Rule Of The Blind

Following the government's unilateral abrogation of the Ceasefire Agreement (CFA), the intensity of violence has shown a dangerous upturn with the killing of UNP MP, T. Maheswaran on January 1, while praying at a kovil and the killing of ruling party Minister, D.M. Dassanayake with a claymore mine on the busy Colombo-Negombo highway last week.

Government leaders and propagandists who declared the CFA as dead as a dodo and claimed that its abrogation means nothing are apparently intoxicated by their own verbosity and have such closed minds that they even refuse to understand the mind of the enemy. Not understanding the mind and the thinking of the enemy are indeed fatal mistakes by those who are responsible for the conduct of a war and this has been spelt out according to military strategists dating back from the time of 2500 years ago such as the famed Sun Tzu of China.

Our military strategists should have thought what the abrogation of the CFA meant for the LTTE. They should have weighed the pros and cons of withdrawing from the CFA and taken a decision based on the opportunity costs rather than the dictates of the JVP merely to survive in office and enjoy the perks that go with it. For the Tigers it amounted to the legal declaration of a renewal of war and was just the medicine they were looking for to extricate themselves from international pressure and play the aggrieved party.

To Tiger Leader Velupillai Pirapaharan with his monumental ego, it was a gross insult because while abrogating the CFA, government spokesmen such as Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse preened themselves, as proud as peacocks and boasted of a certain military victory in the north while setting a time table for overrunning the Wanni by August this year. The public have heard such deadlines many times in the past and can be excused for their cynicism.

Apart from the wounded ego, an organisation like the LTTE has to keep up the morale of its cadres as well as contributors of the so called Tamil 'diaspora' in the West. Ergo, he had to hit the Rajapakse government the hardest, where it hurts most. And that is what he is doing bombing Colombo and has already killed a government minister. Regrettable as it is, this is what the government and the peace loving people should expect and unlike the high and mighty the innocent civilians have no bullet proof vehicles or security convoys to protect them from acts of terror.

Ironic then that President Mahinda Rajapakse is being thumped on his back by his allies, the JVP and JHU, for this 'brave and patriotic act' of scrapping the CFA. Their refrain in the last two years has been that it was the CFA that was holding back the government forces cracking down on terrorists. Now that the Barbarians are within the gates of the capital itself, what is there to prevent a crack down on the terrorists?

To cover up their impotence scapegoats are being searched for. It should be recalled that even before the CFA came into force the LTTE ran riot when it so pleased them and the targets they hit before the CFA are too many and too well known to be recalled in these comments. The tragedy is that while the country bleeds the tin pot dictators of Sri Lanka are busy playing politics merely to cling to power at any cost as evident from statements made by President Rajapakse to the APRC members last Thursday as reported by our Political Columnist Suranimala elsewhere in today's issue.

It is in this very context that an attempt is being made to project the orders made by the Supreme Court, following appeals made by citizens for the protection of their fundamental rights, as the cause for the upsurge in violence. It is always a third party's fault and not that of the government according to the chinthanaya of the day. Last week government spokesman Jeyaraj Fernandopulle went so far as to accuse the Supreme Court of carrying out a contract for the Tigers because of its order for the withdrawal of the barriers and issuing guidelines on arrests of civilians and the searching of their homes.

Such an outrage should not go unpunished because what the Minister is attempting to do by such threatening statements is attract public hatred towards the last bastion of democracy, the Supreme Court and intimidate Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva and the justices of the highest court in the land into silence so that the government can merrily run the country like a Banana Republic.

Indeed the irate public found road barriers most annoying not only for the  inconvenience caused but for the apparent stupid ways deployed to determine whether a person was a terrorist or not. Members of minority communities particularly found these checks on highways harrowing. The feeling was that those who are indeed terrorists would not risk passing through check points but would find alternate ways to enter areas of their choice or to transport goods and that probably is why the Chief Justice in open court said what we have today is a blind administration.

The Supreme Court decisions have been obviously made for the benefit of the public, particularly Tamils who are generally considered as suspects and have to undergo much embarrassment and suffering in public places because of the 'security' policy pursued by the government. It is essential that protection be provided to the Tamil people who have fled their homes that were in areas controlled by LTTE terror and not be subjected to further harassments due to the racist policies of the state.

Despite stringent security measures adopted there appears to be huge security lapses, the classic example being the press of Leader Publications, located in the high security zone  that encompasses the Ratmalana Airport  being raided by a gang of unidentified persons and  its press set on fire.

Another classic instance is the entry of Mervyn Silva, a minister of the government, into one of the most sensitive high security establishments, the offices of Rupavahini Corporation, with some persons, one of whom had been identified as a person released on bail for murder and a suspected drug dealer who reportedly assaulted the news director of this national TV channel for not relaying his speech!

Members of the armed services as well as the police, by and large, have worked with much commitment for the protection of the country from terrorism but their good work is nullified by politicians and their goons. The case of another journalist, Poddala Jayantha whose house had been surrounded by a gang which arrived in a police jeep late at night and ordered him to come out apparently to abduct him, needs to be investigated and not forgotten, as most instances where journalists are subjected so such threats. The Uthayan paper located in Jaffna has been subjected to constant threats and one of its staff members had been killed. Last week it complained it has once more received a threatening phone call and the anonymous caller had ordered its closure.

Last week UNP MP Lakshman Seneviratne told parliament that his name along with MP Johnston Fernando were on the government's 'hit list' A special meeting had been held among top defence officials where the need to silence certain legislators was discussed, he said. He pointed out to the killing of MP Maheswaran who spoke out openly about killings and was brutally murdered. UNP Leader and Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe warned in parliament that the lives of MPs were being endangered because of the withdrawal of security personnel assigned to guard them.

Maheswaran's security had been withdrawn because he voted against the budget and he was killed. Security personnel attached to Rauf Hakeem, Anura Bandaranaike and Mano Ganesan had also been withdrawn because they had gone against the government. It is difficult to resist the conclusion in this backdrop that this government is systematically attempting to silence its critics by all forms of intimidation and threats and it is in this light that the affront to the Supreme Court by Minister Fernandopulle must also be viewed

Ranil Wickremesinghe warned last week that this situation had resulted in the question of the continuity of parliament itself and given the dictatorial trajectory of this administration such sentiments are more than mere rhetoric.

This dangerous situation is the direct result of the decision of President Rajapakse and his brother Gotabaya, the Defence Secretary, to take the LTTE head-on. It is elementary knowledge that any government which vows to eliminate a terrorist organisation by the force of arms will have to face armed retaliation. Now it is incumbent on the President to take up the challenge and protect not only legislators and civilians but also other members of the public like journalists from all forms of terrorists as well as political goons working for government members. This is a situation created by the Rajapakse junta.

His infrequent declaration of the objective of finding a political solution, it is now clear, will be a damp squib (Pus vedilla) - as expected. After about two years of hard labour, the APRC, we are informed, has been asked to forward the 13th Amendment as the political solution for all the present ills - a law that has been there in our statute books for 20 years!