Jeyaraj joins those who fuel the conflict
Reading the report by the reputed D.B.S. Jeyaraj on TamilWeek, one can understand why we are at war. He is a man of stature, knowledgeable on the subject of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. Yet his thinking, like most people affected by the conflict, is distorted by the relativity of the situation and our background. In the article he goes on to say that – sarcastically of course – that the “The media centre for national security (MCNS) is supposed to be the supreme repository of accurate and up to date information on matters concerning national security.” And he goes on to dissect the events that lead to the killing of a pastor in Jaffna concluding that it was in fact a cover up. After 30 years of battling the LTTE whose name is synonymous with killings, I doubt many people will dispute that the killing could in fact have been a mistake on the part of the jumpy Sri Lankan soldiers. After all, it is not uncommon for the Tigers suicide bombers to impersonate priests, pregnant women, beggars etc and blow themselves up killing hundreds of soldiers and civilians.
Sarcasm aside, it will be pretty foolish to trust anything either of the warring sides wants us to believe. The propaganda war of the conflict in Sri Lanka is as fierce as the battles on the ground. So Mr. Jeyaraj knows more than anyone else, any information regarding the conflict needs to be deciphered before use – perhaps with some help from the foreign media. Instead, Mr. Jeyaraj with his wealth of knowledge and expertise, chose to challenge a government report regarding one single incident when TamilNet and such pro-LTTE new sources have been publishing garbage for years. And sadly, Mr. Jeyaraj, who showed some promise of rising above the rest and reporting objectively in the name of finding a solution for the problem that has plagued Sri Lanka, has never analyzed or criticized the lies, exaggerations or inaccuracies of TamilNet. I hope Mr. Jeyaraj uses his expertise for the good of all Sri Lankans and question the reports on pro-LTTE sources as well as he does those of the government. If he does, one can be sure, Mr. Jeyaraj will have a lot of writing to do. If not it could only mean, he is advocating the path of terror the LTTE has chosen as a solution to a social problem.
Sarcasm aside, it will be pretty foolish to trust anything either of the warring sides wants us to believe. The propaganda war of the conflict in Sri Lanka is as fierce as the battles on the ground. So Mr. Jeyaraj knows more than anyone else, any information regarding the conflict needs to be deciphered before use – perhaps with some help from the foreign media. Instead, Mr. Jeyaraj with his wealth of knowledge and expertise, chose to challenge a government report regarding one single incident when TamilNet and such pro-LTTE new sources have been publishing garbage for years. And sadly, Mr. Jeyaraj, who showed some promise of rising above the rest and reporting objectively in the name of finding a solution for the problem that has plagued Sri Lanka, has never analyzed or criticized the lies, exaggerations or inaccuracies of TamilNet. I hope Mr. Jeyaraj uses his expertise for the good of all Sri Lankans and question the reports on pro-LTTE sources as well as he does those of the government. If he does, one can be sure, Mr. Jeyaraj will have a lot of writing to do. If not it could only mean, he is advocating the path of terror the LTTE has chosen as a solution to a social problem.
posted by Hitch at 1/23/2007 09:50:00 PM
9 Comments:
They are all the same. They are all manipulated by the LTTE leader. IF they don't listen to him, they are killed.
DBJ is on crack. He is a terrorist. Should be arrested and hung.
Excellent article! It is interesting how every little violation on the side of the government is blown up and investigated while the savage killings of the LTTE goes unquestioned by the so called moderate Tamil intelectuals. Where is the Tamil people's honesty, pride and integrity?
I disagree completely. I read DBS' article and I didn't see anything out of order about it. DBS is a journalist and he has the right, even a duty, to report what he believes is the truth. As he is Tamil Sri Lankan, and has a relative advantage over Sinhalese Sri Lankans in getting the scoop from the North and East, it is understandable that he should concentrate on stories from the war with a Tamil civilian perspective. If you speak Tamil friends or colleagues from Jaffna, they will reflect what DBS is reporting: that the army very often shoots innocent civilians randomly.
The death of civilians in any conflict is unavoidable. However, there number can be minimised and reporting of such events, and exposing cover-ups will put pressure on the military to control or at least dissuade such things from happening via investigation and court martial.
A large part of winning this war depends on winning the hearts and minds of the Tamil civilians. Covering up injustices against them is not going to help in the least.
I disagree too. DBS is one of the more balaanced Tamil journalists, and I've found that his views are largely reflective of Tamil thought. He is certainly not pro-LTTE, and is often attacked by many pro-LTTE speakers.
It's true that crimes on both sides must be exposed, and I think the Sinhalese media goes out of its way to highlight the LTTE crimes.
In this particular incident, I think what has most angered DBS (and Christian Tamils in Jaffna) is the attempt to frame an innocent man, and make him out to be a terrorist by planting a grenade on his body and removing items that would immediately identify him as a priest (Bible, ID card, etc).
While I would disagree with Ravana that soldiers randomnly shoot passersby, it's obvious that this was a cockup on the part of the soldiers. Maybe the priest did something they deemed threatening and was shot. But the Army could easily have admitted it's mistake and apologised as it did when it shot comedian Nihal Silva in Dehiwela.
I agree he has a good insight. But why agree with the article is that it is not disputing everything Ravana said. Merely saying he is turning a blind eye to all the attrocities the LTTE is carrying. Who are we kidding, you know LTTE is ruling with high handed tactics and a Tamil cannoy voice an opinion that is against the LTTE. LTTE kills, intimidates, kidnaps and all the rest. How come a jounalist with that much connections and insight never ever report about those? I think that is the idea of the article.
The weight of reporting in the Sri Lankan press in on the government's side as far the ethnic conflict goes. There is hardly anybody apart from DBS that offers the other side in the mainstream media. So, his focus is understandable.
As far as this post goes, saying that the man is fuelling conflict is completely unsubstantiated, and the chap who said he should be hung actually typifies the mentality that caused this conflict in the first place.
So you agree he is biased? Bias reporting, wheather it is Tamil journalists or pro-Government journalists, are those who fuel the conflict. And yes and those who take there law into their own hands.
Well, if writing from a Tamil perspective (as opposed to an LTTE one) is biased, then every single journalist on the planet is biased for writing from a certain perspective.
Anonymous 9:28, If you think DBS doesn't criticise the Tigers, you haven't read enough of his stuff
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