The government’s propagandhi response to Channel 4. Now can we change the channel?
People have said that war should have no civilian casualties. Rather than change the frame, the Sri Lanka government responded and said ‘there were no civilian casualties’. This was dumb. They’re only now starting to admit that civilians did die. That’s a start.
War Porn
I was watching the government’s response to Channel 4’s Killing Fields, Lies Agreed Upon. It sucks just as much, only in the opposite direction.
What’s striking is that the poor people of the Wanni are just a political football, tossed between both sides. The LTTE used them tactically, as a human shield. The British media continues to feed on that war porn. In the government video, however, they’re used as government spokesmen, repeating that everything is fine. It’s like they have no purpose beyond dying or being given food packets. They’re pawns.
Throughout the world, human rights is an issue used by an opposition when they want something else – in this case, vengeance and a separate, racially based state. Even Mahinda used to be a human rights lawyer – when he was in opposition. The actual intention isn’t to further human rights, its to further ones own ends.
My point is that we shouldn’t play this stupid game anymore, it just hurts the people who have lives and kids on the board. The war was bad. Let’s stop fighting it. Sri Lanka is not going to be partitioned and there will be no Tamil Pakistan. Let’s be more like India and try to live together as something more than the sum of our parts.
Reframe
This reconciliation has to begin with recognition. The government’s propaganda blind spot here has been played upon by cynical members of the LTTE and well-meaning people the world over. They need to see. People died in the war. Yes, they did good by ending the war, but they have to see that people did suffer and die.
At the Lady Ridgeway Hospital, I saw kids who were double, triple amputees. In Vavuniya I saw the same – many injured women and children, few men. To Sri Lanka’s shame, Mahinda said there were no civilian casualties. This was dumb. It was only yesterday that:
A defense ministry report released Monday said although the military followed a “zero civilian casualty policy,” it was impossible to avoid such casualties given the magnitude of the fighting and the “ruthlessness” of the opponent. (VOA)
This is obvious, but it’s taken years to come out. At least its come. The bigger issue is to move the debate away from the vicious cycle of violence to a virtuous one of reconciliation. Here, still, the government is failing. Their ‘Factual Analysis’ of the ‘Humanitarian Operation’ and ‘Lies Agreed Upon’ video have points, but they mess it up by rebutting Channel 4 point by point, with crappier production values. What the government should do is change the frame entirely.
Reconciliation
The bigger task, the one that redefines the frame, is reconciliation and the push for an inclusive Sri Lanka. A Sri Lanka with equality for all and just governance that serves and protects all races, genders, creeds, whatever.
The fight wasn’t against terrorism or Tamils, it was against separation. It began because Sinhalese excluded Tamils from education, opportunities, dignity and life. Some Tamils had the idea of physical separation, but that didn’t and wouldn’t work (re: Pakistan). While elements of the LTTE (and others) are trying to continue that tactical battle, we should refocus on the broader issue.
How do we fight separation? How do we fight the divisions within ourselves? The government can provide security, but they can’t provide reconciliation. That’s something Sri Lankans have to do. Organizations like Sri Lanka Unites and Trail SL are helping in their own way. Economic integration also helps. Local government elections in the north are also a good thing, and those bodies [the Provincial Councils, specifically] should be supported to get the land and police powers promised them under the Constitution. This stuff all helps fight separation more than videos or media battles, and that I think is the point.
Living together. In peace. Being different but not being dicks to each other.
Indi
“Sri Lanka is not going to be partitioned and there will be no Tamil Pakistan” – cannot agree more.
But the tamils say it is now akin to Sinhala Pakistan. Don’t/Shouldn’t you have a problem with it? (though I think, to quote a friend, it is more like Rajapakistan!)
And those local bodies are NOT promised land and police powers according to the Sri Lankan Constitution! It is the provincial council is the Unit of analysis for that.
I mean local bodies generally, but you’re right. Added a clarification.
Do I have a problem with a Rajapakistan? Hells yes. That’s why we need to work together.
Hi Indi, I’d like to point out that production value has nothing to play in a response of this sort.
After watching both films, it’s clear that Channel 4 uses cinematic presentations and dramatic pauses in speech to convey a sense of foreboding and ’emotionality’ in their video. It gets ugly to the point that so many people out there are ready to embrace that than facts or reality.
On the contrary, the counter video has hardly a trace of that. It appears that people talk freely and openly, and doesn’t seem to have a gun pointed to their heads to say what they are saying. Also the translations are very credible and understandable even with my limited knowledge of the language. It has a far more real face of a documentary to it than just being a well produced evocative film experience that the Channel 4 video gives.
My only issue is how each of those people interviewed end their accounts with the tagline ‘The Govt looked after us and the Army were great’ which seemed a little ‘additional’ to me.
Also it is a bit naive to limit these people to being portrayed as ‘Government spokespersons’ as there is plenty to show re-integration, education and vocational training. When 300,000 people are suddenly let out of bondage, with hardly anything to go back to, it takes some time to get them up and running again.
Channel 4 is completely disingenuous, yeah, but production value has everything to do with a video’s effectiveness.
The government, response, however, isn’t really good. Daya Master and Thamilchelvam’s wife are basically in government custody and have freedom at their whim. The other people were video’ed in the camp (it seems) or just out, thus there’s an obvious bias.
They also echo the government line, and the same lines are repeated by different people. Honestly, I don’t know anyone in Colombo who likes the government that much. It’s overkill.
so then these are just videos meant to be ‘effective’ and not ‘true’? I find that disgusting, but I may come across as one sided, but in hindsight, the Channel 4 video spawns divide, tension and extremism – purely with it’s cinematic portrayal and shadowed figures and dramatic pauses in speech – which makes it very clearly seem nothing more than a pull at heartstrings and a propaganda machine.
The Lies Agreed Upon video, on the other hand, comes across as a far more ‘accountable’ tale. I don’t agree that production value has anything to do with a videos effectiveness when it comes to documenting. But yes it does when it comes to story-telling.
About the government being liked.. blah.. I really don’t much care, I’m not interested in politics at all… just interested in my country and what foreigners think about it. I don’t know if the people interviewed are just in a gilded cage… but I work in Wellawatte, and it’s hard to think that every Tamil there is living in a cage and having their rights abused / not granted. I know it’s just a small pocket compared to the rest of the country, but I just don’t see it.. am I with blinders?
Who would have thought?
“Britain is now at greater risk from terrorist attacks than any other Western nation, according to research.
The heightened threat in Northern Ireland has resulted in the UK being ranked higher than the US, France, Spain, China and Sri Lanka in the Terrorism Risk Index compiled by respected analysts Maplecroft.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/britain-at-greatest-risk-of-terrorism-2331129.html
How tables have turned?
“..should be supported to get the land and police powers promised them under the Constitution”
Don’t fall into this trap. We needs a lot of time to be confident that the tamil parties are genuine. Right now they are acting no different to LTTE.
i thyink a certain degree of trust needs to be shown from of the GOSL and sinhala end for it to be reciprocated. At the same time we don’t need another chief minister unilaterally declaring independence.
Have to agree with you Chami. I think right now is a bit too soon to just hand over all police and land power to a party that was in bed with the LTTE. There are some encouraging signs from the TNA, but the stands taken by various party members are contrarian. I don’t think they are yet mature enough and their raison d’etre is Tamil nationalim/extremism, which is quite unfortunate.