Director General, Media Centre for National
Security (MCNS), Lakshman Hulugalle says
that one cannot give a guarantee on the
casualty figures or the number of people
fighting against the security forces or an
exact dateto end thewar like the one being
fought at present. "What can be said is that
we are coming to an end of capturing area
wise. Definitely, within a short period of
time, we will be able to capture Kilinochchi.
That does not mean the war has ended. Then
there is Mulaithivu and we have to go in
there," Hulugalle said in an interview with
The Sunday Leader. He added that capturing
Kilinochchi, Mulaithivu and finishing
terrorism would not bring an end to
terrorism completely. Following are excerpts
of the interview:
By Mandana Ismail Abeywickrema
Q: What is the present position of the
military offensive launched by the security
forces in the north to capture Kilinochchi?
A: To date, we have been very
successful because the troops aremoving
forward towards Kilinochchi and in thelast
couple of months they have gained a lot of
ground. The only problem we are facing in
that area is that, we want to liberate that
area without causing civilian casualties. So
there are about 100,000 civilians or a
little more than that roughly about 125,000.
We are therefore trying to minimise the
damage or the casualties that could be
caused to the civilians and restore peace in
Kilinochchi. We have experience in this
area, as when we liberated the
Eastern Province,
the casualty figures of civilians was zero.
The troops and the government are trying to
go according to the same figures as far
aspossible. This is the main problem we are
facing, other than that; the troops are not
facing any other difficulty. There is
resistance from the LTTE. After 30 years of
war, the LTTE terrorists are not going to
give everything on a platter. So, there is
resistance from the LTTE, but the government
is happy with the progress made in the north
towards Kilinochchi.
Q: The MCNS has now decided to stop
releasing casualty figures to the media and
the public. Is it to prevent the public from
knowing the real situation or is there
another reason for this decision?
A: No, we have no problem in giving
these figures to the public because we have
been giving these figures for the last
couple of years. However, we felt there is a
disadvantage to national security and the
ongoing operations by giving these figures,
we decided to stop it. When we give casualty
figures, sometimes, the LTTE casualty
figures are high because they have trained
and untrained cadres. Sometimes when the
numbers are high without any resistance -
after all they are Tamil people and it would
have an effect on an outsider looking at
those figures. For them, it could mean that
we are harming Tamils. Actually, it is not
so. But sometimes, those soldiers are child
soldiers taken by force and pushed into the
war and they are not properly trained and
they sacrifice their lives. By giving those
figures, it does not make any difference to
the war and willnot do any good to the war
either. So what we always feel and think is
what is best for national security and the
country.
Q: According to casualty figures of Security
Forcesover the last several months given by
the Prime Minister in Parliament during the
extension of the emergency, it was averaging
nearly thousand or more every month. Is this
one reason why a decision was taken to stop
disclosing casualty figures?
A: These figures and details are
given to parliament because the government
has a responsibility to the public
representatives, that is the members of
parliament, to give the actual figures. When
the Prime Minister gives these figures, it
includes all, the army, LTTE and civilian
deaths. So there is no problem in giving
that information to parliament. But when
these figures are issued on a day-to-day
basis, sometimes people start to compare.
Now if you take our website- the national
security website - which is the official
website for security information, and we
sometimes takea little more time than the
other websites to give the correct
information. Sometimes when incidents
happen, wrong or lesser figures are given.
But after we get the correct figures from
the ground troops, and the forces, we give
the right figures. Some media and political
parties compare and criticise these figures.
But it is not the right thing. What you
should do is to take the final figure.
Q: Given the general thrust of the
government propaganda, the security forces
are on the verge of finishing the war with
the capture of Kilinochchi, which would mean
the LTTE is on the run. Therefore should not
the casualty figures be low and the figures
disclosed to lift the morale of the soldiers
and the people
A: In a war like this you cannot give
a guarantee on the casualty figures or the
number of people you are fighting against.
That is number one. Number two is you cannot
exactly give a date. What can be said is
that we are coming to an end of capturing
area wise. Definitely, within a short period
of time, we will be able to capture
Kilinochchi. That does not mean the war has
ended. Then there is Mulaithivu and we have
to go in there. But you cannot have a
pre-planned agenda on the date and times.
