The LTTE has shifted its main centre for internet communications from Norway to a third country.
The Norway-based centre approached the international media to generate a high degree of support for the advancement of LTTE's goal of Tamil Eelam.
In the absence of news from the battlefield Ñ particularly during the period of censorship Ñ the LTTE news network thrived. The LTTE news network stated, "We are long known to most netters concerned with happenings in Sri Lanka by our Tamil Net Mailing list service that circulates news and views from the Tamil Homeland.
"We are now in the process of expanding our services and have opened a department for web publishing. We need people with journalistic skills! Are you interested in keeping with the affairs? Do you have journalistic background? ...and most importantly: Do you support the Tamil's struggle for self-determination? If the answer is yes' please contact us."
The Tamil Net Mailing list of the LTTE is projected by the LTTE as an independent electronic information service that brings news and views from worldwide coverage on issues related to the LTTE and the Tamil people. The Tamil net states, "Our main concern is to bring the actual situation prevailing in the Tamil homeland to the outside world."
The sources of information of Tamil Net are listed as:
Jaffna Citizen Committee (JCC),
International Secretariat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
Sri Lankan Government Agent of Jaffna (GA),
International Federation of Tamils (IFT),
Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO),
International Committee Red Cross (ICRC),
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other local, national and the international NGOs that work in Tamil areas.
The LTTE politicizes Sri Lankan Tamils living overseas and even foreign officials to generate financial and political support for its struggle for a separate Tamil state using both the international Tamil press and the LTTE press.
The most effective has been the LTTE internet operation. The Government of Sri Lanka has been too late in countering LTTE internet propaganda. However, independent web sites, such as a site managed by Umberto Gui in the US, have countered LTTE propaganda effectively.
The LTTE press releases are either totally fabricated or contain half truths manipulated to suit the LTTE goals and objectives.
A classic example is the recent LTTE press release titled "Pope will hear of shocking Jaffna conditions."
The release stated, "A representative of the Vatican who toured Sri Lankan army-occupied Jaffna peninsula has expressed his dismay and horror at conditions there. After an official tour of the region in which he saw the extent of army-damaged buildings and woefully inadequate rehabilitation efforts he told the Bishop of Jaffna of his deep sorrow for the Tamil people.
"During Sri Lanka's military operations to capture the ancient Tamil heartland of Jaffna indiscriminate bombing of public and private buildings was routine. According to some journalists 80% of buildings in Jaffna town had been demolished by Sri Lanka's military assaults."
A second press release, issued last week, illustrates the sophisticated approach the LTTE uses to generate support for the LTTE and against the government. Titled "Navy kills elderly fisherman" the release states:
"The Sri Lankan navy - notorious for its attacks on ordinary Tamil fishing vessels - has fired on and killed an elderly Tamil fisherman. The man, like many others living in coastal areas of Trincomalee, had no other means of earning a living other than fishing but the Sri Lankan navy heavily curbs the rights of Tamil fisherman.
"Recently, the navy banned Tamils in this district from deep-sea fishing, leaving deep-waters exclusively for Sinhalese fishermen, who also receive navy escorts. Reports of acute hunger among sections of the Tamil fishing population are now emerging from these parts.
"Appeals made to the Sri Lankan government about the worsening situation have not been responded to. Dry rations have not been provided to compensate for the effects of the ban. Sri Lanka claims to have "liberated" Tamils in the areas it occupies."
What the LTTE attempts to portray in this carefully crafted press release is multifold. The most significant among them are: First, it clearly breeds ethnic hatred. Second, it creates the impression of a humanitarian crisis internationally
While the LTTE media programme has become increasingly effective the government media programme has become ineffective. The Ministry of Defence and the Department of Information have failed to develop an effective counter propaganda programme to fight the LTTE media programme both domestically and internationally.
On several occasions, the necessity to create a military psyops programme and a national psyops programme has been felt. But neither the Army under General Rohan Daluwatte nor the Defence Secretary Chandrananda De Silva has taken the initiative to meet an emerging challenge.
Today, it is abundantly clear that the LTTE cannot be fought and destroyed domestically as long as the LTTE has international support. The LTTE generates bulk of its support by politicizing the Sri Lankan Tamils who live overseas.
As the government has failed in its endeavour to fight the LTTE propaganda war, it should at least attempt to develop an effective news service to inform all Sri Lankans of the developments in Sri Lanka, particularly in the north east, as quickly as possible. This will prevent distortion of news.
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