Ever since the beginning of the three-decade-long war, Sri Lanka has rarely been out of the global spotlight. But it is indeed a matter of regret for the nation as a whole that the greater share of this unprecedented global exposure has been for all the wrong reasons. The positive stories have been few and far between and could easily be counted on one’s fingers as opposed to the negative stories, which unfortunately are beyond count.
This is one reason why during the period since the end of the war and the time that the Covid pandemic struck two years ago, Sri Lanka struggled to reach its full potential in attracting both investment as well as tourists despite multi-million-dollar global promotions. The limited impact of such efforts could be attributed to the lack of validation and reinforcement from the far more influential non-paid, earned media on the larger canvas.
Given the need for positive media on the global front, one particular piece of legislation managed to do just that; it grabbed the world’s attention, especially where it mattered most, in the West. That was when the Right to Information (RTI) Act was introduced during the last Yahapalana regime. Coupled with the 19th Amendment, where for the first time a sitting president voted to clip his own wings in the larger interest of strengthening the democratic process via Parliament in tandem with the setting up of independent commissions that decentralised executive power, helped portray Sri Lanka as a poster child for strengthening democracy and helped capture the world’s attention in a positive way. This in turn provided the much-needed nation with brand reinforcement.
In the local context, this combination of legislation ensured breathing space for the long suffocating Fourth Estate which for years had been hounded by successive governments, some to a greater degree than others. However, to give the devil its due, it is to the credit of the Yahapalana regime that it delivered on its promise to free the media from the clutches of regressive laws that had become handy tools in the hands of insecure politicians. The RTI Act enabled the media who chose to leverage it to open up a new dimension in reportage, helping journalists to produce better, more informed, and fact-based content to the news-consuming public both here and abroad. This positive development portrayed Sri Lanka as being quite modernist and in line with global best practices, even setting the benchmark to the holier-than-thou West, for a change.
But as is usually the case, all that hard-won gain is now being systematically squandered at the altar of political expediency. The introduction of the Data Protection Bill by the present regime in the guise of bringing about some degree of control over unregulated electronic communication, especially social media, is widely considered as a strategic move to kill two birds with one stone – control the footprint of social media content especially with a political bent in the guise of national security, while also using the legislation to subtly impinge on some liberties granted under the RTI Act. The fallout of the latest piece of legislation is likely to be felt across the media spectrum and more so by the mainstream media having to once again look over its collective shoulder while doing its job in a milieu where information is sourced, processed, and distributed primarily on electronic platforms.
In the Jana Gosha Case of 1993 (1SLR264) Amaratunga v. Sirimal, the Supreme Court made a pertinent observation: “The right to support or to criticise governments and political parties, policies and programmes, is fundamental to the democratic way of life, and the freedom of speech and expression is one which cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions. Stifling the peaceful expression of legitimate dissent today can only result, inexorably, in the catastrophic explosion of violence some other day.”
This observation comes to mind in light of multiple instances of harassment and intimidation of individuals exercising their democratic right to dissent over the course of last week. The first incident was the attack on the residence of a popular television journalist which even a week later has not seen any progress in the investigation despite the availability of CCTV footage. The second incident was the ‘arrest’ of a social media activist agitating for justice for the Easter Sunday victims. The manner in which the ‘arrest’ was made by men in civvies who did not wish to identify themselves has already attracted a barrage of criticism from human rights groups. There is also the matter of the egg-throwing incident targeting the JVP leadership, where again no progress has been made in the investigation despite two of the attackers being rounded up and handed over to the Police by participants at the event.
The noticeable lack of enthusiasm on the part of the authorities to pursue these matters has resulted in the JVP lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, the social media activist seeking the protection of rights groups, and the journalist resorting to legal recourse – all of which comes on the eve of the latest UNHRC sessions in Geneva next week
Timing has never been the forte of the current administration, which has consistently displayed an uncanny knack for putting its foot in the mouth through its microscopic worldview, much to the detriment of the nation and what’s remaining of its hard-earned goodwill. Piecemeal foreign policy essentially based on the economic need of the hour has resulted in the vultures queuing up at the gates for a bigger share of the pie and its media exposure has drawn the ire of the powers that be.