What we want to say is that we want to
finish terrorism, but that does not mean we
are going to finish everything. Now if you
take a country like
America,
the terrorists can attack any time because
there is no end and with each passing day,
terrorism keeps getting newer. They get and
use new methods, so they can always be a
threat to national security. But we can
certainly take control of the whole area.
Its like a river that flows through a
jungle, you cannot guide the river to flow
in a certain direction; you have to face
certain situations and allow it to flow
naturally. The war is also like that. There
is resistance and some problems that were
not planned for earlier. At such times we
have to face it, sort it out and go through
it. That problem could sometimes make a
difference of one month or six months. That
can cause a delay of six months; or one
small incident could bring that whole
programme forward even before the target. We
are not going to end it by capturing
Kilinochchi. Then the main point of
Mulaithivu is still there. The government
forces will then have to capture Mulaithivu
and we have to finish terrorism. That does
not mean terrorism is going to have a zero
finish.
Q: Why is the electronic media prevented
from reporting on news from the war front
independently without having to confine
themselves only to what the Defence Ministry
releases?
A: No there is no restriction like
that. We have allowed all electronic media
to visit the war front and report from
there. If you take the private media, they
are given the chance to go to the war front.
The only thing is that in the war front, we
cannot accommodate everyone together. There
are about eight to 10 television stations
and if we allow all to go to the war front
together, the army in the war front cannot
handle it. Therefore we are allowing one or
two media institutions to visit at a time,
so we give everyone an equal chance of going
there. There is no restriction on reporting,
we have no censorship on reporting and we
have not said anything like that. It is up
to the electronic media to report it with
responsibility.
Q: How accurate are the casualty figures of
the LTTE released by the Government through
the Defence Ministry?
A: I take the responsibility for the
MCNS. We always give the right figures. We
take information from the joint operations,
defence ministry and the forces as well.
Ours is the official website.
Q: If you say the MCNS is the official
website, then what position doesdefence.lk
by the Defence Ministry hold?
A: Defence.lk is run by the Defence
Ministry and is practically independent.
That is why sometimes there is a little
confusion and there have been reports that I
have seen. In defence.lk, they allow
independent writers to write certain
articles. We do not allow that. We have our
own staff. Defence.lk is an independent
website. There are websites for the three
forces, army, navy, air force and the
Defence Ministry, but nationalsecurity.lk is
the official website and the official source
of disseminating information.
Q: But was it not defence.lk that initially
reported the decision not to release
casualty figures?
A: It was a collective decision, but
they are the ones who carried it on their
website. None of us did.
Q: There have been statements made by the
Army Commander in May 2007 that only 4000
Tigers remained while once again in
September 2008 too he had said 4000 Tigers
remained. How can this be when your own
statistics between May 2007 and September
2008 show that more than 7000 LTTE cadres
have been killed?
A: You cannot have a total figure
because the LTTE is also recruiting people.
For example, after the O/Level exams, LTTE
cadres have come and taken some students by
force. Every time after a battle, when they
lose their strength, they recruit people by
force. Members of their families are kept by
force. Naturally the figures go up.
Q: The government has introduced draconian
Gazette regulations to control the
electronic media, where it has been
threatened to withdraw their licences on a
number of grounds including televising
material considered detrimental to the
interests of national security. Is this
because the Government wants to prevent the
factual situation on the war coming to
light?
A: What we want is not, only the
electronic media, but the print media also
to handle this carefully. Because this
information provided by the media
institutions, be it electronic or print, has
to take total control and the
responsibility, if it is going to help the
public and national security. If it is so,
we have no objection. I will give you one
small example, when there was a bus bomb
near the St. Bridget's Convent about a month
back, a certain electronic media station
broadcast some visuals that were not at all
relevant to that incident. Some library
shots were shown and by doing that you
mislead people. Especially at a time like
that everyone starts to panic. When
something happens neara school or a public
place, we are all human and we start to
panic. So why should you create such a
situation and add fuel to the fire. The
media responsibility is to report the truth.
