‘Sri Lanka Goebbeled’- My Article That Never Got Published!
Sharmini Serasinghe
The following piece was written by me in 2007. This was a time, when the media in Sri Lanka was terrorized to such an extent, that Journalists and Writers needed to be armed with cold courage, to function.
All those Editors I sent the following piece to, who never said “No” to any of my articles before and after, refused to publish it in their newspapers, and one warned, “No way Sharmini, this will get us both killed!”
Senior journalist Keith Noyahr, who was then the Associate Editor and Defence Correspondent of ‘The Nation on Sunday’ newspaper, was not yet abducted and beaten up to near pulp, for daring to be critical of the then government, and military high command.
My good friend and former colleague Lasantha Wickrematunge was still alive, and so were the others who went missing in ‘White Vans’ and never seen again.
Uvindu Kurukulasuriya had not yet fled the country for his life, so Colombo Telegraph was not yet born.
‘Lest we Forget’ that was how the media functioned in Sri Lanka, not too long ago!
Now that the dark clouds of fear and terror have been lifted, here is my piece ‘Sri Lanka Goebbeled’ that never was published, up until now……..
Sri Lanka Goebbeled
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” – Joseph Goebbels.
Does this statement made by the despicable Nazi of the Third Reich Goebbels almost seventy years ago ring a bell? Yes it does, because that’s precisely what is happening in Sri Lanka in this very moment in time. We have Goebbels reincarnated under our noses! Read More
