A Sri Lankan media watchdog last week condemned the burning of 10,000 copies of popular Tamil dailies by Army-backed paramilitaries in the restive Batticaloa district.
Registering its “strong condemnation of continuing threats and harassments to Tamil language media in Sri Lanka” the Free Media Movement (FMM) said the burning last Monday was “the latest incident of series of killings, harassments and threats directed towards Tamil language media in Sri Lanka.”
The incident occurred in the government control Kiran region of Batticaloa, near the Kiran regional Secretariat.
An armed group of 10-15 men, reportedly cadres of the paramilitary Karuna Group, had stopped the private passenger transport bus and a van carrying the copies of Virakesari daily and metro News to be distributed in the Batticaloa district.
The men had then burned the papers in the van, consisting of nearly 10,000 copies of the Virahesari and an unknown quantity of the metro News, at a compound opposite the Secretariat.
The gunmen took away bus driver's hand phone and asked him to collect it at the office of the Karuna Group, TamilNet reported.
The FMM pointed out that the Karuna Group has political offices in government controlled areas in the east and in Colombo, and is protected by Sri Lankan security forces.
The Virakesari is the only Tamil language newspaper which has been distributed in the east for some time now, the FMM press release said.
“Other two Tamil dailies Sudar Oli and Thinakural, were banned in the beginning of the year in Batticaloa and Amparai allegedly by the Karuna Group,” the statement said.
“According to Sudaroli management one third of their circulation has dropped due to this ban,” it noted.
The FMM urge the government to take urgent steps to reverse the situation, “so that Tamil language news papers will be able to distribute freely and people living in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka will have the choice of reading what ever newspaper they like.”
Earlier in August, paramilitaries collaborating with the Sri Lanka Army had threatened the owner of Surena Travels not to deliver the Sudaroli and Thinakural newspapers to Batticaloa distrobutor.
On August 5, paramilitary cadres burnt the Sudaroli, Thinakural distributor's shop in Batticaloa, despite it being located 75 meters from a Sri Lankan military camp.