So let them report the truth, the actual
situation. But by doing that, if it is going
to benefit the LTTE, then you are doing
something against national security and the
country. We don't allow any media to
antagonise the Tamils. When there is an
incident, no reaction has come from the
Sinhalese. When there is a bus bomb in
Anuradhapura, Tamil students in Colombo move
around freely. There is no harm done like in
the 1980s. We have been living together. We
should not create panic among the people. If
the media institutions handle this
responsibility carefully, all these
regulations and laws should not come in. But
if they are not following this rule, then of
course any country or government has to
introduce these laws. But at the moment,
there is no restriction, no censorship and
threat of canceling licences. How many
papers and electronic media institutions are
operating at the moment? We have been
operating this media centre for the last two
and a half years and we have not given any
instructions to any media institution to
downplay or censor any story.
Q: Can you tell us what 'National Security
Interests' are as envisaged in the
Regulations?
A: What it means is that we are
fighting a terror group that has been
identified as the most dangerous terror
group in the world and it has been going on
for the last 30 years. If you take from
1975, they have destroyed the Muslim
community, the Tamil intellectuals, most of
the Sinhala leaders from the opposition and
the government - so national security is
something for the country. If it is good for
the country and people, be it for the
Sinhalese, Tamils or the Muslims, it is
national security. If it is going to harm
any of those categories, then of course, why
should you support the LTTE. One issue we
have been discussing is, we have no problem
in being criticised and if we have done
something wrong and even if we have done
something wrong at the Defence Ministry,
anyone can criticise, but if it is going to
be helpful to the LTTE by giving figures of
equipment we have brought and the list of
arms that we have brought, that would be
beneficial to the LTTE. They will know what
the forces have and it would harm national
security. That is what we are talking about.
Q: Do you think that the LTTE receives its
information only from the media?
A: No. There are so many resources
and for the last so many years, they have
been getting information. They have been
getting information through different
methods. It is not only the media - but
sometimes media gives information that goes
to benefit them. Whether it is done by the
media, the public or any other individual it
is the same thing.
Q: What exactly does the government mean
when it says in the Gazette, licences will
be withdrawn if there is an issue ofinciting
ethnic, religious and cultural hatred?
A: I will answer only the part that
is relevant to me. If you take religious and
cultural issues, it does not come under me.
The Media Ministry gives licences. Any
licence has certain clauses. If it is
harmful to national security or to the
culture of this country they can always
withdraw the licence. All these licences
that have been given are temporary ones. You
can withdraw at any given time. These
licences issued since 1982 are temporary
licences, no one has permanent licences. In
that licence itself it is said that the
Secretary to the Mass Media and Information
Ministry has the authority to withdraw the
licence at any given time if it goes against
the clauses that have been included in the
licence.
Q: Could you be more specific in explaining
what exactly is meant by saying inciting
ethnic hatred?
A: I'm not 100% aware of the new
licence system and probably might have to
get some clarifications from the Media
Ministry, but what I understand is, what is
harmful to any community. There are certain
rules and rituals followed by each community
- if it is going to be harmful to any one of
the ethnic groups, because we are a multi
national country, then it would be more like
national security.
Q: Does that mean that if members of the JHU
or Wimal Weerawansa's NFF come on Rupavahini
or ITN and make critical statements of
religious or ethnic minorities the licenses
of these stationswill be withdrawn in terms
of the Gazette?
A: Yes, according to the new rules
and regulations, be it the private or
government media, all have to follow them.
So I don't know how those people are going
to have the programmes and their
responsibility. It is purely up to the Media
Ministry. If something goes wrong with
national security, we have to report it to
the Mass Media Ministry. We have no power.
The Defence Ministry or any other ministry
has no power to suspend or cancel the
licences. It is up to the Media Ministry.
Q: The regulations have also stated that the
Media Minister will have the right to
suspend permission granted to operate any
channel for a specified period in the
interest of the public or in the interest of
national security. Does it not give the
Minister undue powers to control the media?
