Sri Lanka govt.

flagship English daily CDN denys

Right to Reply to cover up its unprofessionalism
Sunday, May !, "#$
Media Release % National &eace
council
&'(L)C )N*ERES* +R &ERS+N,L -ENDE**,. LE* */E RE,DERS DEC)DE
0hat can 1e said a1out someone naked 2ho steals the clothes of his opponent and parades
them as his o2n to hide his o2n nakedness. *he Editor of the Daily Ne2s has shamelessly
misappropriated the statements used 1y the National &eace Council 3N&C4 to e5pose his
ignorance and confusion of history and parades them as his o2n.
0e ask the readers to compare the N&C Statement refuting his original editorial 32hich he did
not pu1lish4 and his latest editorial in the issue of 6%#7%"#$ titled 8C,N /E *ELL /)S
EL(+0 9R+M /)S ....8
,ccording to the Editor in his editorial of $%#7%"#$, 8(esides, it is a fallacy to say that Civil
0ar victories are not cele1rated in the 'S or any other part of the 2orld. *he $th of :uly
cele1rations 2hich commemorate the 'S Revolutionary 2ar is also a commemoration of an
,merican civil 2ar as 2hat is called the Revolutionary 2ar 2as also a series of 1attles fought
for the 'nion ; as much as the 2ar against the Confederates 2as also a 2ar for
unification. ,mericans fought ,mericans in the ,merican Revolutionary 0ar e5cept that one
side 2as comprised of loyalists 2ho fought out of loyalty to the (ritish Empire. So 2hen the
2ooly headed simpletons of the National &eace Council say that no country cele1rates a Civil
0ar they are either saying that $th of :uly does not mark a cele1ration or that the 'nited States
of ,merica is not a respecta1le country, 2hich opinion of course they are entitled to if they
really 2ant to 1elieve in it ... 8
/ere is 2hat 0e, the N&C said in )ts Reply< 8*he Editor of the Daily Ne2s ,ll Mi5ed up
seems to 1e a1out the ,merican 0ar of )ndependence and the ,merican Civil 0ar 2hich raged
9rom ===;=!> &lace 2hich took a century later in !6#s . *he latter 2as a Civil 0ar 1et2een
the North and the South. 6##,### people 2ere killed 8 .
/ere is 2hat the Editor said after reading our statement 1ut 2ithout pu1lishing it.
80hat can 1e said a1out some1ody 2ho mi5es up the t2o most note2orthy historical events in
the 'S ; the Revolutionary 0ar that led to the creation of the 'nited States as 2e kno2 the
country, and the Civil 0ar 2hich 2as fought against the Confederate States that seceded. 8
0hen the N&C statement reached the Editor, he reali?ing his monumental 1lunder contacted
the E5ecutive Director and e5pressed his concerns at having 1eing depicted as getting things
mi5ed up. Mean2hile the Sri Lanka (rief 0e1site had had pu1lished the N&C Statement on
7.#7."#$ 2ith the follo2ing comment 8Sri Lanka< Daily Ne2s Editor doesn@t kno2 the
difference 1et2een 0ar of )ndependence 3==7 ; !>4 and Civil 0ar 3!6;6$4 in ,merica. 8So
2ithout pu1lishing the N&C Statement the Editor 2rites another editorial copying 2hat 2e said
and suppressing our o2n statement.
80ho mi5ed up 2hat. Let the readers decide.
*he Editor does ho2ever continue to maintain his position that the ,merican 0ar of
)ndependence 2as a 2ar fought 1y ,mericans against other ,mericans. ,ccording to
0ikipedia not more than "#A 2ere loyalists 3to the (ritish rulers4 and they too dropped out as
the 2ar escalated. 0hy 2ere they loyalists. Some ,merican historians say it 2as 1ecause they
2ere pacifists. See 80hich side to take< Revolutionary or loyalist. (B C,R+LE
0,**ERS+N *R+CLER 3Reprinted 1y permission from *ar /eel :unior /istorian >", no.
