Sri Lanka

1 MCO 4318: Country Paper

Country Paper Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Heshan Perera Dr. Colley Texas Wesleyan University

2 MCO 4318: Country Paper

A. Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka B. Ceylon was founded on 4th Febuary 1948. First Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka in the 6th century B.C. In, 16th century the Portuguese made the country one of its colonies and by the 17th century Dutch took over from the Portuguese. Finally, the British ceded in 1796, became a crown colony. During, the time of British rule the country was known as Ceylon.

As Ceylon, in 1948 gained independence from the British, and the first Prime Minister was D.S. Senanayake and in 1972 Ceylon was changed to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. (CIA The World FactBook) C. The government of Sri Lanka is based on a republic and unitary state governed by a presidential system. The current president of is Mahinda Rajapaksa: he is the 6th president, Sri Lanka has an executive presidency. The prime minister D. M. Jayaratne and the parliament of the country consist of 225 seats: out of 225 seats the current ruling party holds a 3 quarter of majority. (Government of Sri Lanka) D. As of 2012 the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of Sri Lanka is $59.42 billion, while per capita is $2920, Sri Lanka is a Mixed Economy like the United States (The World Bank Group).

The country’s top export commodities are textiles and apparel, tea and spices, rubber manufactures; precious stones; coconut products and fish, while top export partners are the United States, United Kingdom, India, Italy, Belgium and Germany. On the other hand, country’s top import commodities are petroleum, textiles, machinery and transportation equipment, building materials, mineral products and foodstuffs, while top import partners

3 MCO 4318: Country Paper are India, Singapore the United Arab Emirates, China, Iran and Malaysia (CIA The World FactBook) The currency used within the country is the Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR) it is a Free Floated Currency.

E. Sri Lanka does not have a national religion. It is a multi-religious country out of which 70% are Buddhists. Hinduism is the second most prevalent religion, while Islam is the third most dominant religion. And also there are Catholics and people practicing other religions.

(The Government of Sri Lanka) F. The country officially has two languages, namely Sinhala and Tamil. Also, English is a formally used standard language, everything released officially by the government of Sri Lanka releases them in Sinhala, Tamil and English (Government of Sri Lanka).

G. For the time being, the national media system in Sri Lanka is not free it is being regulated by the government, even though there are private media outlets in the country. There are two stated owned television stations and various other stated owned radio stations, while all other privately owned televisions and radio stations is heavily censored by the government.

In addition, almost all the privately owned media owned by parties connected to the government. There are many domestic journalists who have fled to other countries due to fear of the government and some being killed, for example Lasantha Wickarematunga a prominent journalist was shot dead and murderers are still at large, also other journalist being kidnapped( Reporters Without Borders). At the same time foreign journalist has limited access to the country, all their reporting must get approved by the government. In one incident remark made by a presidential advisor “white skin� to a Swiss journalist is one good example how foreign media is being treated in the country (Reporters Without Borders).Currently, there is no need for a license in order to be a journalist. The main

4 MCO 4318: Country Paper media companies, namely Rupavahini, ITN, Sirisa and Derena, etc. Most people get their news from the above said media outlets and through the internet. If you ever decide to visit the country, my best suggestion is to read the country situation report published by your country embassy in Sri Lanka.

H. For this I have taken two articles with regard to Sri Lankan war crimes issue. The domestic article was published in a prominent newspaper in Sri Lanka named Daily News. In this article titled “Military lambastes latest war crimes”, the article presents the war crime allegations as ridiculous allegations made by the international community, while comparing the Sri Lankan war with Iraq and Afghanistan: where it is accused of greater war crimes being committed (The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd). The article published by NY Times titled “ Sri Lanka: U. N. Official Seeks International Inquiry”. This article published by a United States media outlets, presents the war crime inquiry only regards to U.N given facts and finally just states that “ President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration called the recommendations “arbitrary, intrusive and of a political nature” ( The New York Times Company). Both of these articles have one thing in common reads this can understand that the articles are biased. For instance the Sri Lankan article talks about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, without providing factual evidence of what they are clamming and comparing it with the Sri Lankan war. On the other hand the article on The New York Times, is talking about the war crimes in Sri Lanka only using the information given by the United Nations, they should use other sources. For example, they should use the information given by the Sri Lankan government, so the reader can gain a better understanding of what’s actually happened.

5 MCO 4318: Country Paper I. On the other, hand the article published by Al Jazeera titled “Sri Lanka rejects call for war crimes probe”. Talks, about the war crime in two different aspects, by giving the points said by the Sri Lankan government and of the points presented by the United Nations. Further, Al Jazeera being a media outlet from the middle east country of Qatar, has being able to present a well balance out article for the reader, while presenting the both sides arguments Al Jazeera has being able not be supportive for any specific party.

In comparison with the other two media agencies from Sri Lanka and United States, Al Jazeera has managed to capture the true essences of journalism, by presenting a unbiased article. As such overall, the article helps to carve out a more balanced picture of the issue and this article has Reuters as an additional source (Al Jazeera).

J.

The Sri Lankan government has an official website named “PressInform”,through, which it handles public relations of the country. In addition, the president has a Twitter, Facebook and Google plus accounts, which used to communicate presidents’s messages.

Sri Lanka’s current advertising market has started to grow rapidly after ending of the war in 2009. The overall public relations business is growing due to the increase foreign direct investment made to the country. For example, JWT advertising currently one of the world’s largest advertising firms has office in Colombo (financial capital of Sri Lanka).

This is one of the best examples of the growing public relations industry in Sri Lanka.

Even, in the local universities are starting to expand their academic programs and have public relations related courses available, for new joining student has a wide range of programs to choose from.

6 MCO 4318: Country Paper

References Aljazeera.com. (2014). Sri lanka rejects call for war crimes probe. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/southasia/2014/02/sri-lanka-rejectscall-war-crimes-probe-20142254460713165.html [Accessed: 24 Feb 2014] Cia.gov. (2014). Cia site redirect — central intelligence agency. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/ce.html [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

Dailynews.lk. (2014). Military lambastes latest war crimes report | daily news online : sri lanka's national news. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.dailynews.lk/local/military-lambastes-latest-war-crimesreport [Accessed: 24 Feb 2014].

Data.worldbank.org. (2014). Sri lanka | data. [online] Retrieved from: http://data.worldbank.org/country/sri-lanka [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

En.rsf.org. (2014). World report - sri lanka - reporters without borders. [online] Retrieved from: https://en.rsf.org/report-sri-lanka,79.html [Accessed: 24 Feb 2014].

Gov.lk. (2014). Government of sri lanka. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.gov.lk/web/index.php?lang=en [Accessed: 23 Feb 2014].

7 MCO 4318: Country Paper Nytimes.com. (2014). Log in - the new york times. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/world/asia/sri-lanka-unofficial-seeks-international-inquiry.html [Accessed: 24 Feb 2014].