In Hindsight By Sarath Kumara

September 14th 2013

The nerve of Channel 4 News and documentary maker Callum Macrae intending to travel to Sri Lanka to cover the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) as they continue to highlight war crimes committed against the country’s minority Tamil population!!

As though they have not caused enough harm to the reputation of Sri Lanka with unsubstantiatable, unprovable, innuendo and documentaries laced with lies and conjecture they now want to cover the CHOGM?

They should be let into the country and under existing laws apprehended, tried, indicted and dealt with although perhaps the better alternative would be to refuse them entry visas which of course would then spark off calls that Sri Lanka is resorting to undemocratic ways from all the wrong sources..

While it is mind boggling as it points to huge, bias, conflict of interest and false coercion where the disgruntled Tamil Tiger rump and the related diaspora are very apparently behind the instigations which have resulted in Macrae’s feature-length documentary No Fire Zone they still seem to have the audacity to sound legit and carry on playing judge, jury and executioner! which truly they should be made to face.

While it recounts the alleged 138 days of brutal violence carried out by the Sinhalese majority government against Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil population in 2009, in which thousands died in a documentary, it was investigated and closely examined by experts who concluded that there were fatal graphic flaws in it which did not align with reality and that it was cooked up for the singlemost purpose of inciting the world against the Sri Lankan Government.

There could also be criminalities involved in the objective of the presentations which is what the creators need to be indicted for as there were only the so called attrocities by the Government on minority Tamils whereas the Government Archives has in storage volumes of film and video clips portraying the true attrocities perpetrated by the Tamil tigers on a vast Sinhalese, Muslim and other minority massacre including even their own Tamils which deems the Channel4 documentary misleading and Callum Macrae on this grounds a criminal who needs to be brought to book.

Perhaps this is an opportune moment for the Government to take action as the bold and crafty Macrae this time tries to beard the lion in his own den as it appears, as the brave lions a force to be reckoned with in Sri Lanka which also entails her indomitable Armed Forces have taken emough from this kind of individual and his consorts who many believe could be on the payroll of the Tamil Tiger linked diaspora powerful enough to carry out such actions!

The high handedness of Channel 5 and Macrae has not stopped at one documentary but has been bold enough to continue producing more of the same unsubstantiable material to arouse the interest of an undiscerning world who may be aptly termed ‘indiscrimnate hook line amd sinker swallowers’ and where there is a gullible audience undoubtedly the persistence of the Macrae bandwagon will continue.

It follows on from two 2011 documentaries produced and directed by Macrae ƒ¢¢”š¬- Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields and Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields: War Crimes Unpunished ƒ¢¢”š¬- which have led to calls from many nations for an independent investigation ( the gullible front refered to ) who disregard all the expert analysis that all these documentaries have no tangible evidence or proof and are cleverly created to incriminate the Government of Sri Lanka and are not only one sided but also despicable given the motive where it has always been the Government of Sri Lanka, the injured party facing false allegations and accusations although whatever good was done during almost three decades of an internal armed insurrection was on the part of the GOSL not the criminally liable Tamil Tigers and anyone who indulges in activities granting them meritorious status who are criminals themselves.

In this respect Macrae seems to have overstepped his metes and bounds and is bold enough to utter statements against a legitimate Sovereign Nation which overcame a nation threatening terrorist insurgency which was precedent creating in the opinions of many independent observers, something which he needs to be held accountable for contradicting, especially considering the high handedness of some of the following for which he has neither a mandate nor the credentials although links to the deposed Tamil Tiger supportive Diaspora are beyond question!

Quoting~

“On 14 November, Sri Lanka will be hosting CHOGM, which is set to be attended by leaders representing more than one third of the planet.

Speaking at No Fire Zone’s London premiere last week, Macrae said: ƒ¢¢”š¬…”I deeply regret that CHOGM is taking place in Sri Lanka and that for the next two years the chair will be President Rajapaksa. Sri Lanka will be in charge of enforcing the Commonwealth commitment to human rights, justice and the rule of law.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚

Using mobile phone footage recorded by civilians under attack, as well as by the Sri Lankan military, No Fire Zone is a catalogue of evidence depicting war crimes.

Targeting delegates

At the premiere, attended by C4 chief executive David Abraham, head of news and current affairs Dorothy Byrne, foreign dignitaries and human rights campaigner Bianca Jagger, Macrae emphasised the importance of distributing the fi lm as widely as possible.

C4 News presenter Jon Snow, who chaired a Q&A, said: ƒ¢¢”š¬…”It is essential that somehow everybody in this room tries to get this fi lm to every delegation that attends the Commonwealth conference.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚

C4 is backing a free app launching on iOS that will allow people to watch the entire feature-length fi lm, plus extra content.

Speaking to Broadcast, Macrae said: ƒ¢¢”š¬…”I have never known a film to have this effect. We have shown it in a number of places from the Australian parliament to the UN and the European parliament. It is astonishing how it affects people.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚

The Sri Lankan government has questioned the authenticity of the claims. Following one of the 2011 films, a 600-page complaint was fi led with Ofcom ƒ¢¢”š¬- just one of 100 made about the film.

Macrae believes the complaints were an orchestrated attempt by the Sri Lankan government to undermine the film. Not one of the complaints has been upheld.

ƒ¢¢”š¬…”When people see it, they know it is not faked,ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ Macrae continues. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”I can’t think of a film that has been subjected to more rigorous examination. It has been checked within an inch of its life.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚

The Sri Lankan government has yet to engage with the latest film and continues to deny all evidence. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”This film is about truth, justice and human rights and we need to get that message to as many people as possible,ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ Macrae added.

He also hopes that the film demonstrates the need to have international current affairs on TV. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”I hope the impact is that it will make it easier for foreign current affairs programmes to be made. Films like these have an incredibly important role to play in real life and politics. They show that TV is an important and powerful medium that can lead public debate and discourse.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚

One of the main objectives of the campaign is to draw attention to what is happening in Sri Lanka now. Macrae says the government is engaging in systematic repression, denial of freedoms and attempts to ethnically re-engineer the north of the country, where the majority of the Tamil population live.

With No Fire Zone, Macrae hopes to expose the failure of the international community to intervene on any level, either political or economic, and the wider repercussions that has had.

ƒ¢¢”š¬…”That in effect gave a greenlight to the Assads of this world that you can get away with slaughtering people with impunity,ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ he said. ƒ¢¢”š¬…”Broadcasters need to have courage and they also have a duty to make these films. They can potentially have a vital role in learning the lessons of history.ƒ¢¢”š¬‚ end quote.

Macrae has also been ludicrously ignorant by way of his comparison of Syria’s Assad regime to that of Sri Lanka where there is absolutely no comparison but of course with his own agenda and those backing him to the hilt leaves little to the imagination of what his direction is.

If he truly want to substantiate his claims he need to come up with more tangible proof and real evidence as opposed to the doctored videos and blatant unsubstantiatable, partisan accusations for which` to reiterate, he needs to be held accountable if he cannot and face the consequences.