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by Nandaratna Rajapaksha, Ambalangoda Central Special Correspondent

All communities in Sri Lanka as a nation have equally suffered pain and defeat as a result of the northern war. There is no winner in this war. All of us have paid a heavy price for our failure to solve the conflict peacefully, said Imtiaz Bakeer Markar, Minister of Mass Communication addressing Galle district provincial journalists at a seminar on the role of journalists in modern era.

The seminar was organised by the Department of Government Information in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Press Council and was held on September 6.

Minister Markar said by peace we mean an honourable peace.

The government will strive hard to reason with the LTTE and arrive at a political solution at the peace talks and transform the conditional ceasefire to a permanent peace.

In the past slum areas in local cities were referred to as Korea. But today Korea has emerged as one of the important industrial countries. Similarly Singapore after its economy had remained gloomy for a long period of time has now quickly become a flourishing nation. The minister said the government has the full backing of donor countries who are helping to build Sri Lanka's economy if we provide peace and stability. The present laws which infringe on the liberties of media personnel will be abolished. The government will enact new laws to shield the media personnel from the risk of prosecution for defamation, Minister Markar said.

Professor Bandusena Gunasekera said that the print media in a country is more effective and powerful than the electronic media in forwarding the cause of the people. Today we see an erosion of values and moral standards in Sri Lankan society. Our education system needs further improvement and reform in order to overcome its drawbacks. Prof. Gunasekera stressed that whatever you present to the public through your newspaper it should be written in correct language. Knowledge of the language and the ability to write lucidly is an essential requisite for a competent jouranlist.

Director of Information, Ariya Rubasinghe, K. S. Perera, Actg. Press Commissioner and several others also spoke.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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