Sri Lanka’s bloody, separatist insurgency has bled the country for 25 long years – and is continuing. Nearly 70,000 people, mostly civilians have perished. Countless have lost limb and property. Over a million people either have fled the country or are internally displaced.
Yet, the outside world knows little about the realities of a long drawn separatist war. In other theatres of conflict, information is easily available in the public domain. In the case of Sri Lanka, however, openness to media inquiry and reporting has been sadly lacking. Almost the entirety of the war has taken place while the country has been under a “State of Emergency,” when normal laws of the land do not apply. Periodically, censorship was imposed.
From the recent past, a State of Emergency continues, but without formal censorship. Allow me to provide you with some background and context first.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: I have been an eyewitness to the growth and transition of Tamil moderation into militancy. Tamils constitute 18 per cent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population. Seventy-four per cent are Sinhalese, most of them Buddhists. Years after achieving independence, the Tamil minority felt that discriminatory laws imperiled their culture, livelihood and status. They feared their safety and was threatened by several attacks. Sri Lankan governments and moderate Tamil politicians failed to achieve finality in discussions. Many Tamils left for greener pastures.
Then, a rag tag group of 45 Tamil youth banded themselves as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to fight an army of 6,000 men and 600 officers. They want to establish a separate Tamil state called Eelam in the island’s north, east and part of the south. Eelam is the name by which Sri Lanka was referred to in ancient Tamil epics.
As this conflict developed, turmoil replaced tranquility. A nation known worldwide for her tea, tourism, and Buddhism was transformed into Asia’s latest killing fields. Widespread death and destruction became the norm. The rebels were known for assassinations and suicide bombs; the government and military were accused of egregious human rights violations.
A Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) brokered by Norway in February 2002 ushered in a respite. This raised extraordinary hopes that a negotiated settlement would end the bloodletting. In January, this year, however, the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, abrogated it. In reality, they dropped the peace-through-negotiation option and chose to wage a “war on terror.” Both political and military leaders vowed to “eliminate” the rebels before the end of this year.
Billions of dollars have been poured into expanding and modernizing equipment for the Army, Navy Air Force and the Police. Some 300,000 are now fighting the rebels who, by the Government’s estimates, do not exceed 5,000. However, independent accounts place their strength at around 20,000. The battles continue.
CRUNCH TIME: It is in this context that the media, both local and foreign, has to decide how to report on the continuing conflict, sifting fact from fiction. Strict restrictions on them in conflict situations are not unknown. However, the media in Sri Lanka is totally debarred from visiting the battle zones. The only exceptions are officially arranged conducted tours, which exude heat and sound, but do not shed much light.
The media have to depend on hand outs from the military. It is well known that official figures of rebel casualties are grossly exaggerated - a situation reminiscent of the “body count” scandals in Vietnam. A joke in Colombo suggested that a tally of the Government’s LTTE casualties would surely usher in peace, because claimed “enemy deaths” exceeded the population of northern Sri Lanka twice over. An unmanageable crisis of credibility continues, shaking public confidence, and demoralizing the military.
The armed services, which had an endless flood of volunteers at the beginning, were later confronted with major desertions. As a counter move, deserters were offered a series of amnesties, with the next round fixed for this week.
The public treats the information on battle situations provided by the military, which are faithfully reported by Government media channels, with a high degree of suspicion. One newspaper runs a weekly column titled “Kill-O-Meter.” It gives the total number of rebels killed, those remaining to be killed, and the number of weeks left in terms of deadlines placed by military leaders.
The independent media, denied access to the front, began to focus more on the peripherals of the war. This was especially on the endless corruption that makes those in and out of uniform millionaires and billionaires. Also included was the incredible incompetence of some military men leading to debacles.
Just two weeks ago, more than 100 soldiers were killed and over 350 wounded in the northern Jaffna peninsula when troops attempted to break through rebel defences. The Government, embarrassed by the debacle, turned this “defeat” into “victory.” Officials gave low troop casualty figures, a higher number of rebel deaths and claimed they re-captured fresh territory. Nevertheless, foreign and some independent local media gave correct accounts based on their own sources. Thus, an official cover up had no effect.
Independent media reports by local journalists, which do not reflect the official view, or run counter to official claims, draw not only political wrath but also personal reprisals. No censorship, as I have pointed out, but instead plenty of retaliatory measures. In April last year, “Reporters without Borders” said that “the people who murder journalists in Sri Lanka feel so protected that they carry out fresh murders to mark the anniversaries of their previous ones.”
PERSONALLY ENDANGERED: Personally, I have had so many unsavory experiences. They have emboldened me to claim that I am an endangered species. I will illustrate my claim with a single, dramatic episode. Ten years ago, I exposed corruption in military procurements in the Air Force. One night, armed men raided my home and thrust a loaded pistol at my head as my wife and then seven-year-old daughter watched in trepidation. Subsequently, after a protracted legal battle that lasted four years, the courts convicted two Air Force officers for involvement in that attempted “persuasion.” They sentenced each to nine years hard labour. The case is now in appeal.
Meanwhile, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, in May 2005, warned me that I was a target on the Tamil Tigers’ hit list. She assigned a team of Army commandos to protect me. To politicians, that would have been a welcome move. However, to me, as a journalist, it became a necessary evil. As an intended target marked out for murder, I could not have been able to work without them. Having them around, protecting my sources in the military in which I was exposing corruption or reporting on the war going beyond the official accounts, became a very difficult task.
All this changed in August last year. I exposed corruption in the procurement of fighter jets from Ukraine. If two previous purchases from a fleet were cheaper, the last was double the price for aged fighters. There were no denials or clarifications. Instead, my security was withdrawn. Government supporters held a vociferous state sponsored demonstration outside my house. Sinister-looking pursuers stalked me. I was forced to flee the country thrice. A malicious campaign was launched in official web sites and the dubious title of “traitor” was conferred on me.
Last Saturday, or the United Nations designated World Press Freedom Day, I was singled out again for the same dubious honour. This time for baring details of the military debacle I referred to earlier.
In a country where the media is perceived as the second enemy, that is the heavy price for reporting the truth. One had to hide, re-appear to report and hide again. It is a daunting challenge. That is reporting conflict in Sri Lanka – mission almost impossible.