marrikar

On this program Sanjana Hattotuwa talks to Neela Marikkar, Chairperson, Grant McCann-Erickson Group

(Date of first Broadcast May 02, 2010)

The series that gives you insights on Peace and Politics; Business and Development; Society and the Environment; Culture and the Arts.

Featuring diverse views and perspectives; informing people; contributing to the debate on important national issues – The Interview is produced by Young Asia Television.

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Federalism on the table in Sri Lanka while federalists gone to hiding =w3Lanka=

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Human rights lawyer J.C. Weliamuna = VIMARSHI =

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Normalising Sri Lanka?

Now that the civil war between the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority has ended, will there ever be true reconciliation that allows Sri Lanka to develop as a normal country?

About 10 percent of the Tamil population almost 300,000 people are still being detained in 30 military-guarded camps, with no end in sight. This only feeds Tamil suspicions that they are destined to remain second-class citizens.

And after decades of media repression by the government during the war with the Tamil Tigers, in the name of national security, will things improve for freedom of speech and criticism?

Part 01

Part 02

Lasantha Wickramatunga: In Memoriam

A single source conflict

Indian correspondents based in Sri Lanka were mindful of the sourcing problem created by the fact that the war zone was out of bounds to the press. ADITI RAVI and SEVANTI NINAN scan one month’s coverage in five newspapers.

The Hoot did a one month monitoring of six English newspapers in India earlier this year when the Sri Lankan army was closing in on the LTTE, to look at the extent and dimensions of the coverage, and the number of perspectives reflected. The period of monitoring was January 24 to February 24, 2009.

The coverage is  a reflection of  how much India’s domestic politics is entwined with the conflict in Sri Lanka, particularly that of the state of Tamil Nadu. Perhaps primarily for this reason the Hindu’s coverage, headquartered as the paper is in TN, was the most voluminous.

The newspapers taken were  The Indian Express, The Hindu, The Times of India,  The Hindustan Times and Mail Today.

Research: ADITI RAVI

Analysis: SEVANTI NINAN.

Tracking  the mainstream Indian press at a stage this year  when the Sri Lankan army had begun closing in on the Tigers, is illuminating in some ways. First, a story unfolding over one month had two points of origin, Sri Lanka and India. Where Sri Lanka was concerned, this is overwhelmingly a single-source story, despite the easy availability of  Tamilnet, the website which gives the LTTE’s version of events.  The primary source of information as the tragedy of a trapped citizenry unfolded, was the Sri Lankan government and military.

Secondly, where India is concerned, this is a North-South story. Northern newspapers certainly have to take note of a state and its chief minister working themselves into an emotional frenzy over developments affecting the Tamil population in Sri Lanka. But they focus when they can much more on “India’s” response, based as they are in Delhi. What gets Tamil Nadu space in the national press, particularly in the tabloid Mail Today, is the self immolations. The Hindu has such voluminous, multi-dimensional coverage, you scarcely notice its coverage of cases of self immolation in Tamil Nadu, which grew in number with the Sri Lanka army’s advance into the LTTE held areas.  The Hindu being primarily a Southern paper, has had by far the most coverage, and continuing coverage from Chennai, Delhi and Colombo, since it has a correspondent in that country. On at least 12 days over the month the number of small, medium  and big stories carried ranged from 4 to 7 a day.

In statistical terms the Hindu and the Times of India, which also has an edition in Chennai, led the coverage.

NEWSPAPER	NO. OF STORIES
The Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	111 104 81 60 57 45

Newspaper	No. of Page 1 stories
Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	15 stories, 2 briefs 5 stories, 6 briefs 7 4 stories, 2 briefs none

Newspaper	No of Editorials/Comment
The Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	2, one op-ed 1 4, one op ed 2 none

On most days, the choice of coverage and pictures was fairly identical.  Overall all papers were informative, with the most comprehensive chronology being provided by the Hindustan Times on February 2nd, when it traced the milestones in this war, beginning with the Act passed in parliament in 1956, making Sinhala the only official language.

Indian correspondents based in Sri Lanka were mindful of the sourcing problem created by the fact that the war zone was out of bounds to the press. Briefings were by the Sri Lanka military personnel, or ministers, or diplomatic sources. The singular exception, occasionally was the odd  UN official who would talk to reporters about what they were witnessing.

B Murlidhar Reddy of the Hindu handled this on most days by beginning his account with the word ‘claimed’. He would also quote Tamilnet wherever possible, sometimes in an obligatory way, at much less length, to balance the account.  But he was  the only correspondent who tried to  systematically balance his reporting. The government-LTTE   conflict was complicated by the fact that  the “other side” was a terrorist organization. Journalists hesitated to give their version big play. Not surprisingly, on most days the two versions were totally contradictory.