For an administration that began all gung ho as if the world depended on little Sri Lanka and not the other way around, it appears that the ground reality has finally begun to sink in, judging by its newfound willingness to pander to the West on reviewing contentious laws. However, the administration is yet to discover that the relative success of its spin doctors on the domestic front will not deliver similar results on the international front. The proposed amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), once again driven by international pressure, is a case in point.
The current effort to ‘water it down,’ while in fact adding more muscle where it deems necessary, if carried through, will make a bad case worse. In hindsight the PTA has done little to fulfil its original purpose over the past 42 years and is utterly out of place in its current form, yet successive governments have persisted with it for obvious reasons. The releasing of an individual who had been held for 12 long years under the PTA on a Court order last week is yet another stark reality check. The failure on the part of the authorities to frame any charges against this particular individual during the course of 12 years is a clear indication of its draconian nature.
If not for international pressure that appears to be mounting in the run-up to the UNHRC sessions, this individual may not have seen the light of day outside the prison walls for no apparent wrongdoing on his part as indicated by the Court order. According to official statistics, another 275 remain in indefinite detention under the PTA and it seems that only sustained pressure can succeed in extracting relief for them as well, in the absence of any enthusiasm to do so on the part of the State.
However, just as in the case of the media personality, civil activist, and the JVP seeking alternate methods to seek justice, there is a degree of comfort that can also be derived from the civil activism that has seen a spate of Fundamental Rights petitions being filed in the Supreme Court challenging the proposed amendments to the PTA. Civil activism is part and parcel of the democratic process and its apparent rise to safeguard basic rights is indeed cause for comfort.
Civil activism to the rescue
19 Feb 2022
Civil activism to the rescue
19 Feb 2022
Ever since the beginning of the three-decade-long war, Sri Lanka has rarely been out of the global spotlight. But it is indeed a matter of regret for the nation as a whole that the greater share of this unprecedented global exposure has been for all the wrong reasons. The positive stories have been few and far between and could easily be counted on one’s fingers as opposed to the negative stories, which unfortunately are beyond count.
This is one reason why during the period since the end of the war and the time that the Covid pandemic struck two years ago, Sri Lanka struggled to reach its full potential in attracting both investment as well as tourists despite multi-million-dollar global promotions. The limited impact of such efforts could be attributed to the lack of validation and reinforcement from the far more influential non-paid, earned media on the larger canvas.
Given the need for positive media on the global front, one particular piece of legislation managed to do just that; it grabbed the world’s attention, especially where it mattered most, in the West. That was when the Right to Information (RTI) Act was introduced during the last Yahapalana regime. Coupled with the 19th Amendment, where for the first time a sitting president voted to clip his own wings in the larger interest of strengthening the democratic process via Parliament in tandem with the setting up of independent commissions that decentralised executive power, helped portray Sri Lanka as a poster child for strengthening democracy and helped capture the world’s attention in a positive way. This in turn provided the much-needed nation with brand reinforcement.
In the local context, this combination of legislation ensured breathing space for the long suffocating Fourth Estate which for years had been hounded by successive governments, some to a greater degree than others. However, to give the devil its due, it is to the credit of the Yahapalana regime that it delivered on its promise to free the media from the clutches of regressive laws that had become handy tools in the hands of insecure politicians. The RTI Act enabled the media who chose to leverage it to open up a new dimension in reportage, helping journalists to produce better, more informed, and fact-based content to the news-consuming public both here and abroad. This positive development portrayed Sri Lanka as being quite modernist and in line with global best practices, even setting the benchmark to the holier-than-thou West, for a change.
