Ajit Randeniya

Over the weekend, the media arm of the imperialists fully exploited the apparently dangerous ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”loose talkƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ by a Dr V. Shanmugarajah, nearly managed to do his bit for the Tigers by generating another spate of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”wolf criesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The funny thing is, he is a Sri Lankan government employed Medical Officer employed in the war zone to look after the well being of the IDPs! Instead of treating the sick and the wounded, he has been having a good yarn with Gordon Weiss in Colombo, who seems to have appointed himself to represent all 192 member countries of the UN. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

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It appears that this ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”doctorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ easily beats the late Dr Anton Balasingham (who liked to call himself Doctor) in his deceptive and duplicitous behaviour: on Sunday he tells the Australian long nose Gordon Weiss, that NGO-wallah who dug his way in to the UN system that he witnessed 378 dead bodies. Then according to a report in the Daily Mirror, he tells the BBC, after the wires have set the world ablaze with the lie, that he was not able to confirm the numbers. Clearly this man is up to no good.

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Any Sri Lankan who has been a public servant in Australia, the UK or the US, would know that there are certain ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”guidelinesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”codes of conductƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ that apply to government employees, from the lowest rung officer to Departmental Secretaries. One of the basic rules is that the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”rank and fileƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ officials below Executive grades doctor or not, should not speak to the media on matters relating to their work. Any breach can get one in to serious trouble with the system; this is in the lands of the guardians of media access and freedom.

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In the Sri Lankan war zone however, various NGO agents, spies operating under the UN and other badges seem to be freely obtaining statements from these Tiger sympathiser public servants and relay them to wires that gleefully carry them around the world electronically, in minutes. They bypass the need for verification of the accuracy of such LTTE generated propaganda by pointing out, after a sensational headline, that the media is not allowed in the war zone.

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The media frenzy over a purported ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”bloodbathƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Sri Lanka over the last couple of days was sourced from ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”agentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Gordon Weiss, and was publicised as a UN statement. The problem is, while Weiss is a UN employee, there is no proof at all that the statement was officially sanctioned by the UN. The dishonest scum who publicise these scurrilous rubbish are fully aware of the usual procedures, but choose to disregard them due to their vendetta over the Sri Lankan governmentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s independence which they resent.

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The BBC headline read: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”UN mourns Sri Lanka ‘bloodbath’, and carried the two opening paragraphs: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”The UN has described the situation in northern Sri Lanka as a “bloodbath” after reports of heavy civilian casualties at the weekend. UN spokesman in Colombo Gordon Weiss said more than 100 children died during the “large-scale killing of civilians”. The report is sourced to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”doctorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢, without mentioning the relevant fact that Weiss spoke to him. Probably Weiss ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”spiced upƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the lie by adding ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”more than 100 childrenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to the bogus casualty figures.

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AFP reported (probably filed by Amal Jayasinghe) the same numbers under the headline ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”UN denouncesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ Sri Lankan civilian ‘bloodbath’ and ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”The UN condemnedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the killing of civilians as a “bloodbath” ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”in which more than 100 children diedƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. WeissƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s name is mentioned only halfway through the lie-based report.

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The New York Times reported WeissƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s lie under the headingƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ UN Tells of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”BloodbathƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ in Sri LankaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. This particular report inadvertently provided proof of the collusion between ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”the doctorƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and Weiss in the following paragraphs:

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ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Dr. V. Shanmugarajah, said SundayƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s attacks resulted in the worst carnage he had witnessed ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”in the militaryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s intensifying campaign to wipe out the rebelsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Mr. Weiss, the U.N. spokesman, said that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-to the best of our knowledge, the government doctors trapped with these civilians have proven consistently reliable.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

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That ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”friendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of the Asian people in their fight against Western media hegemony, Al Jazeera reported that: Dr V Shanmugarajah, a government physician working in a makeshift hospital in the conflict zone, said he had counted the bodies of 378 civilians after an all-night assaultƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

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The weekendƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s media campaign is another conspiracy carefully hatched, this time by Gordon Weiss using the UN cover, with the help of local Tamil agents, to force the Sri Lankan government to slow down the final assault. Weiss is the archetypal operative who infiltrated the UN through the NGO route and his placement in Sri Lanka is a carefully thought out plan.

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There are several operational decisions the government will need to make, preceded by enquiries as to 1) the nature of any formal UN approval Weiss obtained before releasing this LTTE propaganda to his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”matesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ at AP, AFP and the BBC and 2)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the nature of conversationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Shanmugarajah had with Weiss, and the information he provided.

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Such inquiry might bring to surface information that is likely to warrant the declaration of Gordon Weiss as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”persona non grataƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. Dr Shanmugarajh, in any case, will need to be transferred out of the conflict zone immediately due to this breach of the public service code and national security.

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It will be a really good idea if Dr Shanmugarajah could be sent to Norway with Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe; Sol ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢heimƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ will readily grant him ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”refugeeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ status in recognition of his services to the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”international communityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.

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Sri Lanka will be the richer for that! ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