In defence of ***********************=(Maharaja Chairman)
Posted by Ajith on January 9, 2009
The local Talibans have found a new adversary Numero Uno. Forget Velupillai Prabhakaran. Forget Killinochchi. Now the game is to ‘liberate’ Sirasa studios in Depanama, Pannipitiya from the thalaivar ************, Chairman, Maharaja Group.
The shock of that fateful Black Tuesday is still fresh. It was traumatic – even in Sri Lanka, hardly known for its ‘media freedom’. Vandalising the transmission station of the largest private and independent TV network in any country is no joke. It is far worse than Watergate. If happened in a developed country – never will, perhaps – the government might have been history by now. The culprits were no amateur kudu-Lals, who tried to play havoc at another TV station stupidly unarmed. The self proclaimed ‘jaathika veerayaas’ didn’t leave anything to chance and left only once the mission was fully accomplished.
The anticipated public reaction was sympathy, but sadly that was not what Sirasa TV received. Apart from the niche that showed solidarity, the reaction at large was contentment. Even the state spokesmen were open in their enmity. When requested for a voice cut, a minister, once pet of the same network said to have sheepishly walked out. Even the buddy feared seen with them in public. I am not surprised. That was the level of hostility.
Sad, this hostility is directed towards one individual, who does not deserve it – ***********, who the Taliban has unsympathetically has branded as a ‘terrorist symphatiser’.
Sadder, ****, according to Taliban, has one prerequisite to be called so. He is a Tamil. Ever thought how easy to link a Tamil with terrorism? For example, when present President Rajapakse, then in opposition, represented the human rights of three slain university students, attached to then illegal and armed JVP, nobody branded him a terrorist sympathiser. I am sure ***** has never done anything that controversial in his entire life. He is not a politician. He is a respectable law abiding self made businessman – who does nothing but runs his business. Sadly he is a Tamil – and has not dropped the last ‘n’ is his name. Not something Taliban easily forgives.This brief note is not an attempt of white washing.
Still it is essential that we put on record some exemplary contributions of **** towards his motherland. Not doing so would be sheer injustice – particularly at this juncture – no matter the risk involved.
One – Cricket. This is the only game Sri Lanka had seriously reached the international status. It would never have been possible, without the outstanding contribution of ****** as Gamini Dissanayake’s number two in the Cricket Board in early eighties. Dissanayake played the key role in achieving test status, no doubt, but he didn’t do it alone. Not everyone knows who foot the bill of the effort of the achievement.
Two – Sirasa TV. This was the channel which taught us to dream. It was what introduced the phenomenon Super Star – the Alladin’s lamp that made the poor carpenter Ajith Bandara, a millionaire entertainment professional. He is not the only one. There are dozens young boys and girls who made it to the top – all because of Sirasa. It was the channel that discovered the talents of Shihan Mihiranga and Kingsley Ratnayake; that demonstrated what quality TV means.
Then, contrary to popular belief more than 90% of the employees of MBC Network, the owner of Sirasa TV are Sinhalese. This is as good as saying if Sirasa TV is down, they who would be the ones in streets searching for jobs. Not only that. Every strike to Sirasa TV equipment at Depanama is a hit to the dreams of millions of poor TV viewers, who gather around TV sets after completing their exhausting days. Call it poor quality, shallow or whatever – but ‘Ran Depaya’ is the only serious entertainment the poor have in this country. Shutting that down will not make anyone populist.
Three – Tsunami aid. The most difficult phase of a disaster is the immediately aftermath. It was Sirasa TV that came to lend a hand to the millions of victims of the worst disaster Sri Lanka ever knew in its recent history. It was ******’s Sirasa TV, not even the government, that collected relief of more than 20 trucks on that difficult hour. They were meant to cover the entire island, not any chosen community. (LTTE abducted two trucks, but that was a different story) No media, including the state owned Rupavahini has ever done such an extraordinary community work.
Has any so called ‘patriot’ who points his/her finger at ***** made at least one tiny fraction of such a contribution to the motherland?
Barack Obama’s skin colour did not matter when US voters chose him to lead the nation. Should ********’s ethnicity should be a barrier to genuinely appreciate the good work that he did? Come on, what century do we live in?
Then, do these ‘patriots’ know that *******’s MBC network is the media organisation that makes the biggest financial contribution to the government of Sri Lanka in terms of tax? Even if cooperate and income taxes are ignored Sirasa still pays Rs. 90,000 for every half an hour of ‘Ran Depaya’ – Rs. 360,000 per day and more than Rs. 131 million annually. (I don’t know how much they pay for Shakthi TV and MTV) Isn’t this a fair contribution to the state? Isn’t this the money government uses to fight terrorism?
By the way, who are these ‘patriots’? Aren’t they the same petty minded and racist Weerawansa supporters who never mince words when attacking Sirasa TV? Aren’t these the very people who vandalized the Sirasa billboards in the city? Tell me one single reason why they should be taken seriously.
Then why the hell should the ‘terrorist sympathising’ Sirasa TV is allowed to broadcast the Buddhist sermons from the Temple Trees – our monthly reminder of the virtues of the ‘Upasaka Mahaththaya’ who rules us? Why anybody takes the trouble of vandalising those sophisticated equipment in a TV station? Isn’t revoking the broadcaster’s license a simpler, more straightforward and humane solution? Should everyone in this country behave like Mervin Silvas?
This is the hour of solidarity. This is the exact moment we should join hands to protect Sirasa – and in turn safeguard whatever the leftovers of media freedom in this country.
