By Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna (Retd.)
The St Anthony’s Church festival in Katchatheevu recently wrapped up for the year. As has been the case for the past many years, both Sri Lankan and Indian Central governments worked hard to ensure that the festival took place with due respect for religious formalities, involving devotees from both countries.
And as has been the case for a long time, the Indian Coast Guard worked in coordination with the Sri Lanka Navy and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard to ensure that sea passages were under their control, guaranteeing safe passage for all devotees.
Both agencies deployed additional manpower and the Sri Lanka Navy in particular took much of the burden in putting up the infrastructure for devotees. The Indian devotees were escorted and handed over to the Sri Lanka Navy at the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and they were handed back to the Indian Navy on their return.
The writer has had firsthand experience in these formalities when he commanded the capital ship that was deployed for the Festival. He was, and is, well aware of the operating procedures, which are time tested and have endured all this while with much coordination and cooperation between the Navy and the Coast Guard.
This year was no different. The standard arrangements were made, and the feast was concluded without any injuries or casualties. Yet as with previous years, and perhaps more discernibly than ever, the Indian media on social media and blogs appeared to behave in a way that may not be conducive to good relations between the two countries.
In the opinion of this writer, the Indian media perpetuated a picture that created hate and invited troubles in both countries and for both sides. My assessment is based on how so-called journalists covered the feast and how their reporting impacted each country’s perception of the other. Clearly, they were fostering anger among Indian audiences, while the Sri Lankans who commented on their posts demonstrated a disturbing level of anti-Indian sentiment. This contradicts the efforts the Indian central government is making to ensure a positive image of itself in Sri Lanka and among Sri Lankans.
I can cite specific examples here. Take this coverage, by India Today. The comments feed reveals a polarizing situation. The media is, of course, pursuing its agenda of more shares and likes and more comments. They seem unaware of the comments that are piling up on their channels, which promote hate and disdain rather than cooperation and good relations. This underscores the troubles that media narratives can create.
Of course, this is hardly the first time something of this sort has happened. Way back in March 2010, one website reported on Katchatheevu extensively citing Indian media sources, specifically “journalists and social activists from Tamil Nadu.” These “findings” were clearly made to stir up the broader India-China factor – which of course remains, then as now, a major selling point for the Indian media in general.
It is clear that the focus of the reporting on the Church Festival is not the festival itself. There is a clear political slant and orientation there. Take its reporting on the issue of Indian fishermen intruding on Sri Lankan waters. The Indian media repeatedly refers to it as a fishing issue. Yet for Sri Lankans, it has become a poaching issue.
Moreover, the India Today reporter cited above seems to have failed in distinguishing the Bay of Bengal from the Palk Strait, hinting that they are ignorant of the ground situation and the history behind the landmark resolution of maritime boundaries in the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, which was finalized many years before the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea came into force.
What Sri Lanka, India, and the Maldives achieved in those days is an example of regional diplomacy and remains so. It is thus questionable as to why the Indian media has set this aside in its pursuit of a political agenda.
Such developments make necessary difficult choices. The writer believes that from next year on, Sri Lanka should facilitate only bona fide devotees not media personnel, who, under the cover of journalism, seem to stir up negative sentiments among the population.
Already, official remarks and statements on the island during last year’s elections in India have triggered opinions across political divides. This has fueled much anti-Indian feeling. Fortunately, both the Indian Prime Minister and Indian Foreign Minister handled matters diplomatically enough to deflect their criticism not to Sri Lanka but to the Opposition, the Indian Congress Party, which was in power when the Katchatheevu issue was resolved in the 1970s. Yet the Indian media’s reporting has enflamed tensions and anti-Indian sentiment in Sri Lanka. Neither Sri Lanka nor India should allow this to escalate.
The tone and the manner of Indian media narratives may jack up ratings for those outlets, but it can rupture understanding at a time when India and Sri Lanka are trying to foster good relations with each other over trade and connectivity. The intense cold war in Tamil Nadu between the traditional political parties and the BJP, and the rivalry among Tamil Nadu’s traditional political movers and shakers, which has been augmented by media coverage, can complicate matters – for India and Sri Lanka.
I strongly believe this is both unnecessary and avoidable. The Indian media’s reporting on the fishing-cum-poaching issue is a case in point. It is the opinion of this writer that if Indian fishermen stay within their maritime jurisdiction there will be no poaching and no destruction of marine environment due to bottom trawling. Both the Central and State governments, in India and Tamil Nadu, thus need to intervene proactively to ensure that media coverage does not lead to disinformation on such sensitive issues.
One year back, the Hindustan Times reported on a “Chinese radar station” in Sri Lanka. None of the Indian media outlets reported on this a year later. When the then Navy Commander visited New Delhi as part of an official tour in 2018, the Times of India came up with a news story on a Chinese radar in the south of Sri Lanka that was supposedly “spying on India.” The tone and manner in these reports indicated a brewing war among neighbors in the region.
The truth is that, where the China factor is concerned, the Indian media can obtain tens of thousands of views, shares, and comments for their reporting. This may seem trivial, and governments on both sides can say that it promotes free media. Yet the detrimental impacts of such reporting should not be lost sight of.
Moreover, at a time when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Sri Lanka and is about to leave after penning several crucial agreements with Colombo, this writer feels that the Indian government should pay attention to how sensationalist reporting by media outlets can impact bilateral ties in the longer term. The government must take back control of the narrative. Otherwise, a backlash against such reporting in Sri Lanka can lead to a situation not too dissimilar to 2022, when the power of the people ultimately prevailed over an elected government that had lost its mandate.
Rear Admiral Y. N. Jayarathna (Retd) was the Chief of Staff and Chief Hydrographer of the Sri Lanka Navy and Joint Chief Hydrographer to the Sri Lankan Government. On retirement his services have been secured by the United Nations as an International Consultant for Undersea Cables. He is presently engaged in a consultancy role on maritime matters on a freelance basis. He can be reached at ynjayarathna@hotmail.com.
Factum is an Asia-Pacific-focused think tank on International Relations, Tech Cooperation, and Strategic Communications accessible via www.factum.lk.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the organization’s.
