Joint Opposition Parliamentarian S. M. Chandrasena sees a dire threat to the independent media from a remark made by his UNP counterpart Ravindra Samaraweera at the Badulla rally in support of Minister Sajith Premadasa on Tuesday.
Samaraweera, while addressing the rally, certainly, cautioned certain media institutions who were going overboard on behalf of Pohottuwa Presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, which may or may not be taken as a threat as such, depending on which political colour one donned. Chandrasena, a former Minister in the Rajapaksa Government, taking heavy umbrage at the MP’s ‘threat’ accused the latter of intimidating the media supporting Gota, which, he claimed, was a serious threat to journalists performing their duties in an unbiased manner.
Interestingly, Chandrasena refers to a threat issued to media supporting Gota, by MP Samaraweera, and in the same breath says this was directed at independent journalists. One fails to understand how the media institutions concerned, while supporting Gotabaya Rajapaksa, according to the MP’s own admission, can at the same time have independent and unbiased journalists.
To any independent observer it is plain that the two television channels that Chandrasena was obviously referring to, were anything but unbiased, even before Gota threw his hat into the ring. One of these channels, no doubt, is working overtime to get a sibling of the owner of this channel, now serving a life term for murder, out of the slammer. Their best bet to achieve this, certainly, is Gotabaya Rajapaksa, under whom the death row convict served as a Monitoring MP.
Be that as it may, neither S. M. Chandrasena, nor, any of his colleagues in the JO are entitled to defend media freedom or take high dudgeon at the so called threat to journalists. It needs no mention here as to the fate that awaited journalists who crossed the path of the Rajapaksas, during their rule. They were not merely threatened but made to disappear from the face of the Earth. And the finger is still being pointed at Gotabaya Rajapaksa who Chandrasena was seen accompanying to the Jayasri Maha Bodhiya, in Anuradhapura, the other day.
The MP, we believe, need not be reminded of how Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickramatunga’s premature end came by. Lest he has forgotten, he (Wickramatunga) was murdered in a high security zone swarming with the military personnel, while driving to work. (One recalls, in a subsequent BBC interview, the former Defence Secretary asking with disdain “who is this Lasantha” when the matter of Wickramatunga’s killing was brought up by the interviewer).
The white vans deployed to abduct and attack media personnel, too, we are certain, had not escaped the memory of Chandrasena. It was in one of these white vans that The Nation’s Deputy Editor, Keith Noyahr was bundled into before being made to endure a grueling ordeal by his kidnappers. Reams of newsprint have already been devoted unraveling the Gota connection with this incident. Ditto for cartoonist Prageeth Ekneligoda and ruggerite Wasim Thajudeen.
When MP Chandrasena talks about a threat to journalists by the UNP, he certainly could not be in the dark as regards the fate that befell journalist activists Poddala Jayantha and Sanath Balasuriya. In case he has a short memory, both men were summoned for an audience with Gota, at the Defence Secretariat, where they were told in no unmistakable terms the fate that may visit them should they continue with their activism.
For good measure, they were told by their inquisitor that he did not believe in seeking legal remedies
“mata oya usavivalata yanda vela nehe” but only believed in summary justice. Not just the journalists, media houses themselves came under attack. The arson attack on Sirasa studios where a landmine was used to wreak maximum destruction, no doubt, is still fresh in the memory of the public as is the attack on Siyatha TV.
For all its faults, the present Government can take full credit for one achievement - the full restoration of media freedom and the independence of journalists. This perhaps, is the only pledge it has met in a convincing manner. The almost unrelenting criticism directed at it and Government ministers and functionaries is ample proof of this.
The one sided content of some of the TV channels and newspapers heavily in favour of the Opposition, read Rajapaksas, goes to show the extent of the media freedom enjoyed today. Some would say that the Government had paid a heavy price in permitting untrammeled media freedom. The outcome of the 2018 LG election could have been different had the Yahapalanaya Government controlled the media under a tight leash.
Not just the media. The judiciary too was removed from all shackles and made a truly independent entity. The many cases currently going in favour of the Opposition politicians and those connected to the Rajapaksas is a case in point. The deep (and hostile) probing of Government Ministers by state counsel during court and Commission inquiries, where even the Prime Minister was made to run the gauntlet, is clear proof that vital institutions are now free of political interference.
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