My comments grossly distorted by Govt: Archbishop

My comments grossly distorted by Govt: Archbishop

The Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Oswald Gomis lamented yesterday that the Defence Ministry and the Government Information Department had grossly distorted and interpreted a statement he made.
The Archbishop made these observations in a statement issued yesterday relating to an interview he had given to the Vatican Radio.

The Archbishop told The Sunday Times he had informed the Vatican through Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, a top official in the Vatican, of what he had really said at the interview. He said Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith told him he himself (Archbishop Ranjith) had been a victim of such distortion by Government agencies.
Rt. Rev. Oswald Gomis

When Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith visited Sri Lanka recently, he had a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the President had explained the Government’s policy relating to the ethnic conflict and the war. The Archbishop had made no comment but the President’s media officials later issued a statement claiming the Archbishop had endorsed the Government’s policies. This had compelled Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith to refute the Government statement.

Archbishop Gomis in the clarification issued yesterday said:

The response I gave to some questions addressed to me by a reporter of Vatican Radio have been completely distorted in a news bulletin released by “The Official Government News portal of Sri Lanka” www.news.lk dated 24.07.2008 and quoted by several other news agencies and websites, adding a completely misleading title “Military defeat of LTTE precondition for peace – Archbishop Oswald Gomis”
In summary, the Vatican radio reporter asked me whether the war had escalated in Sri Lanka and whether there were any prospects of peace.

In reply I admitted that the war had escalated and said that there were many who today believed that war was the only solution to the conflict because peace talks have so far not been successful and a war mentality is in vogue. Accordingly, I said the belief of many today was- “first of all you must crush them (the LTTE) if you want to have a peaceful solution. That’s what most of the people are thinking that has become a common opinion” and added very clearly “not that we share it” (this opinion).

This portion in emphasis also appears quoted in the very bulletin aforementioned attributed to me. Therefore, how could the statement “Military defeat of LTTE pre-condition for peace” be attributed to me in the bulletin? It is an obvious contradiction and distortion. On the other hand, as reported in the same news bulletin, I mentioned- “the ideal would be if they could come to terms….” which meant that a negotiated political settlement would be the best in my opinion.

On the matter of peace talks I said that according to news reports the Government had announced it was ready to talk provided the LTTE laid down arms; but the LTTE had responded that it was not ready to do so. “So it’s a stalemate there”. I further added that in these circumstances there were no hopes of peace talks in the immediate future. I trust the above makes my position clear. The news headline is a complete distortion of my responses to the Vatican Radio reporter, and is grossly misleading.

Meanwhile Government Information Director Anusha Pelpita told The Sunday Times that soon after he heard about the Archbishop’s concern about the particular item, he had removed the item from the website.