Dhanapala Must Take A Stand And Resign From Dialog, Condemn Its Illegal, Unethical Behaviour – Kumar David
April 19, 2014
Professor Kumar David call upon Jayantha Dhanapala to resign from Dialog and condemn its illegal and unethical behaviour. ”Then he will win back his self-respect.” Prof David said.
When asked for a comment on ‘Jayantha Dahanapala – Dialog – Friday Forum’ issue, Prof. David today said, asking Dhanapala to resign from Friday Forum is “rubbish”. ”It would be unprincipled to resign from Friday Forum; JD must take a stand and resign from Dialog. These worthies love money, so it is unimaginable for them to part from big money! I call up JD to resign from Dialog and condemn its illegal and unethical behaviour. Then he will win back his self-respect.” he said.
These worthies love money, so it is unimaginable for them to part from big money! I call up JD to resign from Dialog and condemn its illegal and unethical behaviour. Then he will win back his self-respect.
We publish below prof Kumar David’s statement in full;
This Jayantha Danapala (JD) – Dialog affair is dragging on for too long. Chandra Jayaratne, Radhika, Chaminda Weerawardana and Paikiasothy have all written in saying JD is a splendid fellow and deserves the benefit of the doubt. These are all people of good social standing; so JD is entitled to the benefit of the doubt for a period till he drafts his reply. But JD has not responded for weeks to a serious charge of being a hypocrite; remember he has projected himself as a public figure in democratic rights and freedom of expression issues. It is now time to conclude that he will NOT explain himself to the public before whom he takes this high moral stand on public interest issues.
I would like to make a definitive summary of the matter and bring it to a close.
a) Dialog and other service providers are blocking access to CT and other sites critical of the government. This is not an allegation; it is a fact. I am a technical type and I have checked it out at several user locations. THEY ARE BLOCKED.
b) This is both illegal (in violation of the Telecommunications Regulations) and, for obvious reasons, it is unethical. This is a serious erosion of democracy.
c) If this is because of verbal instructions from the Defence Secretary then Dialog and JD are stooges intruding on freedom of information by complying with such instructions.
d) If this is in obedience to formal (written) instructions from the government, then Dialog and other service providers resorting to this illegal and unethical practice, need, at least, to bring this to the attention of the public. One would expect JD, if such instructions exist, to insist they are brought to public attention.
e) Most of the commentators in the CT have said JD needs to make a decision and “resign from Friday Forum (FF)” if he perceives a conflict of interest. I say this is rubbish. It would be unprincipled to resign from FF; JD must take a stand and resign from Dialog and condemn its illegal and unethical behaviour. These worthies love money, so it is unimaginable for them to part from big money! I call up JD to resign from Dialog and condemn its illegal and unethical behaviour. Then he will win back his self-respect.
f) JD’s failure to do so makes the conclusion unavoidable that he is not prepared to forgo the large payments he gets from Dialog for his services on the Board. JD has a high reputation and being well paid is fine. Compromising his principles is NOT fine.
Maybe we can close this matter on this sad note.
