Ceylon Today Editorial

THE LOOMING CRISIS

03 May 2017

The then strident and voluminous Tamil journalist Aiyathurai Nadesan was killed allegedly by persons known to many in today's political parties. That was on 31.5.2004 to be exact, 'Taraki' or Dramaratnam Sivaram as journalists knew him, wrote of Nadesan's killing in a measured critique. But he too knew that his life was on the line. That was the then political culture.

But all these years later, while the media and the people keep asking "who done it?", none asks what's been done about a serious probe about those and other killings.

Taraki of course, to many, broughta more radical pen to his writings, and obviously far too radical for the people who had killed Nadesan.

So they killed Taraki too, just a couple of days before May Day of 2005, on 28 April.

This third May Day Rally of the government in power hence marks a near complete metamorphosis from the pre-2015 political culture to one in which the nation's democratic freedoms are permitted full expression, though to a fault.

The point is that justice was not seen to have been done by people from different professions, white or blue collar, and the politicians under whose watch they and several others were put to death and abducted to go missing forever.

These politicians, despite a gory record that even this government is dragging its feet on, regarding honest investigations, were on the May Day Rally platforms last Monday, using the workers' day as an opportunity to woo votes at forthcoming elections. Only a fool will argue the fact that this government has, (in all circumstances proved just to date), accommodated workers' demands, including the long delayed demands of armed service personnel wounded in the war against terrorism.

What is amazing as well as deeply disquieting is the fact that impressively large crowds gathered at those rallies. What means was employed to get them to those rallies is not the point. The point is that lessons of the past evils continue to be sanctioned by a pretty large voter base. And when the outcome of any election depends on the mentality and moral of such a voter base, when charisma makes strident appeals to such lower life forms, then the restored democracy is still very, very much at stake.

The government, or rather, the leaders of the parties in harness in power, need to face that reality if the democratic rights wrested from the clutches of tyranny, murder and mayhem are not be lost again.

They need to recognize the fact that no amount of development, and even the benefits of development trickling down to this morally deficient proletariat, is ever going to change their decisions at elections. The fact that the strongest pull is downward was never as true as it is in the greater percentage of the Lankan voter mass.

Everyone knows that no one who has exercised his/her human-worker rights, especially in politics and journalism, is in immense jeopardy of life itself, should this government fall at the next elections. For this purpose alone it is an imperative for this government, for the President and Premier, to consider socio-political realities which sadly are not changed by salary and other worker benefits.

Such measures will not necessarily win votes as the attendees at May Day rallies amply demonstrated. If the crowds at the rallies proved a point, it was that a huge section of the populace is sadly lacking in the ability to see right from wrong, or deliberately gravitate towards politicians who appeal to their baser instincts.

Time passes extremely quickly.

When Theodore Roosevelt said that to educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. This is what we have in our society today. Brutes who are a menace.

Lenin put it succinctly saying that "There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a scoundrel."

We write today from the point of view of the morals-based school of journalism, out of a sense of social obligation to sound a warning, as Joseph Pulitzer did, when he said that he regards journalism, is a noble profession and one of unequalled importance for its influence upon the minds and morals of the people.

The government needs to take a serious look at what saner minds in journalism have been drawing its attention to especially for this past one year and forge a closer political merger that can sustain the gains for which, to date, at least the pioneer of change, the Venerable Sobhita Thera sacrificed his life.

It was saddening to see that none observed a minute's silence on any platform on May Day, in remembrance and gratitude.

Daily News Editorial

Challenging future for media

03 May 2017

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

This is one of the most cherished paragraphs of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the very bedrock of the United Nations. But today, the media is facing a multitude of challenges that can undermine this very concept, from authoritarian regimes to the proliferation of “fake news” on sites such as Facebook. Journalism today is not what it used to be even five years ago – such is the pace of progress – and not always for the better.

The media landscape is changing fast in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. The first challenge was from web-based media, but now social media have changed the way we consume media to the extent that some people depend primarily on them to get their news fix. This has given rise to the phenomenon of “fake news” where false news masquerades as real news, fooling social media users. It is very difficult to regulate these contents, though Google and Facebook have started to crack the whip. In the end, the only answer is good journalism that can counter the untruths out there.

Today, journalists the world over will get an opportunity to ponder these challenges on World Press Freedom Day (WPFD), which is aimed at celebrating the fundamental principles of press freedom; assessing the state of press freedom throughout the world; defending the media from attacks on their independence and paying tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty. One hundred journalists were killed last year alone and many others were imprisoned. Yes, every journalist is told that “no story is worth your life” but they will move forward undeterred in the search for truth. Unfortunately, there are many, from Governments to rebel groups, who do not want them to find out the truth.

Releasing their annual Press Freedom Index 2017 on the eve of WPFD, Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF/Reporters Without Borders) said press freedom has never been as threatened as it is now, in the “new post-truth era of fake news”, strongmen and propaganda. The Index warned of a “tipping point” for journalism. “Attacks on the media have become commonplace and strongmen are on the rise. We have reached the age of post-truth, propaganda, and suppression of freedoms - especially in democracies,” the report said. “Media freedom has never been so threatened.” Syria, where a bloody war has entered its sixth year, was the deadliest country for journalists, according to the watchdog. RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire said: “The rate at which democracies are approaching the tipping point is alarming for all those who understand that, if media freedom is not secure, then none of the other freedoms can be guaranteed.”

