Last week as Parliament debated the extension of emergency by another month, the plight of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), from the north, living in relief centres, figured prominently with opposition politicians seeking more access to these camps.
The impassioned pleas on behalf of the IDPs came not only from Tamil legislators but also from members of the JVP and UNP, who were unconvinced by assurances from Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake that the people in the country were truly "breathing freely" after the defeat of the LTTE.
"Are the people living in the IDP camps breathing freely? " asked Chief Opposition Whip Joseph Michael Perera, while questioning whether the "beautiful words" of the Prime Minister even reflected the true picture of what was happening in the south of the country. Where is the freedom for the media, for political opponents or even for an astrologer to make a prediction in the south," he asked, while accusing the government of trying to destroy democracy.
 |
 |
 |
| Joseph Michael Perera |
Vijitha Herath |
Hemakumara Nanayakkara |
Despite all the reservations the UNP has about the way in which the government is using emergency regulations, the Opposition Whip said the party would continue in its policy of neither supporting nor opposing emergency rule. “We are for the emergency to curb terrorism but we are against it being used to curb democratic rights," Mr.Perera said. It's a strange position for the UNP to maintain, given the fact the party publicly called for a relaxation of emergency rule soon after the government announced the defeat of the LTTE. The least the UNP can do now is to call for the relaxation of some of the emergency regulations which are infringing on the democratic rights of the people and are no longer necessary given the favourable security situation in the country.
The JVP too voiced similar concerns as did the UNP about the manner in which the emergency regulations were being used, but here again the party continued to vote in favour of the extension of the regulations, which it has been doing from the inception on the basis that such laws were needed to deal with terrorism. As to how necessary such laws are in the present context the JVP members did not dwell on, but the Party’s Gampaha district MP and Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath spoke at length on the unsatisfactory conditions in the IDP camps and sought access for MPs from opposition parties to visit them, inquire into the needs of the people there and provide whatever relief possible. “If things are as good in the IDP centers as the government maintains they are, what is it trying to hide by keeping us from visiting the centers,” he asked.
The MP said family members have been separated and basic human rights dictate that this is unacceptable. He said there are 50,000 widows and another 50,000 schoolgoing children, whose needs must be met immediately. “Today the government is talking of the 13th Amendment, but its number one priority must be the resettlement of those living in the IDP centres, otherwise even though one Prabhakaran is dead, we will have hundreds more being created from within these centres,” he pointed out.
The MP also voiced his party’s India-phobia sentiments. “We have to be cynical about the cunning intentions of India,” Mr.Herath said, warning against too much Indian involvement in Sri Lankan affairs, including giving into pressure to implement the 13th Amendment and devolve police and land powers to the provincial councils.
The plight of the pregnant women and children in IDP centres moved the TNA Jaffna district MP Padmini Sithmparanathan to tears when speaking about them.
However, Minister Hemakumara Nanayakkara asked why she had not shed tears when the LTTE was conscripting children and taking them away from their homes forcibly. “The way in which the fair member is acting here, remind me of Rukmani Devi’s acting in “Kele Handa.” These tears should have been shed when the LTTE was shooting people when they were fleeing from their grip,” the minister said. However, minister Felix Perera was more sympathetic when he said he felt like shedding tears on seeing her tears.
On the whole, there was more of a conciliatory approach on the part of the TNA legislators since the defeat of the LTTE with another Jaffna MP K. Sri Kantha saying the two main communities in the country have more things in common than differences, and that the Tamil people also wanted the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this country protected.
“ We were united in our fight against the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. Why can’t we unite now?” he asked.
Rebel-turned politician, Minister Vinyagamoorthy Muralitharan said, the Tamil people should not look at the emergency regulations as being laws directed at them.” Emergency rule is prevalent throughout this country and it is there to safeguard all of us,” he said. |
E-mail