Columns

The growing public unrest in the country erupted into an outbreak of violence near the residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at Mirihana on Thursday night. Whether this was one of the many spontaneous civil society protests being held all over the country that unexpectedly turned violent or whether an unseen hand infiltrated the ranks of the protestors and deliberately provoked the violence to undermine the demonstration remains unclear.

Probably the picture will become clearer in the coming days with more facts emerging. However media reports and visuals that have surfaced up to now point to several suspicious features of the incident.  

The television and social media visuals show a solitary individual setting light to what looks like a Police vehicle. There was no sign of a crowd surrounding him and egging him on.

Thus this act of arson was clearly visible to anyone close to the scene. The obvious question that arises in the mind of any thinking person was why none of the law enforcement officers who were present did not rush and prevent this destructive act and why the individual concerned was not immediately apprehended.

Questioning the individual concerned would clearly reveal the source of the violence and the hidden hand, if any, behind it. There is also an unconfirmed report that the Police vehicle did not bear a registration number.

Making a bad situation worse was the reaction of the Presidential media division. Hardly a few hours had passed since the violence at Mirihana, yet the Presidential Media Division (PMD) issued a media release at 6.30 a.m. under the heading “extremist group behind violent behaviour” and attributed the violence unleashed to organised extremist elements.

For good measure the media release also said the protestors had called for “an Arab spring.” The media release also sent alarm bells as to whether there was an attempt to give the protests a communal touch.

Public Security Minister Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera however repudiated the claim made by the PMD that an extremist group was behind the violence at Mirihana. Minister Weerasekera, who oversees the work of the Police, and should therefore be best positioned to know the outcome of Police investigations, described Thursday’s incident as an act of sabotage. In spite of the PMD claiming a group of extremists led the attack, the Public Security Minister said it was not the case.

“I do not think they were extremist elements. It was only an act of sabotage. They had come to stage a protest and started damaging vehicles and public property. That prompted the Police to use tear gas,” the Minister was quoted as saying in a media report in The Island.

Moreover, the Human Rights Commission came out strongly stating that the Prevention of Terrorism Act could not be used to arrest and detain the suspects who had been taken in by the Police. Consequently the Police were compelled to resort to the provisions of the Public Property Act in an attempt to obtain an order from the Gangodawila Magistrate to detain the suspects.

However, the Magistrate observed that the B report presented by the Police had failed to reveal the commission of offences against the suspects under the Public Property Act and released 15 of the suspects on bail.

The Daily Mirror reported that in an unprecedented move a large number of lawyers headed by Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) President Saliya Pieris, including several leading President’s Counsels, voluntarily turned up at the Gangodawila Magistrates Court to support the suspects.

The Daily Mirror also reported yesterday that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had declared a State of Emergency in terms of the Public Security Act.

The declaration of a State of Emergency is clearly an overreaction on the part of the Government and has no justification whatsoever. There have been citizens’ protests all over the country for the past few weeks without any resort to violence. One incident, such as the Mirihana incident, cannot in anyway justify the declaration of an emergency.

Such an act by the Government will give rise to the suspicion that it was done for a collateral purpose, namely, the suppression of protests of people struggling to meet the challenges of shortages and queues prevalent in the country.

The mood in the country is that of an angry citizenry exasperated with what is happening or not happening in the country. The people are up against a blank wall with no sign of any improvement in the situation.

It is up to the Government to inspire some confidence in the people in a situation where all sections of the country have lost faith in the Government.

The Government needs to set up an authoritative communication system where a designated and high level Government figure holds daily briefings for the media as to what is being done and planned to be done to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.

At present the impression among the people is that the Government is totally indifferent to their suffering. Asinine comments by some Government politicos that the fuel shortage is due to some people beginning new ventures, by buying up the available fuel and engaging in a new trade of selling fuel will only infuriate the people more.

There are reports of the Government obtaining loans and lines of credit from various countries including India and China but there are no signs of any of it being used to ease the difficulties of the people.

It is imperative that the people are kept informed as to the immediate benefits of the economic assistance that is being received. Otherwise the people will have to continue to lament as they are doing now:

“kata kiyannada.”

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)