Whose instructions should the media follow? - MP Rohitha Abeygunawardene

COLOMBO (News 1st) - Activist groups have been popping up everywhere like wild mushrooms over the recent past and they are especially concentrated around the suburbs of Colombo. There are numerous groups, registered with the government, that are born out of good intentions and do good work towards the wellbeing of the people. However, there are questions regarding the unseen forces behind some groups. The recent period of political uncertainty saw a number of groups, previously unheard of, rising to prominence through their dedicated actions to serve PM Ranil Wickremesinghe. These groups that received funding from vested parties were then seen plying their trade, crying foul in accordance with their narrow views and political agendas. Can they truly be called social activists or it better suited to identify them as cat's paws. Did these so-called activists protest against the Bond Scam that is considered the biggest and the most corrupt scam in the history of this country? Did they protest when certain ranking members of the Government took steps to appoint their confidants to senior positions in SriLankan Airlines? Where were these activists when these confidants caused SriLankan airlines a loss fo Rs. 57bn within 3 years? Why were these activists silent when the government obtained business loans with high-interest rates costing our country millions and dragging us into further debt when they had the option of opting for loans with reasonable interest rates? Why are these activists blind to people suffering from unemployment, struggling to bear the economic burden, experiencing hardship due to adverse weather, distressed from the lack of clean drinking water, enduring hardships because of the lack of opportunities to education and struggling in life because of poverty? They have failed to understand that the majority of Sri Lanka cannot be fooled by their acts. They attempt to spread fake news and propagate slander through web pages managed by their associates who are currently residing in cities such as London and paying them off with the money that was stolen from the people of our country. Who wires money from Sri Lanka to London to sling mud at people? The people are well aware of the people who receive this black money as well. The people of this country cannot be deceived easily. Commenting on the recent protests he.ld outside media institutions, UPFA MP Rohitha Abeygunwardene questioned whether the media should behave according to the commands of the protestors. He questioned whether members of the media should obtain advice from these protestors on how to formulate news stories in a manner which is biased towards the Government. Abeygunawardene explained that the Government is doing this because they are preparing for another game. He noted that PM Ranil Wickremesinghe, with the help of MP Sumanthiran, is preparing to bring in a new constitution that divides the country into 9. The MP explained that they are doing this to gag the media, and control the media before the constitution is officially unveiled.