SAFMA-SL condemns burning of Uthayan newspaper printing press
Who is regularly targeting Media in the North?
A gang of unknown persons has again violently attacked a newspaper institution in the North early this morning (Saturday, 13th April) setting fire to and severely damaging its printing press. While condemning this attack, the Sri Lanka Chapter of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA-SL) points out that, after the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam, unknown groups of men have been regularly attacking media personnel, offices and equipment in the North.
This morning the target was the head office of the Uthayan newspaper, in the heart of Jaffna city. Barely two weeks ago, the regional office of theUthayan in Kilinochchi, which town is also the Army’s headquarters in the Vanni was violently attacked and three staffers were injured, the elderly manager critically, and computers and other equipment destroyed.
In previous weeks, other Jaffna-based Tamil language newspapers, namely the Valampuri and the Thinakkural, came under violent attack, in which stocks of their newspapers were burnt, distribution vehicles damaged and editorial and distribution personnel injured.
This year alone, there seems to have been, on average, a fortnightly attack on the Tamil language media in the North. Given that the insurgent forces are supposed to have been eliminated and the North is under secure control by the security forces, these regular and frequent attacks by unknown gangs of men operating close to major military installations, can mean one of two possibilities. Either there is a significant revival of insurgency, which the security establishment has yet to officially acknowledge and is unable to control, or, these regular attacks on the media of the Tamil-speaking people is a deliberate campaign by politically powerful elements operating with the knowledge of the security establishment.
Both possibilities point to the incompetence of the Defence Ministry in managing the post-war situation in the country. To date, the security authorities have not been able to inform the public about the perpetrators. It is time that the Defence authorities divert their energies from urban development and gave more attention to this burning problem that reflects negatively on the nation’s image, while antagonising whole communities.
- SAFMA Sri Lanka.
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