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STRENGTHENING THE CULTURE OF FEAR OR DEMOCRATIC PROBLEM SOLVING


By Jehan Perera

There is general agreement that the situation in the country today is much better for most people than it was a year ago. A year ago the country was in the midst of a brutal and costly war. There were thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of affected civilians in the northern theatre of war. Outside of the north there was the ever present fear of terrorist attack. A year after the end of the war, the objective indicators of improvement are evident in the sense of safety that people enjoy when they go into crowded shopping centres or travel by public transport. The absence of even one act of terrorism by anti-government forces can be counted as one of the most significant achievements of the government over the past year.

Another objective indicator of improvement that can be shown is the near total absence of physical attack on journalists. Only one journalist has disappeared this year, compared to the dozen or so who were killed in the previous years when the war was in full throttle. Even if one journalist disappearing is one too many, it is still an improvement over several journalists being killed. The improvement in the situation can also be seen in former war zones of the North and East. A year ago over 300,000 persons were trapped by the LTTE on the battlefield or incarcerated by the government in welfare camps. The physical conditions under which they had to live was appalling. Today these people may live where they will and their living standards have improved, even if not by what is desirable.

The government’s willingness to ease the rigors of the Emergency Law under which the country has been governed these past several years also suggests an improvement in the ground situation. Families no longer have to go to the nearest Police Station and register themselves and all of the inmates of their homes. At the same time all is not well. A friend of mine complained to me about certain developments in the country. Then my friend said, “I am only telling this to you. I would not dare to speak if others were around to hear what I say.” When I asked what could be the source of this fear, my friend’s answer was vague. “There are undercurrents,” was the reply.

The question arises, what was my friend being uneasy about. The improvement in the security situation has been the fruit of military victory over the dreaded LTTE. This is what the government is going to be celebrating on a grand scale in the coming week. But the destruction of the LTTE and its terrorist capacities do not automatically translate into the kind of security that people desire in a democracy. Despite the government’s decision to relax some of the provisions of the Emergency Law, this is not the same as returning the country to the normal law of the land which is what a true return to peace means. The government has also done nothing to soften the harsh possibilities of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

RUTHLESS DEMOLITION

Although the war is over, the culture of fear that reached its peak during the final phase of the war remains. There is a ruthlessness alive in the country that may have been necessary to win the war, but now is being utilized to win the peace and make Sri Lanka an economically developed country. It is not only in the former war zones of the North and East that this attitude is to be seen. It is important to bear in mind that Sri Lanka is a relatively small island, in which the happenings in one part cannot be sealed off from the other parts. Any regression that takes place in one part will give more than a hint of the regression that is likely to take place elsewhere as well. The demolition of houses and stalls on the grounds that they are unauthorized constructions, the round up of beggars, and the absence of viable opposition to these actions, bears witness to a reality that may come to encompass the whole of the country.

The pavement hawkers of Colombo were the first victims. When they were driven off the streets virtually overnight, there was hope that the decision would be reversed. Senior government members opposed the displacement of the pavement hawkers, and promised that when President Mahinda Rajapaksa returned from abroad, the injustice to them would be rectified. But two weeks later there is no sign of the pavement hawkers coming back. Instead there are news reports that some of them are being compensated for their losses for a short period, and subsequently will be allocated space elsewhere to carry out their jobs. There has been no sustained or strong protest. The juggernaut of government has moved to demolish the structures that once dotted the roadsides.

The shanty dwellers of Colombo have been the next target for the clearing up operations. There is a mechanistic precision in what is happening under the instructions of the Urban Development Authority. There is no compassion being shown. Virtually overnight, and with scarcely any warning, hundreds of people are losing their homes. It may well be that most people think that the pavement hawkers and shanty dwellers need to be displaced, as they are a nuisance or even worse. But there must be dialogue and mutual accommodation that befits a community, which is what this country must be. When people see the ruthless and efficient use of state power used to destroy the livelihoods and homes of others, they learn that there can be no dissent and no countervailing power to that of the government. This creates fear, even if what is being done is judged to be necessary and efficient.

What is happening today on the streets of Colombo is not totally new. At various times different governments have tried to clean up the city and banish the eye sore of poverty from their eyes and those of the world. On the previous occasions, the poor were taken away after a viable alternative had been provided to them. Where this was not the case, street and political protests made the government leaders rethink and change their minds. Security in a democracy means that people feel and are confident that the law will apply to all, and the protections of the law will be available to all. People must also feel confident in their government’s commitment to the rule of law, and in its spirit, not only in words but also in deeds. Government leaders who say that black is white and use denial as their first line of defence will not be able to retain the people’s trust for long.

JAFFNA SITUATION

In recent days the state media has been denying allegations of a deterioration in the security situation in the Jaffna peninsula. If security is assessed in terms of the influx of tourists and pilgrims from the rest of the country into Jaffna there is certainly no problem. According to the government about 3 million local tourists have visited the Jaffna peninsula in the course of the past few months and they have faced no security threats. The military presence in Jaffna remains as high as it was during the time of the war. However, there have been a spate of kidnappings, ransom taking abductions and killings that have made the local population living in Jaffna feel very vulnerable. It is reported that children have been the special target of kidnap and ransom demands, which have made parents become very careful not to send out their children by themselves, but to constantly try to accompany them.

During the period of the war, there was a similar spate of abductions, kidnappings, disappearances and killings that shook the people of the North and East, and also affected the Tamil people living in Colombo. There was paranoia about armed persons coming in white vans and picking people off the streets and from their homes, sometimes never to be seen again. The government even appointed a commission to investigate these allegations. It was believed at that time that most of the victims were those who had some sort of connection with the LTTE, although it was difficult for the people at large to know one way or the other. There were also many cases of criminal extortion that exploited the vulnerability of Tamil people to the charge of being LTTE supporters.

However, with the end of the war, these cases of extra legal actions went down rapidly. The period before the Presidential and General elections saw all parties on their best behaviour as they were wooing the votes of the people. It is unfortunate that as soon as the elections were over, the deterioration has got accelerated. The victims now include even members of the judiciary. For the past week or more, the lawyers from the Jaffna Bar Association have been engaging in a boycott of the courts to protest against the alleged death threats to a Magistrate who had been inquiring into a particularly tragic case of a kidnapping, ransom demand, and killing of a schoolboy.

It is important that the government takes swift action to reverse the deterioration of the situation in Jaffna, as what happens in Jaffna can set the tone for the thinking of the Tamil minority elsewhere in the country and abroad. At the recent General Elections, the people of Jaffna showed themselves to be prepared to work in a manner that was cooperative with the government. They did not cast their votes for parties that espoused a more extreme version of Tamil nationalism. Instead they voted for the TNA which appears to be willing to accept a solution to the problem of inter-ethnic power sharing and devolution of power that is reasonable rather than maximal as was the case with the LTTE. The way to solve problems, whether with pavement hawkers, Tamils or international community, is through dialogue and mutual accommodation based on the realization that to the wise, the country, indeed the world, is one family with shared interests.

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