Demilitarize media to bring democracy to society

(July 03, 2009) On the day, the Working Sri Lanka Journalists' Association secretary Poddala Jayantha was abducted and assaulted, while having a discussion with the media organizations, the President Mahinda Rajapakse proposed the journalists to settle the conflicts among them, reported Ravaya editor-in-chief Victor Ivan.

He meant the conflict between the pro-war and anti-war journalists. Anti-war journalists are today branded as the Tiger associates by the victorious pro-war media.

This phenomenon is reflected once again with an incident reported by Sunanda Deshapriya in the Freedom of Expression Sri Lanka blog. The title of the post is 'Death threats to Ravaya journalist from Divaina editor.' (You can read it by clicking the headline.)

We do not think the Army Commander or any other authority is naive enough to take any journalists tale readily and to punish a person swiftly. The problem remains among the journalists themselves. Sri Lankan journalists have to cultivate the patience to tolerate diverse opinions. They who criticize others should be able to bear criticism on them as well. Pens should be dealt with pens and not by guns.

First step to bring democracy to Sri Lankan society is to demilitarize the media persons. One party in Sri Lanka has already been demilitarized with the defeat of the Tamil nationalist militant movement.According to Ravaya editor Victor Ivan, the defeated party is also similar to the victorious.