But as is usually the case, all that hard-won gain is now being systematically squandered at the altar of political expediency. The introduction of the Data Protection Bill by the present regime in the guise of bringing about some degree of control over unregulated electronic communication, especially social media, is widely considered as a strategic move to kill two birds with one stone – control the footprint of social media content especially with a political bent in the guise of national security, while also using the legislation to subtly impinge on some liberties granted under the RTI Act. The fallout of the latest piece of legislation is likely to be felt across the media spectrum and more so by the mainstream media having to once again look over its collective shoulder while doing its job in a milieu where information is sourced, processed, and distributed primarily on electronic platforms.
In the Jana Gosha Case of 1993 (1SLR264) Amaratunga v. Sirimal, the Supreme Court made a pertinent observation: “The right to support or to criticise governments and political parties, policies and programmes, is fundamental to the democratic way of life, and the freedom of speech and expression is one which cannot be denied without violating those fundamental principles of liberty and justice which lie at the base of all civil and political institutions. Stifling the peaceful expression of legitimate dissent today can only result, inexorably, in the catastrophic explosion of violence some other day.”
This observation comes to mind in light of multiple instances of harassment and intimidation of individuals exercising their democratic right to dissent over the course of last week. The first incident was the attack on the residence of a popular television journalist which even a week later has not seen any progress in the investigation despite the availability of CCTV footage. The second incident was the ‘arrest’ of a social media activist agitating for justice for the Easter Sunday victims. The manner in which the ‘arrest’ was made by men in civvies who did not wish to identify themselves has already attracted a barrage of criticism from human rights groups. There is also the matter of the egg-throwing incident targeting the JVP leadership, where again no progress has been made in the investigation despite two of the attackers being rounded up and handed over to the Police by participants at the event.
The noticeable lack of enthusiasm on the part of the authorities to pursue these matters has resulted in the JVP lodging a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, the social media activist seeking the protection of rights groups, and the journalist resorting to legal recourse – all of which comes on the eve of the latest UNHRC sessions in Geneva next week
Timing has never been the forte of the current administration, which has consistently displayed an uncanny knack for putting its foot in the mouth through its microscopic worldview, much to the detriment of the nation and what’s remaining of its hard-earned goodwill. Piecemeal foreign policy essentially based on the economic need of the hour has resulted in the vultures queuing up at the gates for a bigger share of the pie and its media exposure has drawn the ire of the powers that be.
For an administration that began all gung ho as if the world depended on little Sri Lanka and not the other way around, it appears that the ground reality has finally begun to sink in, judging by its newfound willingness to pander to the West on reviewing contentious laws. However, the administration is yet to discover that the relative success of its spin doctors on the domestic front will not deliver similar results on the international front. The proposed amendments to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), once again driven by international pressure, is a case in point.
The current effort to ‘water it down,’ while in fact adding more muscle where it deems necessary, if carried through, will make a bad case worse. In hindsight the PTA has done little to fulfil its original purpose over the past 42 years and is utterly out of place in its current form, yet successive governments have persisted with it for obvious reasons. The releasing of an individual who had been held for 12 long years under the PTA on a Court order last week is yet another stark reality check. The failure on the part of the authorities to frame any charges against this particular individual during the course of 12 years is a clear indication of its draconian nature.
If not for international pressure that appears to be mounting in the run-up to the UNHRC sessions, this individual may not have seen the light of day outside the prison walls for no apparent wrongdoing on his part as indicated by the Court order. According to official statistics, another 275 remain in indefinite detention under the PTA and it seems that only sustained pressure can succeed in extracting relief for them as well, in the absence of any enthusiasm to do so on the part of the State.
However, just as in the case of the media personality, civil activist, and the JVP seeking alternate methods to seek justice, there is a degree of comfort that can also be derived from the civil activism that has seen a spate of Fundamental Rights petitions being filed in the Supreme Court challenging the proposed amendments to the PTA. Civil activism is part and parcel of the democratic process and its apparent rise to safeguard basic rights is indeed cause for comfort.
Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!