A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Sunday, December 1, 2013
Fearless Jaffna daily 'Uthayan' wins prestigious press freedom award
- 29 NOVEMBER 2013
- BY ATHULA WITHANAGE
Well-known
for its courageous journalism, Jaffna-based Tamil tabloid daily,
Uthayan, has won the prestigious international Press Freedom Award for
2013 from the France-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF). Uthayan
Editor Vallipuram Kaanamylnaathan and its proprietor Eswarapatham
Saravanapavan received the award from the RSF at the award ceremony held
in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday (Nov 27).
Uzbek journalist Muhammad Bekjanov, who is imprisoned for 14-long years,
was announced as the joint winner of the award. Notably, Sri Lanka is
ranked 162nd while Uzbekistan is ranked 164th out of 179 countries in
the RSF press freedom index.
Uthayan newspaper coincidentally received this international award on its 28th birthday. The newspaper has faced 37 brutal attacks by
pro-government paramilitary and other government forces during its
historic journey. At least half a dozen of journalists and other staff
had been killed during these attacks, while several journalists and
editors have been forced to leave the country to safety. The
perpetrators, however, still remain at large under the prevailing
culture of impunity.
Standing tall for reporting matters that are usually shunned by other
news organisations elsewhere in the country despite threats and attacks,
Uthayan is the only Tamil newspaper which has not ceased publication in
the war-ravaged northern Jaffna peninsula during the three-decade long
bloody civil war.
War on Uthayan not over yet
Speaking at the award ceremony, Director-General of the RSF Christophe
Deloire said that the war “in Sri Lanka is not yet over for Uthayan”,
highlighting the ongoing threat, intimidations and harassment on
journalists and media workers in the Northern Jaffna peninsula.
“If this newspaper were to succumb to the constant harassment to which
it is exposed to, the abuses by the security forces against the
population in the north would continue with complete impunity, without
being brought to the attention of Sri Lankans and the international
community. The courage and persistence of Uthayan’s staff in reporting
what happens in this embattled country demands our respect and our full
solidarity,” he said.
Receiving the award Uthayan Editor, Kanamylnathan said although the
government of Sri Lanka has officially declared the end of the war,
“nothing has changed as far as the media is concerned”.
“Each and every journalist has to toe the government line, regardless of
their political beliefs and convictions. Apart from the fear factor
that compels them to do so, there is a material aspect as well. If you
play by the rules set by the authorities, you will not only be spared,
but will also be rewarded. In Jaffna, Media Resource And Training Centre
is involved in training new journalists, but there is no environment to
practise what you learn,” the Uthayan Editor said.
People’s plight keeps us going
“Uthayan has won at least 10 awards so far. Many journalists, media
workers attached to Uthayan have been murdered, abducted, assaulted and intimidated. Our office was attacked and printing machines were
destroyed. There is nothing on the ground that encourages us to do our
job, except the plight of our people. Therefore, in moments like this,
we feel happy and proud, because such moments convince us that we have
done our job properly,” he said.
Coming hard on the Colombo-based mainstream media for grossly ignoring
the plight of the war-ravaged Tamils in the Northern peninsula, Uthayan
proprietor Saravanapavan said that his newspaper often came under the
‘vicious attack’ of the state-run and pro-government media outfits for
bravely reporting on the happenings in Jaffna.
“In Tamil areas, people cannot move freely, without being stopped,
questioned and searched at check points unless they have political or
diplomatic privileges. The military intelligence personnel roam
everywhere and keep an eye on everyone. The prevailing situation is
extremely scary. Uthayan has paid a huge price for exposing what is
happening in Jaffna,” Mr. Saravanapavan, who is also a parliamentarian
of the Tamil National Alliance, said.
RSF in a statement said that it has been awarding an international prize
to a journalist and a news organization every year since 1992. In
partnership with Le Monde and TV5Monde, its aim is to encourage, support
and publicize the work of journalists and media that have contributed
significantly to the defence or promotion of media freedom.
“More than 30 men, women, news organizations and NGOs have received this
prize in the past 20 years. Some who were in jail at the time
subsequently recovered their freedom. Others who were in danger received
a form of protection as a result of this international recognition,”
the RSF statement said.