Re-dedication To The Ideals Of The Sunday Leader
This issue of The Sunday Leader is of special significance because we re-dedicate ourselves to the basic objective of this newspaper: Unbowed and Unafraid – our motto which we carry on the front page of our publication.
Unbowed and Unafraid of whom or what? The simple answer is ‘to tell the truth’, which is so easily said but quite a difficult task to accomplish. Great religious leaders, philosophers, politicians and the ordinary folk, down the ages, have kept asking: What is the truth? The Sunday Leader does not profess to have the answer to this query which has defied the greatest of minds.
But we will not shy away from it. We will do the best we can: Endeavour to tell the truth as we perceive it and on occasions, where there are many shades of opinion, present them to the public for judgement as we have done throughout in our newspaper.
These are difficult times to say in black and white what is perceived as the truth. It is election time. But though be it good times, bad times or election time any newspaper worthy of its salt has to say the truth as they see it – not to curry favour with those whom they think would be victors or those whom they wish to win for personal reasons.
The Sunday Leader has a proud record in this respect from its very inception. The founders of this newspaper were perhaps inspired by the lines in the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley – My head is bloody but unbowed. The short, valiant and tragic history so far of The Sunday Leader has it that, despite its founder editor Lasantha Wickrematunge being gunned down on the main highway to office, its press being attacked and set on fire and journalists being threatened amidst many other setbacks, it has not bowed it’s head down to anyone and stands firm with its head held high. This is one institution in this country that called a spade a spade and political thugs for what they are and in consequence suffered grievously.
With a general election round the corner, the media is burdened with the responsibility of keeping the public informed and commenting on vital issues without fear or favour. We will do so with renewed vigour in the spirit expected of an independent newspaper.
There will be some media pundits who will express the view that impartiality or being politically neutral implies bland reporting of facts sans comments in favour of or against one side or the other. The Sunday Leader will refrain from such impotent neutrality and not be a simple gazette. True to the spirit of modern democracies this newspaper will compliment parties and individuals when they deserve it and deliver deservedly lusty kicks on their bottoms.
The oncoming election will be somewhat different to those held before. A twice elected president who was defeated at the last presidential election is now seeking election as a member of parliament hoping to become the Prime Minister. The situation is even more complicated because a section of his own party is opposing him while another group is supporting him. This election becomes fruitier and even nuttier because the President of the country, who won with the support of opposition parties, is now the leader of the party which he left and contested as a common candidate and will be challenged in the next election by the parties which made him President!
This is a novel form of democratic elections which foreign observers will find somewhat fascinating, but rather confusing.
The cost of living, which is the basic issue of most Sri Lankan elections, has taken a back seat and the debate is fast and furious about constitutional changes that have been brought about and also about proposed changes that failed to materialise.
Meanwhile, the Rajapaksa regime which was thrown out in January is being accused of corruption, nepotism, racism and many other ‘isms’ while the minority government of the UNP which ruled the country for just six months, is being accused of only miniscule development forgetting that it was an empty treasury which they inherited.
Be that as it may, there is a groundswell in the public demand on all major political parties to choose ‘honest and educated candidates’ instead of the ‘kudu karayas’ (heroin dealers), ‘ethanol karayas’ and ‘kasippu karayas’ (bootleggers). It is strange that this very same electorate making these demands has elected these kinds of representatives to parliament who together could now command a 3/4th majority of GCE-O and GCE-A failures in the august assembly.
We have gone into some detail of the issues involved in the election to show readers the challenges faced by publications in reporting and covering the election. True to the spirit of the founders of The Sunday Leader, we will keep the flame of independent journalism burning brightly.