For instance, on February 11, 2009  the Hindustan Times carried a report by its Colombo correspondent Sutirtho Patronobis titled “19 civilians killed in Lanka”. The story gave both versions: the army’s allegations that the LTTE had fired on civilians attempting to cross over, and  the Tigers’ allegations that 38 civilians were killed in Sri Lankan army shelling. However, the same day the PTI’s TV Sriram reported only the military version, which the Indian Express carried. The Times of India’s correspondent K Venkataramanan used an interview with a Colombo based human rights organization to get across a  picture of the truth regarding civilian deaths. The paper carried it on its editorial page. (February 2, 09).

Patronobis being the only Indian  correspondent in Sri Lanka who wrote a newsletter during this period, (‘Sleepless in Sri Lanka’) was also able to provide commentary outside of news reports on the problems aid workers and journalists faced during the fighting.

Editorial comment across Indian newspapers was more or less on the same lines, urging the Sri Lanka government  to display sagacity in handling the post- Tamil Tigers challenge regarding devolution of power. The most outspoken criticism of Sinhala chauvinism and the dangers of perpetuating it after the war came in an op-ed article in the Hindustan Times by Ramchandra Guha, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”

This period of monitoring saw frequent use of the term ‘endgame’, with a  question mark. The two and half months which have passed since the end of the monitoring period show how prolonged the predicted endgame has been.

Source : http://www.thehoot.org

NEWSPAPER	NO. OF STORIES
The Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	111 104 81 60 57 45

Newspaper	No. of Page 1 stories
Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	15 stories, 2 briefs 5 stories, 6 briefs 7 4 stories, 2 briefs none

Newspaper	No of Editorials/Comment
The Hindu The Times of India The Hindustan Times Indian Express Mail Today	2, one op-ed 1 4, one op ed 2 non e

What are the Possible Solutions to the Crisis in Sri Lanka ?

Part 01

Part 02

Source : Federalidea (YouTube User)

Grim scenes at Sri Lankan camps – Channel 4 UK – 5th May 2009

Sri Lanka: ‘Boat People’ Recount Horrors of No-Fire Zone

UN Security Council and Human Rights Council Need to Take Urgent Action May 5, 2009

(Kakinada, India) – Horrific accounts from refugees fleeing the fighting in Sri Lanka by boat show the wanton disregard for civilians of both Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on both the United Nations Security Council and the UN Human Rights Council to make the situation in Sri Lanka a priority to avoid further loss of civilian life.

“The Sri Lankan government is doing everything it can to keep these stories of suffering from reaching the world,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These accounts must be multiplied tens of thousands of times to capture the full horror of those who remain trapped by the Tamil Tigers and shelled by government forces.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed a group of Sri Lankan refugees in Andhra Pradesh in India. The refugees were rescued on April 29, 2009, from Indian waters, where they had been lost at sea for nine days after fleeing from the government declared “no-fire zone” in northern Sri Lanka’s Mullaitivu district. Accounts by refugees are especially important because the Sri Lankan government has long refused independent access to the combat zone for journalists and human rights monitors. The refugees’ detailed statements contradict claims by the government that it is not using heavy weapons in the “no-fire zone.”

A motorbike taxi driver, S. Indra Kumar, told Human Rights Watch that his family went to Putumattalan, on the coast, after the Sri Lankan government declared the area a safe zone: “We were living in such fear. There was constant shelling. On April 5 or 6, our neighbors were injured in the shelling. A shell landed inside the bunker. Ten people were injured, and of them, five died. There was no anesthesia. The doctors had to cut off a girl’s hand without any anesthesia. My small daughter was crying and scared. I decided then that we had to leave.”

He said that sometimes the shelling lasted so long that people could not come out to use the toilets: “Whenever there was shelling, we were in the bunker. There was heavy shelling, and the people were easing themselves in the bunker. I would take a bucket to clean up the mess and bury it in the sand.”

His brother, S. Indra Meenan, a 25-year-old hardware engineer, described long periods of shelling: “In the village, every house had a bunker. Five or six people sitting inside, sometimes for three or four hours.” He said that the Tamil Tigers sometimes fired from areas close to where the civilians were living, putting them at risk from retaliatory fire. “We left [by boat] on April 20 because we were scared. There was so much bombing and shelling. Every day, at least three or four hours, there was shelling. The firing was coming from the Sri Lankan army.”

A mason, Sivadasa Jagdeshwaran, whose wife and 4-year-old son died on the boat journey to India, described his family’s ordeal: “In the beginning, before we came to the safe zone, the government hospital was still there. My wife just had a baby, so she needed medicine. But there was no medicine at the hospital. I waited a whole day for medicines.

“The ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] was giving tents, but they could not cope with the demand. We built a shelter with coconut thatch. And when it rained or there was shelling, we ran to the bunker. There was shortage of food. One day, I was waiting in queue for food and there was suddenly shelling. I ran away, but later heard that 40 people had died.”

