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Jaffna Commander disdains false reporting by the New York Times reporter

Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order

Security Forces Commander for Jaffna Major General G.A. Chandasiri, vehemently condemned a false news report appeared on a foreign newspaper quoting him saying that certain members of the Security forces are involved in Human Rights violations in Jaffna.

Speaking to the defenc.lk, General Chandasiri, said that this was a shameful falsification of facts by the part of the journalist depraving the true spirit of professional journalism.

In an article written to the New York Times, journalist Somini Sengupta had quoted General Chandasiri for acknowledging "that some people in the security forces could also be involved" in abductions and killings that happened in Jaffna peninsula recently. The article publish on Friday (15) under the title of "Sri Lanka's Scars Trace Lines of War without End", further quoted the General for pointing his finger at "pro government Tamil paramilitary groups " for most of the abductions .

While admitting that he had given an interview to the said newspaper, General Chandasiri said that the reporter had deliberately censored a large part of the interview and altered the rest for some unconceivable reason.

Speaking further he said, that he had never acknowledged involvement of armed forces in any of the crimes mentioned in the article or recognized any "Tamil Paramilitary group" as "pro-government."

"What I said was that the Army would certainly punish any of its members found guilty in any violation of human rights", he further clarified.

With regard to the Paramilitaries he explained that he had indicated the possible involvement of "Anti-LTTE Tamil groups" in abductions since some of the victims had found to have close links with the LTTE terrorists.

"It is wrong to say all anti-LTTE groups are pro government", he concluded.

Meanwhile, the defence.lk special correspondent in Jaffna, called Sengupta's article as a shameful attempt to mislead the international community. "It is true that violence has not fully left the peninsula, but the report certainly blows the issue out of proportion" he said.

The terror war against SL people is not only fought in the North and East of the Island. It is fought in southern politics, in local and international media, and in many other forums. The LTTE effigies and power hungry politicians who thrive over the suffering of SL people are dieing hard to extend the boldly war to another generation.

Nevertheless, hypocrites as such are doing the biggest disservice to the civilians caught in the nutcracker of terror. The cause of those innocent people has been hijacked by these mean spirited time-servers and is being exploited to make political or financial capital out of their plight like vultures that feast on carrion.

There is no doubt that free media is doing a thankless job in preserving human rights all around the world. Further, there is no argument that freedom of expression and the people's right to know the truth must be protected by all democratic governments.

Yet, when it comes to comprehending the reality, one should be careful of how "free" the media really is. For instance, it is a well known fact that a large majority of LTTE's victims are none other the Tamils themselves. Yet, many of the media elements that talks about the rights of the Tamil people deliberately conceal the fact.

If their concern for hapless civilians is genuine, such media elements must be able to take on the LTTE, too, which is making cannon-fodders of Tamil children and exploiting them in every conceivable way.

Why are those human rights campaigners silent on what is happening in areas' like Kilinochchi, which the LTTE has turned into mono ethnic hellholes?

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