39all DD"4< =;", copyright North Carolina Museum of /istory.4
/ere is 2hat she says 8Starting in =67 the ,mericans reEected the authority of &arliament to
ta5 them 2ithout elected representationF protests escalated as in the (oston *ea &arty of ==>,
and the (ritish imposed punitive la2s;the )ntolera1le ,cts;on Massachusetts in ==$. )n ==$
the &atriots suppressed the Loyalists and e5pelled all royal officials. Each colony no2 had a
ne2 government that took control. *he (ritish responded 1y sending com1at troops to re;
esta1lish royal control. *hrough the Second Continental Congress, the &atriots fought the
(ritish in the ,merican Revolutionary 0ar 3==7 ; =!>4. Some people tried to avoid taking
sides. *his usually did not 2ork. ,1out a year after the Declaration of )ndependence 2as
signed, the North Carolina revolutionary government made la2s reGuiring men of military age
to take an oath of allegiance to the ne2 state government and to serve in one of its military
forces. Some e5ceptions 2ere made for mem1ers of four Christian religious groups that 2ere
2idely recogni?ed as pacifists. *hese 2ere the Huakers, Moravians, Mennonites, and Dunkers
3also kno2n as Ierman (aptists4. *he state@s government allo2ed mem1ers of these four
groups to avoid military service 1y paying ta5es three or four times higher than the usual
rate. (ut pacifists other than mem1ers of these four religious groups 2ere not allo2ed to get
out of military service. Carole illustrates the sentiments of the@@ loyalists@ from the vie2s of one
such loyalist 3he refused to take arms though4.
*he Editor has the hypocrisy to state that 8&erera has to 1e prodded 2ith a curling iron and told
that these t2o 2ars 2ere fought almost a hundred years apart. 0hich 'niversity did he go to
N+* kno2 that. 0hy doesn@t he first learn the 1asics of ,merican history instead of
hysterically attempting to conflate t2o separate events in the narrative past of that nation. 8Sir,
not 2e 1ut you did so, and you should apply these statements to yourself.
*he Editor like some others confuses 8commemoration8 of an event 2ith its cele1ration. *hey
are not the same. Commemoration can take various forms including Remem1rance as on
Novem1er th after the 9irst 0orld 0ar and 2ithout the military parades of a victory
cele1ration. 0e still maintain that although several Empires such as the *urkish Empire, the
Russian Empire, 2aged civil 2ars and 2on them they don@t cele1rate their 2ar victories against
their o2n people. )ndia is a country that has faced several insurgencies 1ut does not cele1rate
the victory of the state over the militants. +ne e5ample 2ould 1e the separatist Sikh campaign
that even led to the assassination of an )ndian &rime Minister, Mrs )ndira Iandhi in D!$, 1ut
after the insurgency 2as Guelled a decade later there have 1een no cele1rations of the deaths of
the militant leaders or of the victory of the state security forces.
0e also take issue 2ith Mr /LD Mahindapala 2hose article 8:ehan 3&acha4 &erera has done it
again8 2as pu1lished on the page opposite the editorial of the Daily Ne2s on the same
day. +ne of the points made in this article is that, to Guote him, 80hen ) met :ehan in Ieneva )
asked him 2hy he keeps on 1oosting (alasingham@s image 2ith a doctorate 2hich he has not
received from any university. /e admitted that (alasingham is not Gualified to 1e titled 2ith a
8Dr8 1ut he did so 1ecause others did it. 8*his 2as a truthful ans2er and 1elies the claim of8
&acha 8. *here 2as certainly no reason for him to give any assurance to Mr Mahindapala
regarding ho2 he 2ould address the late L**E ideologue upon his return to Sri Lanka, as Mr
Mahindapala had no moral authority or legal standing to make any such demand. *he National
&eace Council also 2ishes to assert that its media releases are the responsi1ility of its
Ioverning Council and not of any single individual and Mr Mahindapala is making a false
allegation 3&acha4 2hen he attri1utes our media release to :ehan &erera.
9inally, the National &eace Council 2ishes to e5press its deep an5iety at the flagship media
institution of the Iovernment of Sri Lanka 2hich takes the message of the government to the
English;reading pu1lic and international community engaging in such crass Eournalism. )t is a
violation of media ethics not to grant the Right of Reply to those 2ho have 1een commented
upon, 1oth editorially and in the main feature article in a ne2spaper. )t is also a violation of
media ethics to use a national ne2spaper, especially the government@s o2n flagship ne2spaper,
to engage in personal vendetta.
Ioverning Council
*he National &eace Council is an independent and non partisan organi?ation that 2orks
to2ards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. )t has a vision of a
peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in 2hich the freedom, human rights and democratic rights
of all the communities are respected. *he policy of the National &eace Council is determined
1y its Ioverning Council of "# mem1ers 2ho are dra2n from diverse 2alks of life and 1elong
to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.