The other war in Sri Lanka in the silence of a newsroom

On World Press Freedom Day today,a leading newspaper of Sri Lanka The Sunday Times ran an editorial saying Sri Lanka has become one of the most dangerous places for a journalist. Recent attacks on media practitioners have been done in the name of national security and morale of the security forces, the editorial states. The President invites political discourse. The reality is that either the press has been browbeaten by means of a chilling effect syndrome or won over.

Sunday Leader is here. It is independent as it always was, insists Lal Wickramatunge who looks after the newspaper after his brother-editors murder. We have had tough times earlier as well. Our press was burnt down. We were attacked twice. But murder it has been devastating. He says the newspaper will never shut down. We will never stop,no matter what happens. Everyday,I have to pass the place where he (Lasantha) was assassinated. He was eight years younger to me and we started this newspaper together. I have not come to terms with it (his murder) as yet. I have kept Lasanthas last editorial on my desk in the office so that it gives me inspiration,so that I dont lose heart.

In fact,the newspaper republished its assassinated editors last editorial today. We wanted to remind people again, says Lal Wickramatunge. We have not sealed our lips. He says that despite the fear created by the assassination of the editor,no one from the staff has left. That was encouraging in these difficult times.

How have you covered the war? We have done whatever we could. We havent budged. The newly appointed editor Fredrica Jansz,however,says that the journey has been very difficult. This is the biggest story and we dont have access, she says. If you dare to dissent,if you are critical of not the war but even the conduct of this war,you are immediately labelled a traitor. The assassinated editors journalist wife Sonali Samarasinghe,who was editing the papers sister concern The Morning Leader has already left the country because of a threat to her life.

Jansz says that this reaction from the government is not exclusive to their paper alone. The defence writer of The Sunday Times Iqbal Athas had to stop his weekly column and leave the country after he was called a terrorist on the Defence website, she says. Keith Noyar of Nation newspaper was abducted from his home and severely assaulted. He was released only because of the intervention of the CEO of the media group,Krishan Coorey. Now the CEO too has left the country.

The reporters at Sunday Leader say that they are angry but scared as well. He (Lasantha) was like a father. Most of us have worked here for years. Whenever I am distracted while writing,I look up and see his poster. Its a constant reminder of our tragedy, a senior reporter says. We dont know how to deal with his assassination. We are angry,very angry. But we know nothing will happen. His murderers will go scot-free.

Lal Wickramatunge says that the situation for journalists in Sri Lanka is very grim these days. At the moment,journalists are under constant fire. Targeting journalists is done with absolute impunity, he says. Then the state has started to buy journalists and newspapers too. He says that he does not see the curbs on press ending anytime soon. The war is popular and the government is taking full advantage of it. Even if the war is over,I dont see a change happening. Even if they catch or kill Prabhakaran and curb the LTTE,they will continue to use intimidation to curb dissent.

He says that browbeating is not the only weapon that the state is using to silence the free press. They are literally buying newspapers. They first assaulted a journalist of Nation and then bought it. Island (newspaper) is anyway following their line. Lake House group is owned by the government. The Sunday Times is middle of the road. That leaves us and one television channel, he says. But I have decided. No matter what happens,I will never let the sacrifice of Lasantha go waste. Sunday Leader will continue.

The official reaction is as always the same free press is an important pillar of a democracy. But a quotation displayed prominently in the military spokesmans office explains it all: It is the soldier,not the reporter,who has given us freedom of press. It is the soldier,not the poet,who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier,not the politician,that ensures our rights to life and liberty…