Terrorists: bin Laden second to Prabha, says Dullas

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

Minister Alahapperuma

The United States has belittled the victory attained by Sri Lanka against the number one terrorist outfit in the world by calling Osama bin Laden the number one terrorist in the world, said Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma.

Bin Laden’s notable massacre was the killing of 3,000 people in New York but the leading terrorist in Sri Lanka had killed more than 20,000 innocent people and had Air, Naval and Artillery wings and used a platoon of suicide bombers who caused mayhem in all parts of this country. Therefore Bin Laden could never be called the number one terrorist in the world, he said.

The minister was addressing the inauguration ceremony of the certificate course in Digital Video Production and Media Technology (DVMT) jointly organized by the University of Colombo and the Institute of Human Resources Development at the Colombo University premises. The minister said there was a concept which called the media the fourth estate of a country. “But today it had changed and became more powerful than in the past. This is so with the Sri Lankan media and it had to play a major role in the journey towards development,” he said.

”Still at times the Sri Lankan media is following stereo types in journalism. Because of that it had faced some problems when they provide information to the public,” Alahapperuma said. ”If we do not have a best knowledge in using modern technology we will be unable to reach our development goals rapidly. We are going to make our country the Wonder of Asia. Therefore the use of new techniques in media is important,” the minister said.