Who is telling the truth then?

“Tell the whole truth” says Secretary Defence.

By Noor Nizam

(February 10, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) INGOs, international media should not hide main fact - LTTE keeping civilians hostage It is unfortunate that spokesmen for INGOs, UN Agencies and other organizations hide most important facts when commenting on the plight of civilians in the Wanni, Secretary Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa said during an interview with the 'Daily News' yesterday (Feb 6). "The Government has demarcated an area equal to half the total area still to be cleared as a No fire zone and it is the LTTE that is keeping the civilians by force without allowing them to enter that zone. This is the main factor which these spokesperson hide," added the Defense Secretary.

But this is what the international press and media tells quoting the UN spokesperson about the situation in the Wanni/Puthukudyirrupu scenario –

"UN representative has alleged that the Sri Lankan army has bombed the Pudukudirrupu hospital using cluster bombs. Further more, he stated that around 50 civilians have been killed during these attacks and that a number of UN officials are trapped in that area," an official statement said here – datelined Colombo Feb. 4th.

Added to this – Amnesty International has also made strong statements and issued press releases datelined Feb. 4th., Colombo –

“According to a UN spokesperson, the main hospital in the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu , was hit by cluster bombs and had to be evacuated. The hospital, which has been subjected to several attacks in recent days, was bombarded by shelling for 16 hours. U.N. spokesman Gordon Weiss said the hospital was being hit by cluster munitions in recent days when it was also hit by artillery barrages. He said the hospital is now nearly empty and "we hold the gravest fears for the safety of our staff and their families."

The same day – Amnesty International, the HR Organization Amnesty International has denounced the reported use of cluster bombs in a civilian area by the Sri Lankan military as a serious violation of international humanitarian law.

A dateline report posted by Ravi Nessman, Associated Press February 4, 2009 at 12:23 PM EST. and published in the Globe and Mail – World column confirmed this stating –

“UN says cluster bombs being used in Sri Lanka ”.

But the Secretary Defense was sincere and prompts to tell the world the TRUTH. What the Defense Forces said was –

"The government wishes to clarify that the Sri Lankan Army do not use these cluster bombs nor do they have facilities to use them. The Sri Lankan Army use no such lethal ammunitions against innocent civilians in their war against terror," the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said in the statement.

In a great change of events and scenarios, the UN spokesperson in a date line posted from Colombo denies their earlier allegations of the Sri Lankan Army using cluster bombs in Puthukudduyiruppu.

This is what the UN spokesperson had to say –
“UN Spokesman Accepts Sri Lanka Never Had Cluster Bombs The United Nations spokesman Gordon Weiss said that they accepted the Sri Lankan statement that it did not have any facility to fire cluster munitions”.

Contradictions of the International Media and Press and specially the INGO and NGO spokespersons on the issues of FACTS about the conflict in Sri Lanka and the present thrust of the Security forces in entering the Wanni and Mullaitivu areas held by the LTTE have been unpleasant to the world of FREE MEDIA and an abuse of the “Code of conduct and ethics” laid for “good and fair” journalism the world over.

How can the world be told a “lie” about the fact that when only 113,872 civilians are trapped in the enclave held by the LTTE in Puthukudiyiruppu that there are 400,000, then 300,000 and now come down to 250,000 civilians trapped when the Government Agent Mullaithivu has confirmed that only around 114,000 civilians have been trapped in the enclave controlled by the LTTE and used as human shields.

Yet the gravity of the “echoing” of these so-called lies by many opportunistic politicians in parliaments in UK , Canada and other European capitals is a disgrace to “DECOMCRACY” and the serene institutions of “DEMOCRACY” for which these countries are supposed to be the god fathers. The question now is, has a small nation built on the unshaken foundations of “DEMOCRACY” based on the undeterred belief and trust in faith and religion, proved that Sri Lanka is a nation of TURTH and not a nation governed by politicians of “deception” and “LIES” and nursed by the culture of “FALSE PRESS FREEDOM and CODE OF MEDIA CONDUCT and ETHICS.

These INGO’s, NGO’s and POLITICAL OPPRTUNISTS full of deception should learn to tell the TRUTH from a humble dedicated duty minded Sri Lankan national – Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the Secretary of Defense, Government of Sri Lanka who is in the mist of fighting TERRORISM in Sri Lanka.

-Sri Lanka Guardian