A: No at the moment also those powers
are there. As I told you, it is the Media
Minister or the Secretary who signs the
letter and issues the licence. So there are
no special powers given. Media Ministry and
the Minister have all those powers even now.
They can always implement new laws according
to the situation of the country. Maybe in a
few years time there may be new regulations
coming in according to the needs of the
time.
Q: The Gazette has further stated that a
recognised political party or any person,
who after receiving a licence becomes a
member of a recognised political party
during the period of the validity of the
licence, shall be required to surrender the
licence. In this context, what would become
of the licences given to the JHU and the JVP
under the names of various individuals?
A: I think it is a question relevant
to the Media Ministry as it is they who are
going to enforce this law.
Q: Do you not have an electronic media
licence issued under your name? What would
be your position following the introduction
of these regulations?
A: No, I do not have any licence
under my name. I'm not a member of any
business company. Before I joined the
government, I was with a company and that
company has a licence. Before joining this
position I resigned and also transferred all
my shares.
Q: Is there not a danger in such regulations
since a future Government could take away
the licences of any party acting under the
pretext of these regulations?
A: I personally agree with the Media
Ministry that no Party should have alicence,
in that case all the Parties should have
licences. If not when a few parties have
such a facility, it gives an undue
advantage. The law can always be misused.
Laws are always been implemented in good
faith by any government. It is implemented
in the interests of the public and in good
faith. Any change of government can create
an environment where it can be misused and
take revenge from another person. But if you
look at the private licences issued since
1992, there have been several governments,
but no government has taken any such action.
It is not the party or the government in
power; it is also the responsibility of the
owner of the institution. They too have a
big role to play. We have our own political
agenda, but when you are in the media, you
have to have some sort of fair play.
Q: Pakistan is understood to be supplying
third party arms and ammunition mostly from
Turkey, North Korea, Ukraine and Russia to
Sri Lanka by inflating prices by 40%. How
would you respond?
A: Regarding the supply of arms and
the purchase of arms I don't want to make
any comment.
Q: It is also learnt that the Sri Lanka Army
and Air Force have found mortars, fuses and
130mm explosives in particular to be duds
and that the Defence Secretary has expressed
his displeasure. What do you have to say?
A: I'm not aware of the information.
If there is anything, you have to find that
out from Lanka Logistics, which is a company
under the Defence Ministry. They purchase
them and it is there responsibility.
Q: Pakistan-Turkey relations have also
soured it is understood after Ankara found
that radio sets it had supplied to the
Pakistan Air Force have ended up with the
Sri Lanka Air Force when the end user
certificate given to Turkey clearly
mentioned the Pakistan Air Force as the
beneficiary. Do you know about this
development?
A: No.
Q: During last week's LTTE air raid in
Colombo, why did the air force fail to track
down destroy the LTTE air craft even after
receiving 45 minutes advancenotice of its
take off from the north?
A: The information we have is that it
was one aircraft that had come. The air
force and the forces tracked down the LTTE
aircraft. We have a problem of attacking
because at night you cannot make helicopters
airborne. What we have are the fighter jets
and there is the problem of speed. Also,
this particular LTTE aircraft flies very
low, at tree top level. If we start
attacking, that would definitely harm the
civilians. That is why we had to prevent the
LTTE aircraft from entering any protective
area. They wanted to come into the port or
the high security zone. With the air force
air defence system, we were able to stop
them from coming into the HSZ. There was
damage, but it was minimum. We were able to
get them away from the Colombo city. We have
explained it many times. We have a problem
and some people laugh at us when we say,
it's practically a toy airplane when you
consider the war. We have tracked down one
and destroyed it about two months back. We
have to do it where there are no civilians.
If we start attacking from a higher
elevation from our fighter craft, there will
be a bigger damage to civilians than the
LTTE dropping one bomb. The air force would
definitely destroy it. According the
information we have, there are either two or
one more. Let's say they have three
aircraft after destroying one. Still the
air force will track them down. It is not
that we have not tracked them down. We were
aware of it, we took precautions and the air
defence system worked. We gave highest
priority to it and we were able to protect
it with minimum damage being caused.
