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Gotabhaya points to other hatchet jobs by Channel 4 News

February 22, 2013, 9:25 pm


By Shamindra Ferdinando


Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa yesterday said that Sri Lanka wasn’t the only country targeted by the British media outfit Channel-4 News over accountability issues.


The Defence Secretary was responding to the planned screening of ‘No Fire Zone’, the third installment of the so-called documentary on ‘Sri Lanka Killing Fields’ series produced by Channel-4 News in the British parliament on Wednesday (27) alleging war crimes, with the focus on the alleged execution of LTTE leader Prabhakaran’s son by the Sri Lankan army.


The war veteran pointed out that the much touted screening was taking place at an event organized by the LTTE rump to celebrate the third anniversary of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF). The documentary had been obviously produced at the behest of the UK based GTF and others still supporting the LTTE’s macabre eelam project, the Defence Secretary said.


Responding to a query, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa recalled Channel-4 News screening an hour-long TV documentary titled ‘Kashmir’s Torture Trail’ last July. The documentary accused Indian security forces of thousands of disappearances, extra judicial executions as well as rape and murder. An influential section of the British print media, too, backed the TV documentary, the Defence Secretary pointed out, while emphasizing the need to examine the circumstances in which controversial documentaries were made.


The outspoken official recalled Indian media raising questions over the presence of the production team in the Kashmir valley at a time over 100 youths were killed in stone throwing incidents. "Questions are being asked whether Channel-4 News was tipped off by those who planned the demonstrations," the Defence Secretary said.


The Defence Secretary said that India and Sri Lanka had been lambasted by some UK MPs during a debate, which dealt with the human rights situation in the Indian sub- continent. Recalling how India had reacted angrily to the criticism in UK parliament, the Defence Secretary said that Channel-4 News was acting at the behest of interested parties, "in our case, the LTTE rump".


The Defence Secretary said that some UK and Australian MPs went to the extent of proposing Channel-4 News team for the last Nobel peace prize. The official said that the British media outfit couldn’t be allowed to make a name for itself at Sri Lanka’s expense.


Answering another query, the Defence Secretary alleged that none of those attending the GTF event dared to advice the LTTE against leaving the negotiating table in April 2003 during Ranil Wickremesinghe’s tenure as the Prime Minister. In fact, they remained silent as long as they felt the LTTE could achieve its military objectives, the Defence Secretary said. The GTF came into being only after the conclusion of the conflict in May 2009, he said. Had western powers been able to throw a lifeline to the sinking Tigers during the final phase of the offensive, there wouldn’t have been GTF, hence no third-year anniversary celebrations in UK parliament next Wednesday.