Royal College Union Fires Back: Delivers Scathing Response to Daily FT Editor’s Note

Royal College Union (RCU) has issued a blistering, no-holds-barred response to the newspaper’s Editor’s Note following the publication of their letter of 16th October ‘24, in which they insisted that the Daily FT appears to be acting with malice, by publishing damning articles without fact-checking the alegations. In a detailed seven-page letter, the RCU demanded that their latest response be published under the same “Right of Reply” policy. The conflict now resembles a heated battle, as the RCU counters each of the newspaper’s claims, adopting a “fighting fire with fire” approach.

The RCU asserts that over the past year, the Daily FT has repeatedly published a series of unfounded and false accusations against Royal College.

These accusations include claims of erosion of secularism,unauthorized collection of funds from students and parents, alleged corruption, irregularities in the appointment of prefects, among others.

According to the RCU, the Daily FT did not seek comments or responses from the school authorities regarding these serious allegations before publication. The RCU maintains that each of these articles is false, defamatory, and designed to cause reputational harm to Royal College, its principal, staff, alumni, the Royal College Union, and other stakeholders.

The RCU also highlighted that, in addition to these defamatory articles, the Daily FT published a series of rugby-related articles in October, culminating in four consecutive pieces. In response, on October 16, 2024, the RCU sent a letter demanding their position be published under the “Right of Reply” policy.

While the Daily FT complied and published the letter, it included an Editor’s Note reiterating their stance and supporting their previous publications with 13 specific points. However, undeterred by this, the RCU responded with another letter, again requesting publication under the “Right of Reply” policy. The RCU continues to assert that the Daily FT’s actions have been reckless and harmful, remaining committed to defending Royal College’s reputation against what they describe as a sustained and malicious campaign.

In a significant development, Royal College Rugby Head Coach Dushantha Lewke has taken legal action. On October 23, 2024, Lewke filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Colombo against Wijeya Newspapers Limited, the publisher of The Daily Financial Times. The former Sri Lanka Rugby captain is seeking damages totaling LKR 300 million, citing defamatory articles published by the newspaper.

Moreover, the District Judge of Colombo, Hon. Sadun Withana, has issued an Enjoining Order preventing Wijeya Newspapers Limited from reporting, publishing, or continuing to publish any matter concerning Dushantha Lewke’s rugby coaching career at Royal College, Colombo, if the newspaper has reason to believe the information is false, inaccurate, or a distortion of the truth. This order will remain in effect until the conclusion of the interim injunction inquiry.

In their latest hard hitting letter, the RCU has concluded saying, it is “Needless to say, that our students, whether they do sports or not, are the life and blood of Royal College, and nurturing them, with love and affection, is innate and intrinsic, in each and every Royalist and they are taught that finally, it is not whether you Win or Lose, but it is how you play the Game and, as the Royal College Anthem has inculcated in generation upon generation of Royalists, a Royalist is enjoined, above all, to have “Learnt of Books and Learnt of Men and Learnt to Play the Game”, and has gone on to assure the editor of the Daily FT that, “This lofty philosophy, will not, and shall not, change”.

The full response from the RCU can be found below.