Jagdeshwaran described trying to bury his father, who was hit by a shell in the safe area when he was riding his bicycle: “Many people have died. Whenever they heard there were bodies, they would collect for burial. Two months ago, my father went missing. I went to the hospital to look for my father. I found his body. The entire back of his head was missing. Only his face was there. We asked the doctor to do something to his head so we could bury him, but they said we should just be grateful that we had a body to bury.”

The refugees described conditions along the sandy coastal strip where the fighting currently is ongoing. Some were able to use tents provided by the ICRC, while others huddled into makeshift shacks made of sheets and coconut fronds. They found it difficult to dig bunkers into sand. Some of those who had boats buried them in the sand to provide a base, and then created a roof of coconut tree logs and leaves. This was the only protection they had from the shelling. They also described shortages of food and medicine. S. Indra Kumar, the motorbike taxi driver, said: “The government was sending some grain. But if the need was for 100 kilos, they were sending 25 kilos. There were no NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], no medicines inside.”

The refugees detailed to Human Rights Watch their harrowing journeys by boat to India, in which many died. The boat owner, Mariyada Yesudas, whose father, sister, nephew and two brothers and his uncle, the captain of the boat, died during the journey, said they felt they had no choice but to leave the safe area: “The army was really close. The LTTE was also very close. We thought the fighting had reached us. So we decided to leave before it was too late … The army is very powerful and the LTTE was running away. How could it be safe for us?”

The accounts show the urgent need for safe humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee the fighting.

S. Indra Meenan, the hardware engineer, said: “We left at night when the shelling stopped. We were 21 people. No one saw our boat. Not the LTTE, not the army. No one tried to stop us. The boat driver had said that he would take enough food and water for us.”

He said that the boat driver told them the trip to India would take nine hours. But they got lost, the motor stopped running and they ran out of fuel. They just drifted until they ran out of food and water: “We were drinking salt water. One by one, the people started dying. First it was the children. My brother’s little daughter died.”

Jagdeshwaran, the mason, told Human Rights Watch about the journey by boat that included his wife and two children and his wife’s relatives: “My son died on April 24, four days after getting on the boat. He was 4 years old. We had no water, no food on the boat. Then her father died. Her two brothers jumped into the sea. My wife was in shock. She was weak and not even able to move. That morning, April 29, she asked for some water. We gave her seawater. She vomited and then she passed away.”

Their 8-month-old son, having been fed on breast milk until his mother’s death, survived.

Human Rights Watch called on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to hold a special session on the current situation in Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch also reiterated its call for the UN Security Council to place Sri Lanka on its agenda and to create a commission of inquiry to investigate violations of international humanitarian law by both sides.

“While the Human Rights Council has sat on its hands, the Security Council has repeatedly failed to discuss Sri Lanka in a way that would permit even the mildest action,” said Ganguly. “Given the gravity of the situation, both UN bodies need to come to grips with the scale of the disaster.”

Source : HRW

MEDIAFREEDOMINSRILANKA

Freedom of Expression news from Sri Lanka

Special Report 02- May  06^th 2009 :

Media freedom and denial of Visa to journalists

6^th May 2009

We note with serious consternation the recent media reports quoting the Controller of Immigration and Emigration, P.B. Abeykoon, who has stated that his Department has deported or denied visas to a large number of foreign journalists, on the basis of a belief that these journalists are not capable of ‘balanced reporting’ (see report by Sandun A Jayasekera, Daily Mirror, 30^th April 2009). The official states that, “We were forced to deport certain media personnel and prevent some others from entering the country to protect national interests after finding their reportage was detrimental to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and national integrity and compromised its security. Any foreign journalist with good intentions and practices balanced reporting however, is welcome in our country.” (Emphasis added).

Referring to the recent deportation of The Times of London reporter Jeremy Page, Mr. Abeykoon says Mr. Page has been “black listed in Sri Lanka for biased reporting. ‘He had applied from New Delhi for a visa unaware he was not allowed here and had arrived at the BIA. We had to take steps to prevent him entering the country and sent him back.’”

We find both Mr. Abeykoon’s actions as well as his justifications to be completely inconsistent with international standards on freedom of expression and media freedom, and are surprised that he subsequently went public with this kind of objectionable sentiment. While it is certainly within the scope of Mr. Abeykoon’s official duty to grant or reject visas and entry permissions on the basis of the law of Sri Lanka, it is totally unacceptable and outside his remit that he should be making administrative decisions on extraneous grounds such as whether a journalist will or will not file copy consistent with Mr. Abeykoon’s opinions. Under internationally established principles of administrative law, officials exercising discretionary power are not entitled to make decisions on the basis of capricious considerations, and are certainly not entitled to use their own political opinions as a substitute for proper, objective and reasonable decisions.

Under Fire

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Clip 02 New Media and People’s Participation: Citizen Journalism in Sri Lanka

Clip03 Students celebrate New Year in Colombo / Looking to the Stars: New Year Predictions for Sri Lanka