Rights and wrongs and pirith-nool jokes
Ranil Wickremesinghe seems to have a thing for hand/wrist ornaments.
There was a time he was obsessed with bracelets, promising all young
people bracelets if they voted for him. He never got to hear the end of
it. Now he’s concerned himself with pirith nool, ‘observing’ that
journalists these days have taken to wearing pirith nool, several of
them in fact, supposedly to protect themselves from possible harassment.
The issue of pirith nool was mere frill to the Opposition Leader’s
tirade against the Government regarding the enactment of the Press
Council Act. The merits and demerits of that piece of legislation have
been debated enough and so too Ranil’s moral authority or otherwise to
take umbrage.
Media freedom is a relative matter. There are always restrictions,
some lines are hard and some soft, certain transgressions are allowed
and others are punished. Speaking strictly for myself, I have a healthy
suspicion of all politicians. I believe it is safer to keep distance and
never stand with one to take issue with another. Given histories, I
would not stand with Ranil Wickremesinghe or for that matter, anyone in
this Government, and I most certainly would not come within spitting
distance of the crop of media rights advocates who’ve been strutting
around for well over a decade now. I strongly recommend the editorial of
The Island, October 2, 2009 for what I believe is a lucid discussion of
these issues.
I don’t expect any Government operating in accordance with the
current Constitution and its gross anti-citizen slant to grant any
favour to me or any other journalist, and by ‘journalist’ I count-out
those who have compromised themselves by servility, greed and
indefensible political choice. The system is skewed against the truth
and we all know it. ‘System’, by the way, is not coterminous with
‘Government’ but includes also the private media, editorial slant, the
political preferences of journalists and the absence of ethics or
meaningful regulatory mechanisms to ensure professionalism.
I believe, however, that although there are obstacles, there is
nothing that is insurmountable when it comes to the work of journalists.
There is always a way around censorship. Determination and creativity
can overcome all. Sure, there are risks. That goes with the territory.
Should we not fight? We should. We should, however be careful when
deciding who to rub shoulders with.
Ranil picked on the pirith noola. I found this interesting. Is he
saying that those who do not wear pirith nool (or a cross, in the case
of journalists who subscribe to the Christian faith) are either
purchased by the detractors of media freedom? Or is he saying that they
are the unafraid? I am wondering if Lasantha Wickramatunga wore a cross.
I am wondering if other journalists who were either attacked or killed
wore some kind of religious talisman for protection. If they did and
still got attacked/killed does it mean that they had misplaced their
faith in the ‘divine’? Did they were these talismans to protect
themselves specifically from attack that could be sourced to agitation
regarding their professional conduct? Do all those who wear pirith nool
suffer from some kind of anxiety regarding possible attack? There are
journalists who are seen to be pro-Government; if they wear a pirith
noola, who or what are they scared of? Perhaps Ranil has some answers.
I suppose we could dismiss the pirith nool reference as an attempt by
the usually dour-faced Ranil Wickremesinghe to get a laugh. On the other
hand, the pirith noola is a symbol of and marker of religious faith. I
am not sure if it is the most appropriate thing to joke about. As a
Buddhist, I find it offensive, especially since Ranil Wickremesinghe’s
politics has been against the interests of Buddhists in this country;
and I am not talking about removing the Buddha statue from Sirikotha.
His ‘friend-in-need’, almost bulldozed a Buddha Statue at Punchi
Borella and once carried a Buddha Statue by the neck showing an utter
disregard to the sensibilities of Buddhists in this country.
After all, the UNP was the party that gave us the dharmista samajaya
and we all know what that process yielded. During that time, Ranil
Wickremesinghe didn’t make jokes about pirith nool, he was a senior
Cabinet Minister of a Government whose thugs captured, tortured and
killed bikkhus. The issue then was not media freedom, but freedom,
period.
Against all this, I wouldn’t blame anyone for treating with contempt
the recent statement made by the UNP-led coalition of opposition parties
(still to be a reality of course) that the policy document will be
modeled on the dasa raja dharma.
There has to be some kind of paapochcharanaya on the part of Ranil
Wickremesinghe before he talks about anything even remotely connected
with Buddhism. It is no laughing matter. And this goes for the crimes of
omission and commission that he is guilty of with respect to media
freedom as well. And of course all other rights-issues.
We all need people to champion rights, media rights included, because
we don’t live in Utopia. Let me qualify that statement; we all need
people with integrity to champion rights, media rights included, because
we don’t live in Utopia. Ranil Wickremesinghe stands disqualified, but
with a bit of humility and self-criticism he might earn the right. My
feeling is that he is far too arrogant. [email protected] |