Mon, 2012-11-26 14:00 — editor
Louisville, Kentucky, 26 November, (Asiantribune.com):
Sri Lankan Students
Association of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA organized an
awareness event on Sri Lanka’s conflict and on post-conflict developments on
November 15, 2012. During the event the student group screened “Freedom Speaks”
an independent investigative documentary about Sri Lanka’s conflict to an
audience of university students, lecturers, Sri Lanka community members and
media.
President of the Student
Association Kasun Fernando said that the event was organized as a response to
the malicious propaganda campaign carried out by the Amnesty International –USA
(AI- USA) against Sri Lanka. He said he and other Sri Lankan students were shocked
to learn how Amnesty’s campaign has been designed to mislead unsuspecting
audiences when they attended a movie screening organized by the INGO .
“Recently, Amnesty
screened a movie titled ‘ The truth that wasn’t there’ at the university . We
too attended the event as it was heavily advertised as a movie about Sri Lanka
. We could not believe how that documentary distorted the truth that we knew
very well about our country. We questioned the authenticity of the movie’s
content from the Amnesty representatives but they were clueless and unable to
answer” , he said.
“Unfortunately, for an
audience that barely knows where Sri Lanka is, this type of propaganda can be
very effective .They form their opinion about our country watching these
misleading documentaries and listening to the stories told to them by Amnesty
reps. This is why we decided to screen ‘Freedom Speaks’ during this event” , he
added .
“Freedom
Speaks – The Unspoken Ground Realities of Sri Lanka’s Conflict” was
produced by a team of young Sri Lankan film enthusiasts in 2011. The
documentary was selected for the four best documentaries produced in Sri Lanka
at the SIGNIS awards 2012.
The Sri Lankan Student
organization has also released a press statement urging Sri Lankan student
groups in U.S. and elsewhere to organize similar events on behalf of their
motherland.
The following is the
full text of the press release:
We
Did It. So Can You:
Amnesty international
(AI-USA) in USA is seeking to mislead the public regarding events in Sri Lanka.
One glaring example is the screening of a documentary entitled “The truth that
wasn’t there”, in several universities in USA. When it was brought to Kentucky,
some of us went to Floyd Theater of the University of the Louisville to see
this film, as its theme was pertaining to Sri Lanka. We were shocked and
appalled by what we saw. Camps for refugees were made to appear places fit only
for animals to live in. The impression given is totally biased and prejudicial
to the reputation of our country.
During the discussion
which followed the screening of the film we protested and questioned the
organizers regarding the veracity and authenticity of facts and figures, and
the sources on which this documentary is based. The organizers were clueless
and our questions went unanswered.
Then we made a request
to university authorities an obtain permission to screen another film on the
same theme in order to tell the real truth to the public on November 15, 2012
on Floyd Theater was the venue to the screening of a documentary named “freedom
Speaks”. Even though so many countries including the US itself have declared
the LTTE as a terrorist organization the average Americans seems to be unaware
of it. This became an evident at the discussion we had with some of them. Their
impression is that LTTE is fighting for freedom of Tamil speaking people in Sri
Lanka. The strength of LTTE propaganda machine is the cause of this
misconception.
We urge all Sri Lankans
living or studying in the West to unite and rise up in defense of the mother
country by protesting and questioning the basis of these documentaries
sponsored by AI, whenever and where ever it is screened.
We Did It. So Can You:
Sri Lankan Students Association of the
University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA
-
Asian Tribune
