TNA condemns State media for false reporting

[TamilNet, Thursday, 11 March 2004, 18:19 GMT]
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader Mr.R.Sampanthan Thursday in a statement condemned the officials responsible, including the Minister for Media, Lakshman Kadirgamar, for carrying false news in State media, political sources said.

The full text of the statement follows: -

“The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in its afternoon news bulletin on Monday the 8th March 2004 stated that Colonel Pathuman, Trincomalee district military commander, had been killed on the orders of the LTTE high command at Killinochchi. The news bulletin further stated that in the course of a military conflict armed cadres of the LTTE in the east, several on both sides had been killed.

“This news was not carried by any other news agency.

“It is clear now that the said news items were baseless and without foundation.

“The motive behind the publication of such diabolically false news needs to be examined.

“It is clear that this was a perverse attempt by the SLBC to cause alarm, confusion and chaos amongst the Tamil people before the general election to be held on 2nd April.

“Every official responsible for the publication of such false news, including the newly appointed Minister for Media need to be unreservedly condemned for this deliberate attempt to mislead the Tamil people. These persons by their conduct have proved to be unworthy of the positions they hold as custodians of institutions responsible for imparting to the general public news that is both authentic and reliable.

“While it is to the credit of the Tamil people that they were not influenced by such evil attempts, the deplorable dissemination of such false news only emphasizes the need for greater solidarity amongst the Tamil people at the forthcoming elections."