The yardstick which President Mahinda Rajapaksa and many in his government used often to illustrate the “unbridled” freedom the media in this country was the publication of “The Sunday Leader“, a fiercely anti-government newspaper. The President has remarked many times that despite the constant personal attacks on him as well as his government in that newspaper, a clear indication of his commitment to a free media was that the newspaper continued to publish what it did without any interference. With the killing of the Editor of the Sunday Leader, neither the President nor others in his government will any longer be able to cite this example to make the dubious claim that there exists in this country a climate for media personnel to work without fear. What we have today is a heavily self censored print and electronic media, too afraid to take on the establishment; no longer for fear that their institutions would be sealed or burnt down but for fear of being killed.
Today in the eyes of the majority of the people of this country, it is the government which stands accused of ending the life of Wickrematunga. While the government, like any other person in this country must be given the benefit of the doubt, the burden lies with the government to prove its innocence in front of the jury which consists of the people of this country. While “innocent until proven guilty” may be the most salient feature of our criminal justice system, issuing hollow statements about “fully investigating” the murder will do nothing to take away from the pall of guilt that hangs over the government due to its inability to apprehend those who have been responsible for attacks on the media and punish them.
As things go in Sri Lanka, the tragic death Lasantha Wickrematunge will be “old news” sooner than later and his name will surface from time to time only to used by political opportunists to score some points. Take Richard De Soysa for example. See how frequently his name has been resurrected since the assassination of Wickrematunga, used to slam the UNP which was in power when De Soysa was killed. While the pathetic blame game is played by low down politicians, what they need to realise is that two wrongs don’t make a right and just because De Soysa was killed when the UNP ruled this country can in no way justify the killing of Wickrematunge while a SLFP lead government is holding office. Both are equally deplorable and unacceptable deaths and need to be condemned in the same manner. Watching some opposition politicians now championing the cause of media freedom also stinks of hypocrisy because while they held high office, they were as intolerant of the media criticism as those holding office now.
So while the government maybe winning the war against the LTTE, its “api wenuwen api” slogan which was started to win support for the military is now being used as a witch hunt to stifle all voices of dissent. It has now become a “either you are with us or you are against us” attitude. This McCarthyism like approach of some prominent voices in the Rajapakse regime is leaving no room for middle ground where people can both be supportive of the military efforts against the LTTE while on the same hand be critical of the government’s failure, for example, to stop waste and corruption or address human rights violations.
What this is leading to is more intolerance in our society and the killing of Wickrematunge and other attacks on the media are only symptomatic of a dangerous trend which the Government needs to arrest immediately if the voices of sanity are to be heard over the increasing number of voices of hatred whose voice is growing louder and louder and drowning out those who speak for tolerance and acceptance.