Here are two reports on the resettlement of displaced people in Sri Lanka: one by the BBC, and another by the Associated Press.
The BBC report talks about "most of the 250,000 Tamils displaced", while AP talks about "the fate of the ethnic Tamil civilians".
WTF?
In my eyes, they are Sri Lankan citizens, be it "Tamil" or not, our brothers and sisters who desperately need help after going through so much. I am sure that I am not alone.
But some media reports continue to highlight ethnic prefixes. Does someone, or more than one someone, want to stop our country from unifying under a single Sri Lankan identity?
Even if they have an excuse to add an ethnic prefix, how do they say for sure that all the 250,000 displaced people are in fact Tamil? It may be true, but can those reports be so authoritative without even a sample survey?
Here is another news item from Reuters, which talks about just "refugees". No prefixes.
Interestingly, BBC conveniently forgot the "Tamil" prefix when headlining the assassination of Lakshman Kadiragamar and Jeyaraj Fernandopulle but not when pro-LTTE persons got killed (e.g.: here, here and here).
The war is over, but we now have more reasons to be vigilant. Not just about LTTE sleeping sells, but also about those who subtly create and extend ethnic hatred to stop us from uniting as Sri Lankans.
I don't expect every media organization to positively contribute to peace and harmony in Sri Lanka; being neutral is just fine. But if they positively and systematically contribute to create hatred among us, that's where we need to take a stand. By "taking a stand", I don't mean that we should ban them here, but educating ourselves and peace-loving fellow citizens of perils much more dangerous than armed terrorist organizations will go a long way.
3 comments:
Well I have a few Theories that might explain the behaviour of the Media Mafia;
The First Theory is that Prbakaran had the Media & "Humanitarian/Rights" NGOs eating of his hand... they made a lot of money from this war... exclusive stories... nice trip to the sunny island... good food... Top-of the Class Hotels at nominal rates.... News without being Shot at or Kidnapped (unlike in Iraq, Dafur, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc.).... NGOs supplied Attractive Escorts.... etc.
Prabakaran needed them for his Propaganda, NGO "Humanitarians/Activists" & "Journalists" supported each other for spoils of War.... Family Run NGOs or Scam-NGOs (that did nothing for the People) needed the Media to sell the story for more donations... and the Media got their Exclusive.... A Classic case of I scratch your back, you scratch mine... a Threesome :-)
So now they are mad that they've lost their BUSINESS.... So now it is a case of Anger, Payback, and attempt to re-ignite the Fire..., restart their Business Ventures...!
My Next Theory is that the West Plays the Tune for the Tamil Voter-base....
The Third Theory is, They try to maintain the Moral High-ground (Hypocrites in the case of Iraq, Afgahnistan, Gaza, Pakistan, etc.)... and Control of the 3rd World... & Impose their Western Values....! A Bully is Always scared of individuals who stands up to him.... (1st year Psychology Class)... so the western Politicians are trying to stamp down on the 3rd World that has a Backbone... it is scared of loosing its grip! So it wants to keep the Fire going so that we will remain dependent.... so that they may play Chipetto! Sri Lanka's relations with Countries like Russia, China, India, Iran, Libya, Vietnam & Latin America too infuriates the West... they feel they have lost control and need to clamp down!
My Last theory is, the LTTE is a Thorn in the side of India... As long as the LTTE exists & South Asia is in Instability.... India can never ever have an Open-road for Development... it will keep India the Emerging (Super)Power in Check... Also the west is Very very Very worried about China's Influence in Sri Lanka that overlooks the East-West Shipping Route.... Instability in Sri Lanka will hold back China's Interest in Sri Lanka... or at least give her second thoughts... So in a Way this is a Proxy-Terrorist war of the West to Keep India and China on check! Look at the timing of the Media accusing China's of Military motives for its help in Hambanthota Harbour!
Glad that we have a President with a sense of Self-respect & Pride... not bending over to the West... may be our alliance with the Emerging countries is the way to go.. I think it is, cause they stood by us.. when the West abandoned us... and even plotted against us!
It is appalling to see how many 'mistakes' especially BBC does. I was horrified seeing they mention "Tamils" instead of "LTTE" when referring to the LTTE, many a time, recently. As if the GoSL were fighting against its own Tamil population.
I think that we should not worry too much about this.
If you look at Ealam War V fought viciously on many fronts by few generals like Pillay from UNCHR, others from BBC, The Times, Channel 4 etc, we note one thing. The West do not want us to become a stable and prominent country while Asia, Africa and some South American countries support us.
So Ealam War V is more or less a sign of a widening division between the East and the West. I think it is time to think about theories to explain this, rather than why they single out Sri Lanka.
Another word of advice, if the Tamils, supporters of LTTE or not, believe that the West are their friends, they are gravely mistaken.
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