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.