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moka p.ka ridenawada.. mama dunna pahara sera wedi..ney..

Keynote speech delivered by journalist Namini Wijedasa at the Annual General Meeting of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance today, held in the auditorium of the Organisation of Professional Associations, Colombo.
Members of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance and friends,
This is an honour indeed. And yet, I am more than a little daunted at having to speak before an audience whose experience and memories stretch so back into the past. When Dr. Visvalingam invited me to address you, I was delighted. But as the days flew by, I became more and more uncertain of what I could say to people who already knew so much more than I do. And who have lived much longer than I have.
So I stand before you as an ordinary journalist who makes no pretence about the depth and extent of my knowledge or insight. I present to you my views based on what I have learnt of my country through the exercise of my profession.
It is the practice today that when somebody presents a view contrary to that which is held by the government and its henchmen, that person and his opinions are loudly denigrated. He must have an agenda, they say. And the word agenda is almost always used negatively.
If you criticise the way foreign relations are conducted, you re being bribed by the West. If you speak about human rights abuses, you are a grasping NGO agent. Either way, you are embroiled in a certain conspiracy to topple the government.
If you oppose the mass ordination of Buddhist children because you think it is not the healthiest way to alleviate poverty or to protect the Buddha Sasana, you re part of an international religious plot to destroy Buddhism in Sri Lanka. If you eat bread or noodles, you re a slave to those evil multinational companies despite the fact that the person making this claim is a noodle himself.
If you criticise your rulers, you re just downright ungrateful because they won the war and that should suffice for the next several decades. Indeed, if you are not with us, you are against us . Still. Three years after the war ended.
This bigotry and intolerance is untenable. It is wholly detrimental to the free thought, free speech and the advancement of society. Why in this day and age is a government afraid of a diversity of views? Why do they feel so threatened by detractors and critics that they feel it necessary to classify them as conspirators or traitors?
As journalists, we have to avoid all these labels. And yet, you could still be sold out by colleagues who have aligned themselves so closely with this government that they are irreversibly indebted to them. If there are stooges in all other sectors, so it is also with the media. Carrots are certainly more powerful than the stick.

Shiva,

You know how he talks to Tamils and others....??

he gets what he received from his birth.

So often, since the war ended, we have heard that we must be grateful to the government. Yes, we must. But this notion of gratitude has been taken too far. Today, we are expected to be grateful for everything, particularly services that are our entitlement. And those services, too, are delivered so grudgingly, so lackadaisically and so incompetently that it makes you cringe. This is a country that can t conduct an advanced level examination without a breakdown. Need we look further?
I say that now, three years after the military victory, it is time to stop focusing solely on gratitude. It is time to demand good governance. The regime must be grateful to the people for tolerating its inefficiency thus far. All the international conspiracies in the world can t mask the fact that things are not right here.
So how does the public know that they are being poorly governed, that politicisation is eating way at the very heart of our systems? The message must go to the grassroots, to the members of local government and provincial councils, of village societies and women s groups. Teachers, clergy, business people, professionals, agricultural workers, everyone, must be made aware of their rights and entitlements. People must be educated about how proper systems work because we are so entrenched in what we have now that we cannot see or remember a better time.
As a journalist, I have found the public eager to learn about alternatives. I recall a discussion I had with a group of law students at the Colombo High Court last November. It was a vibrant dialogue about the importance of separating the judiciary from the executive. It seemed all the more relevant because we were waiting for the judgement in Sarath Fonseka s white flag case. They, and I, went away more enlightened than when we came in. And I wondered whether the legal education system was today independent enough for similar debates to take place at student level. My guess is, no.
When the message goes to the grassroots, stuff happens. Changes occur. We may not see them now, but things start moving. Politicians get nervous and feel more accountable. If the voices circulate.

Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is displeased with The Island Editor Prabath Sahabandu for failing to adhere to his request not to publish the word General before Sarath Fonseka s name when publishing articles related to him. It is learnt that the Defence Secretary had on several occasions made this directive to the editor of the newspaper.

The Defence Secretary has also brought this matter to the notice of Chairman of Upali Newspaper that publishes The Island, Nimal Welgama, but to no avail, a senior Defence Ministry official said.

Since Nimal Welgama is also the Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the Defence Secretary has directed a senior SLT official to prepare a report on the financial assistance given by Telecom to Upali Newspapers. The Defence Secretary has said the report be handed over to him.

The Defence Secretary s doubts over Upali Newspapers have increased since Manoj Abeydheera, who is among the group trying to promote Economic Developmnt Minister Basil Rajapaksa as the next leader of the country, is also a member of the newspaper company. Manoj Abeydheera was earlier closely affiliated to the Defence Secretary.

Shiva,

You know how he talks to Tamils and others....??

he gets what he received from his birth.

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaaaaaa.......

Crying...

I will show the two peelamists how stinking..