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| Friday, 16 July 2004 |
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The BBC distorts the truth In the news item posted on its web site dated Monday July 12, 2004, under the headline 'Colombo denies aiding Tiger rebel', the BBC has allegedly deliberately distorted facts relating to an inter view the Thamil Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) had broadcast on Saturday July 10, 2004. It appears that the BBC has learnt nothing from the Gilligan fiasco, which ultimately led to the resignation of the head honcho of the BBC and apologising to the British government for broadcasting false information. The facts The former LTTE leader of the Eastern Province, Mr. Vinayagamoorthy, often referred by his nom de guerre, Colonel Karuna, contacted the TBC on 10th July 2004 and expressed his wish to grant us an interview. He indicated that he had already given an interview to the BBC Tamil Service. It appeared to us at the TBC, that Colonel Karuna wanted to ensure that the message he was seeking to convey to the world through his interview, should reach the listeners without being doctored or abridged by anyone. Since March 2004, the TBC has entered into a commercial arrangement with the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), whereby the TBC is permitted to broadcast one hour of its service to Sri Lanka through the SLBC Tamil service. It is important to point out that this is not due to any a special relationships between the TBC and the SLKBC or the Sri Lankan government. The BBC Overseas has made a similar arrangement with the SLBC and the BBC Sinhala and Tamil services are also broadcast over the SLBC on a daily basis. Although many Sinhalese organisations have protested to the SLBC and the BBC about the pro-LTTE stance of the BBC Tamil Service, the SLBC had continued to permit the BBC to relay its broadcast over the SLBC. Falsehood In the aforementioned news item, the BBC states that "the Tamil Tigers have reacted furiously to Colonel Karuna's interview, which was broadcast on SLBC after being recorded in London by a Tamil group opposed to them. Colonel Karuna was also interviewed separately by the BBC (Emphasis added). The TBC is not a Tamil group. The BBC knows or should have known, that the TBC has been in operation as an independent broadcasting company for over 6 years. The only difference between the TBC and other Tamil radio stations is that the TBC broadcasts all the news and does not engage in self-censorship to placate one political group or another. Incidentally, the BBC also broadcast an interview with Colonel Karuna on the same day. But in its news report the BBC says little about it. On both programmes Colonel Karuna said much the same thing except that the TBC interview was longer. We do not know whether this is due to the fact that the BBC abridged his interview or whether Colonel Karuna had decided to give a fuller interview to us. In either event we cannot be blamed for broadcasting his interview in full. The TBC had constantly invited persons from all political opinions to express their view on the TBC radio. Furthermore, participants in TBC discussion programmes have criticised the government, LTTE, Colonel Karuna and others. In our opinion the decision of the BBC to brand the TBC as a "Tamil group opposed to them" (i.e the LTTE) is false and is designed to legitimise the claims or those who want to suppress free and independent media. It is also important to place on record that we have invited all political and other organisations to express their view on the TBC. If the leaders or spokesperson of LTTE wish to express their views on our radio, we are ready and willing to give them all the facilities to do so. Unfortunately despite our constant endeavours, the LTTE has failed to take part in our programmes. Distortion In a sly and a devious manner the BBC has also tried to portray the TBC as a part of a political operation stage managed by the government. Thus it says "Our correspondent says the SLBC interview with Colonel Karuna indicates that there could be considerable support for him in the government, because the station is normally heavily controlled". Our contract with the SLBC does not permit it to interfere with the contents of our programme unless it is libellous or in breach of some other provisions of the law. In our programme we have criticised the governments well as other political organisations. Therefore to try to portray the TBC as a part of a government operation is false. Incidentally this is the same criticism that the LTTE has made even before 'Colonel Karuna' appeared on the scene. Secondly, it is a bit rich for the BBC to accuse us of being a part of a Sri Lankan government operation, when the BBC overseas service is financed almost wholly by the foreign office. We can categorically state that the TBC receives no financial support from the government whatsoever. Are we to conclude that the BBC is a tool of the British government because of its financial dependency on the British government? Little need to be said about the credibility of "our" (i.e. the BBC's) corespondent who is seen my most observers of Sri Lanka as a blatantly partisan journalist. The reality The reality is that the TBC has dared to tell the truth and give expression to all shades and nuances of opinion in the Tamil community and the Sri Lankan policy. We have refused to impose any form of self-censorship on political opinions of news. That has made our radio very popular. It appears to us that for the BBC this is a case of sour grapes. We reiterate our commitment to provide a free and a fair radio station. Tahera Patel, Company Secretary, TBC. |
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