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Some media groups pose threat to media freedom: Ranil
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday said threats to media freedom in the country are coming from media organisations themselves and there should be no room for extremism in the country.
Muslim Media Forum honours PCCSL: The Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum (SLMMF) honoured the Press Complaints Commission of Sri Lanka and its Chief Executive Officer Sukumar Rockwood yesterday for upholding the principles of Self Regulation in Sri Lanka and implementing the Code of Professional Practice of the Editors’ Guild of Sri Lanka. Deputy Media Minister Karunaratna Paranavithana is seen here handing over the token of appreciation to Mr. Rockwood. SLMMF President N.M.Ameen looks on.
“None of us condone extremism, be it Sinhala Buddhist, Tamil, Muslim or Christian extremism. We have seen the harm extremism has done to other countries. As Sri Lankans we want to live together and take the country forward. We have to consolidate the freedom that has been won and the media has a great responsibility towards this end. Today the greatest threat to media freedom is incoming from within the media. Not from anyone else,” the Prime Minister said.
He was speaking at a function held to mark the 20th Anniversary of the Srilanka Muslim Media Forum. He made reference to recent media reports on Opposition and TNA leader R. Sampanthan’s visit to a land occupied by the army in Kilinochchi without prior permission.
Mr. Wickremesinghe said some media reports had said Mr. Sampanthan stormed into the army camp and that the LTTE was being revived. “I spoke to Mr. Sampnathan soon after the incident and asked him to meet me and explain what happened. When he met me, I asked him, ‘Sampanthan, do you want to join the army. If you do I can only give you the rank of Brigadier Colonel or Colonel in Chief. But then I will have a problem because then the Leader of the Opposition will have to salute Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka,’ ” the Prime Minister said in a lighter vein.
He said the TNA leader had said he did not want to join the army but explained the circumstances that led to the incident.
“He was in Kilinochchi attending a meeting and people had brought up a land issue. This land does not belong to the Government or the Army. It was acquired during the war due to security reasons and is to be returned within the next two to three months. The TNA leader had gone to the land and returned as he feared if he did not go, there could be an incident there,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the Army Commander, when contacted, told him that Mr. Sampanthan did not enter the camp but went to the land which was to be returned soon. The Commander had, however, said that the TNA leader should have given prior notice to the Army about his visit.
“However no prior notice of Mr. Smpanthan’s visit could be given as the land issue had transpired during the meeting and hence he had acted to defuse the tensions,” the Prime Minister said, adding that the matter could be raised with the Opposition Leader in Parliament when the House meets next week.
The Prime Minister said there were attempts by sections of the media to cause panic with reports of a revival of the LTTE. “The LTTE is over. However much you cry they will not return. If the LTTE comes back, we will have to take action against Mahinda Rajapaksa as he has not finished the war properly,” he said.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that a suicide jacket and some bombs were found and investigations were on about their origins. But there was no indication that the LTTE was being revived, he said. “We will not allow terrorism to raise its head again. The responsibility of that has been taken by President Maithripala Sirisena; so do not have any doubts,” he said.
He asked those within the media to speak out on such erroneous reports and the Sri Lanka Press Complaints Commission must take action against such reporting.