Mr Miliband Prevaricates

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha
Secretary General
Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process

Though the British have a reputation for perfidy, there is also about them a sense of fair play, which makes them difficult to dislike. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the BBC where, though the Sinhala Service tends to criticise the Government at any opportunity, the English programmes are better balanced, i.e. they are harsh about and to everyone.

This was apparent in the interview conducted with Foreign Secretary David Miliband, when he visited one of the camps in Vavuniya. After some general questions, the interviewer, Martha Kearney, asked Mr Miliband whether pressure could be brought on the Tamil community in exile. The response ignored the question, and instead talked about 'peaceful demonstrations', as though to give a licence to the demonstrations in London that were clearly on behalf of a terrorist organisation.

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