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From left: Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, Muslim Tamil National Alliance leader Azath Salley, United National Party Leadership Council chairman Karu Jayasuriya and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa. Pic by Upul Abayasekara
As the promoters of the pioneering venture declared that their effort would remain independent and apolitical, Sri Lanka’s first mass media outlet aimed at the country’s 1.9 m Muslim community was unveiled on 16 December in Colombo, with Muslim Media Forum, an influential Muslim community voice in Sri Lanka, calling the effort a ‘historic event’.
“This is indeed a historic occasion. We are totally apolitical, inclusive and not in any way divisive. From today, the voice of Lankan Muslims will extend to electronic and online methods as well,” said Faiz Mustafa, Senior President’s Counsel, yesterday.
Mustafa was addressing the launch event of the non-profit National News Agency Ltd., the operator of Sri Lanka’s first mass media outlet exclusively focused on the country’s Muslim community. National News Agency will operate the Tamil language Serendib TV channel (the first-ever TV channel to totally focus on Lankan Muslims), Tamil language daily newspaper Serendib (the first-ever daily Tamil newspaper for Lankan Muslims), and Serendib radio channel (the first-ever radio channel for Lankan Muslims).
Also present at the launch of Serendib TV, newspaper and radio channel at The Kingsbury Hotel yesterday were Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishad Bathiudeen, Member of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya, National News Agency Ltd. (operating firm of Serendib TV and media) Chairman M. Imtiaz, World Muslim League representative Bin Saleh Al Dawood, Mayor of Colombo A.J.M. Muzammil, and Minister of Justice Rauf Hakeen as well as many members of the diplomatic community in Colombo.
“I am glad that both MP Karu Jayasuriya and Minister Basil Rajapaksa have found time to be present here today despite being busy,” said Senior President’s Counsel Mustafa. “We too will be voting and will be voting for the right candidate. Your presence is an inspiration. We Muslims owe a debt of gratitude to Minister Basil Rajapaksa who looked after our safety during the Aluthgama incident. We have been discussing the need for a separate media institution for Muslim people of Sri Lanka since there is minimal coverage for issues affecting Muslims of Sri Lanka. I wish to pay a tribute to Muslim Media Forum’s M.L.M. Ameen and publisher M. Rizwy for maintaining the sole Tamil publication for Muslims in Sri Lanka, Navamani, under trying circumstances purely for the cause and not for cash. From today, the voice of Lankan Muslims will extend to electronic and online methods as well.”
According to the Colombo-based market research firm Survey Research Lanka’s fact-file data, the top four TV channels for Tamil speaking population in Sri Lanka in 2013 were Vasantham TV, Shakthi TV, Varnam TV and Sun TV. A huge majority of the 1.9 Million Muslim audience in Sri Lanka too watch these channels. The majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka do not fail to listen to Islamic prayers aired island-wide on SLBC Tamil transmission during the annual Ramazan period.
“The Muslim community has been living peacefully with other communities of Sri Lanka for more than thousand years,” said Sri Lanka Muslim Media Forum President N.M. Ameen, addressing the event. “There is always a connection between the role of media and post modernity. The presence of powerful media is beneficial for any community contributing to the public opining. But it has been a setback for the Muslim community that it could not have a media voice of its own for it for many decades until 1997 when ‘Nawamani’ newspaper was born, which recognised the pulse of the community. Still there has been a long-felt need for more print and electronic media, which has become more evident with the recent hate campaign against the Muslim community. Therefore today’s event will be a historic event.”
National News Agency’s reps said the TV channel would at first be shown through satellite TV operators before commencing free-to-air transmissions. The daily Tamil language newspaper Serendib meanwhile commenced publication on 16 December.
