I deeply appreciate the apology tendered by Prof. Carlo Fonseka in the Island of the 21st, for the use of the phrase ‘rural idiocy’ in an earlier essay. The humility reflected in his response to my ‘objection’ bears ample testimony to his learning and culture for which he is always held in the highest esteem. I take no offence and the matter ends there.

By way of explanation, the Professor traces the origin of ‘rural idiocy’ to the well known ‘Communist Manifesto’ by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A person has the liberty to believe even in a heresy, if it appeals to his conscience. That comes under the Law of Fundamental Rights. But he has no right to defame another on the ground that someone else has used the words earlier, however big that someone else may be. That falls under the Law of Torts. Repetition of a libel creates another substantive libel for which the repeater is personally exposed to delictual liability.