SRI LANKA Christians Join Media, Political Groups In Protest Over Proposed Broadcasting Regulations

COLOMBO (UCAN) – Christians who have joined media and opposition politicians in protesting a controversial government broadcasting regulation are relieved the Supreme Court has stayed implementation.

Minister of Media and Information Anura Priyadharshana Yapa told Parliament on Nov. 27, “Following the guidance of the Supreme Court, we are ready to talk about this license issue with the relevant (parties).”

Media groups, civil rights groups and politicians have spoken out against the Private Television Broadcasting Regulations announced by the government Oct. 27 and gazetted on Nov. 10.

Opponents claim the regulations seek to give the government control over all aspects of private television and radio broadcasting including licensing, territorial coverage and ownership.

Media groups petitioned the Supreme Court, which on Nov. 14 issued a stay order on the regulations until a consensus is reached with the television and radio stations.

“It gives us breathing space,” Ainsley Joseph, convener of the Christian Alliance for Social Action, told UCA News. He was speaking on behalf of Christian Writers and Media Persons Forum, the alliance’s media wing.

According to Joseph, the new regulations are a noose waiting to be tightened around the Sri Lankan media. “We got the stay order from the Supreme Court, as there is merit in our case,” he maintained.

Harsha G. Fernando, a Christian reporter, also was happy about the Supreme Court order and the government’s decision to discuss the matter. “The media should be free to write, even about the government,” he said.

Bishop Duleep de Chickera, Anglican bishop of Colombo, told media earlier that the regulations would “put the integrity of the whole nation at stake, if implemented.”

In a Nov. 5 statement, the bishop called for dialogue with the TV station operators and society, since the regulations were seen as illegal and undemocratic.

A Nov. 16 editorial in Gnanartha Pradeepaya, the Catholic Sinhalse-language weekly newspaper, warned that “if suppression continues, there cannot be media development in the future.”

Media people who oppose the regulations say they restrict licenses for television stations and include vague clauses that could be interpreted broadly used to stop broadcasters from being objective and make them broadcast only content favorable to the government.

“The new regulations provide the media minister, as the regulator, with powers to cancel licenses if he needs,” said a Christian journalist from a private media station, who declined to be named.

“Since the government cannot control technology, it tries to control through irrational restrictions on content,” he remarked. “The new regulations also seek to severely restrict news dissemination through the Internet, particularly citizen blogs, popular on news websites.”

According to the journalist, the regulations were introduced to bring about uniformity in the field of electronic media so the same rules could be applied to all broadcasting stations.

Sunanda Deshapriya, spokesman for the Free Media Movement, told reporters on Nov. 14 that the regulations amount to “censorship.” Nonetheless, media groups are ready for talks if the government invites them, he said.