This brings us to the WPFD theme for this year – “Critical Minds for Critical Times: Media’s role in advancing peaceful, just and inclusive societies”. This ties in with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #16: “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”.

The 2017 WPFD is focused on why it is vital to strengthen free and quality journalism to enable the media to effectively contribute to the achievement of SDG 16. Specifically, the media must utilize the interrelationships between freedom of expression, justice for all and the rule of law, peace, and inclusiveness.

This is especially relevant to countries such as Sri Lanka which are emerging from protracted conflicts. The media has a major role to play to promoting peace and reconciliation. Unfortunately, certain media in Sri Lanka are still highly slanted on ethnic and religious lines. This is one challenge that authorities and publishers in Sri Lanka have to address.

In terms of securing press freedom itself, Sri Lanka has made vast strides in a couple of years. It is no secret that pres freedom was at its nadir in Sri Lanka during the years 2005-2014. This period saw the killing of several journalists and abductions and assaults on many others. Following the election of the new Government in 2015, the media regained the freedom it had lost. The Right to Information law, while not specifically aimed at journalists, is another boon for a free press. Investigations are underway into several high profile cases of murders and abductions of journalists, though many feel that the wheels of justice should move faster in these cases.

Despite the visible progress made in terms of media freedom and freedom of expression, Sri Lanka is at 141st place in the RSF Press Freedom Index, (no change from last year) which is certainly not a happy place to be in. (In comparison, Bhutan is at 84, Nepal 100, Maldives 117, Afghanistan 120, India 136, Pakistan 139, Bangladesh 146). The authorities should take any corrective steps that may be necessary to take Sri Lanka to a much higher position in the rankings in 2018.

The Island Editorial

May Day fallout

03 May 2017

 

The government must now be regretting its decision to allow the Joint Opposition (JO) to hold this year’s May Day rally on the Galle Face Green. It obviously did not think the JO was equal to the task of bringing enough people to fill that long Stretch of land and the adjoining promenade. The yahapalana leaders and their propagandists kept on daring the JO to fill at least one quarter of the venue if it could. Crowds at political events may not necessarily translate into votes at elections, but the JO’s mammoth May Day rally has manifestly had an unsettling effect on the government.

The JO leaders will be mistaken if they think they are now in a position to dislodge the government at a time of its choosing. Instead, their show of strength might galvanize the disparate political forces in the ruling coalition, currently at daggers drawn, into sinking their differences and uniting to hold the Rajapaksas at bay. For, that is the only way they can think of retaining their grip on power.

However, the JO’s ability to rally people in large numbers is a worrisome proposition for the government, especially at a time the latter is planning to devolve more powers through a new Constitution and enter into controversial agreements with some foreign powers amidst protests. The worm has already turned as evident from public demonstrations against dumping Colombo’s garbage in the suburbs of the city. Close on the heels of a petroleum workers’ successful strike, which crippled the country, the government doctors have threatened trade union action.

The government does not seem to be able to realise its strengths and weaknesses let alone assess its opponents properly. If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, Sun Tzu has said in the world’s oldest military treatise, The Art of War. If you know yourself but not the enemy, he has warned, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. "If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." This is true of power politics as well.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the 2015 election because he knew himself but not his enemies. Cocky and powerful, he underestimated his political opponents. The yahapalana leaders have apparently made the same miscalculation. They should have considered the outcome of the 2015 general election, where they failed to secure a working majority, a wake-up call and opted for an immediate course correction. Instead, they sought to neutralise the JO by manipulating Parliament and the SLFP/UPFA. They should have made a serious effort to win over the formidable forces backing the JO by fulfilling their promises and proving the allegations they had made against the JO leaders.

Postponing election involves a heavy socio-political cost as is common knowledge. The SLFP-led United Front regime blundered by delaying elections by two years in 1975 and suffered an ignominious defeat in 1977, paving the way for an autocratic rule. The UNP replaced a general election with a heavily rigged referendum in 1982 and prepared the ground for the JVP’s second uprising albeit unwittingly. The indefinite postponement of local government polls under the present dispensation for political reasons has led to a massive pressure build-up, which found expression in the impressive turnout at the JO’s May Day rally. Had the yahapalana leaders held the mini polls perhaps they may have suffered some electoral setbacks, but there would not have been so much of pent-up public resentment to propel the JO in this manner. Now, all signs are that they may not hold an election in the foreseeable future.

Tolerance used to be the biggest asset of the yahapalana administration; initially, it heeded public opinion and was flexible in handling dissent. Its leaders used to boast of having restored people’s democratic freedoms. But, today, it no longer possesses that virtue if the coercive methods it employs to deal with protesters is anything to go by. It unflinchingly got the STF to crush anti-garbage protests recently.

Usually, a government, troubled by a gnawing sense of being cornered, tends to consider attack the best form of defence. Whether the yahapalana administration, with its enemies emerging stronger, will make that mistake, remains to be seen.