The BBC Reporter in Colombo reporting or commenting?

by Indeewara THILAKARATHNE and Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

The BBC Reporter, Roland Buerk now domiciled in Colombo has marvellous writing and research skills and he can report from Colombo, Kurunegala or Batticaloa as he likes. Sri Lanka is an oyster in his hand.

He writes reports, on peace, the Sri Lankan Government, the “limited devolution” and the ethnic minority Tamil people’s decades-long complaints of domination by Sinhalese-led central governments.

But unfortunately he hasn’t learned how to differentiate Sinhala first name from family names. With a by-line of Batticaloa Roland Buerk writes: Last week the Kusumawathi family from Kurunegala. Kusumawathi is a first name and not a family name. It is like some one referring to Tony Blair’s family as Tony’s family!

We don’t know what Kusumawathi’s family means but our research suggests that she is not from Kurunegala town! (Unlike Mr Roland, we speak our languages and get good friends in Kurunegala town!).

Surely Kurunegala cannot stand for a district, in which case the BBC correspondent should have given some clues such as a name of a village and a few more concrete evidence where Mrs Kusumawathi resides!

We have reasonable doubts that Mrs Kusumawathi’s story is a fictionalized “event” as we are unsure how Roland Buerk spoke to Kusumawathi family, and when and where? We know that Roland can’t speak Sinhala.

No references to an interpreter in his report. Another justification in support of our claim of BBC’s fictionalised reports hypothesis is his strongly biased attempt to highlight the cost of war in Sri Lanka! What about the cost of life and public property destroyed by LTTE terrorists in Sri Lanka? Why Mr Roland is not covering the destruction of innocent lives and public property carried out by LTTE whom he always describe as rebels?

The BBC correspondent who in our view is clearly biased and has a plenty of unsubstantiated words about Sri Lanka, it’s government (who provide security for him!).

The following is just one sentence in which he packages his pro-LTTE sentiments: “The poll will lay the foundation for limited devolution that the government bills as the answer to ethnic minority Tamil people’s decades-long complaints of domination by Sinhalese-led central governments.”

How does he write with so much confidence that the “poll will lay the foundation for limited devolution ...” What are the evidence? Whom did he talk to and who said when and where? How come a foreign journalist who can’t speak or write a sentence or two in Tamil or Sinhala becomes an expert on his own? Who provides him with these lines?

This particular sentence under review shows lack of integrity and low level reporting by foreigners who come here for a good time!

In training of journalism we were told not to project a reporter’s personal value when a report is lodged. But Roland Buerk has a license to do whatever he wants to say or report. (No subbing; no checking even by London-centric editorial mob!) Mr Roland, like the LTTE terrorist doesn’t want any one to break away from a world’s worst terrorist organization to embrace democratic tradition! Why not?

That’s why he condemns Pillaiyan, a so-called former child soldier for embracing democracy and joining the Government in the eastern election. Buerk writes: “He [Pillaiyan] has not only turned his back on the Tigers’ ideal of independence for the Tamil minority, but his party is also allied with the government in the election.”

Can anyone provide a better definition of our prestigious BBC reporter’s bias towards former LTTE supporters embracing democracy!

We can’t. May be Roland Buerk knows the reason!

We encourage our readers to read the rubbish presented by a BBC correspondent and help us to create a global public opinion about BBC’s biased reporting from Colombo and or Batticaloa!

This is the website and the report:

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7391752.stm, Published: 2008/05/09 15:15:30 GMT)