Columns

In recent years criminal investigations have provided few or no answers to the question ‘who dunnit’ in relation to several crimes. Whether this is due to the Police and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) being overstretched due to the multiplicity of matters that they are regularly called upon to investigate or due to political interference is not always clear. 

Consequently the failure to complete such investigations, particularly the high profile ones, and the lack of information with regard to the outcome of such investigations, give rise to public speculation as to the identities of the perpetrators of such crimes. It is also unfair by the victims of such crimes and their near and dear ones who are entitled to know what happened and why it happened.

This is equally true of those who are alleged to have disappeared during and after the conflict as well as in the cases of Lasantha Wickrematunge, Wasim Thajudeen and Pradeep Ekneligoda. This unhappy trend seems to be continuing even today leaving a public unable to make sense of what has happened.

Some incidents of violence surrounding the protests have yet to be investigated adequately and the people are in the dark as to what really happened.

It is crystal clear that right up to May 9, the protests that constituted the aragalaya at Galle Face have been peaceful and without the slightest hint of violence. So much so even international observers remarked positively with regard to the disciplined and peaceful nature of the protests, which at times took on a carnival atmosphere and even families with toddlers joined the protests.

It was only after a mob, which had gathered at Temple Trees on the morning of May 9, launched a brutal attack on peaceful protestors that things began to take an ugly turn. Within a matter of hours violence erupted in many parts of the country and the houses and other properties of Government politicos were attacked and burnt down. Altogether 73 Government Parliamentarians suffered this fate. Additionally, a Government Parliamentarian was mercilessly assaulted by a mob and succumbed to his injuries. More than three months have passed but the investigations have yet to come up with conclusive answers to the incidents of that fateful day.

Why were law enforcement agencies lax in not taking any action to prevent the mob that came out of Temple Trees from heading towards Galle Face? Why was no action taken to prevent attacks on peaceful protestors?

Also, what action has been taken to arrest and produce before the courts those who were involved in the attacks on peaceful protestors at Galle Face?

Moreover, how did the attacks on the Government Parliamentarians erupt, almost on cue, all over the country within a matter of hours? If Government politicos were targeted, why were Kumara Welgama and Chandima Weerakody’s properties attacked?

Welgama who was brutally beaten up is an Opposition politico who has been critical of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa even before he was nominated for the Presidency, while Weerakody has been openly critical of the Government for a considerable period of time.

The attacks on these two Parliamentarians does not sit well with the theory that only Government Parliamentarians were targeted.

The other unresolved matter is the failure of local Police to act to protect the properties of Government Parliamentarians who were attacked. In fact they brought the inaction of the Police to the notice of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Another unanswered question is how the attacks on the Government politicos erupted all over the country so soon after the violence at Galle Face. The aragalaya crowds were essentially a loose gathering of individuals without a clear and defined leadership but with the clear objective of forcing former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.

Neither did they have any organisational links to the various groups who were protesting in the provinces. If such was the case how were they able to convey news of the attacks on the Galle Face protestors to those in the provinces which is alleged to have been the catalyst for the attacks on the homes of the Government Parliamentarians.

Members of the aragalaya have been blamed for such attacks even though there is no information in the public domain that Police investigations have established such links.

Adding to the confusion is the absence of information that the identity of those who attacked the peaceful protestors at Galle Face and those who attacked the homes of Government politicos has been established and the wrongdoers have been brought before the courts.

The other piece in the jigsaw is the circumstances surrounding the attack and burning down of the private residence of President Ranil Wickremesinghe while he was Prime Minister. The protestors had no reason to attack the Prime Minister’s residence as it was Gotabaya Rajapaksa whom they held responsible for the country’s ills and wanted out.

Added to this is the fact that there was a large security contingent outside the then Prime Minister’s residence at the time who had been accused of beating up some journalists shortly before the incidents. It is difficult to figure out how the arsonists could have managed to carry out their dastardly acts despite the presence of a security contingent who were placed at the spot specifically to provide protection to the Prime Minister’s residence.

Adding to the confusion is the unconfirmed report there was a sudden power cut at the time of the attack. All these unanswered questions raises the question in lay minds whether the whole exercise had a larger objective than the mere torching of the then Prime Minister’s residence. Could it have been carried out with the larger objective of discouraging the former Prime Minister from taking on higher responsibilities?

Only comprehensive investigations can provide answers to the many unanswered questions relating to these matters.

The failure by law enforcement agencies to arrest those who attacked the peaceful protestors at Galle Face on May 9 and those who damaged and burnt down the houses of Government politicos stands in stark contrast to the enthusiasm shown to pursue aragalaya activists whose offences, if any, are minor compared to those who were responsible for the violence on May 9 as well as at President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence. Such disparities in law enforcement can only give rise to perceptions of injustice which is not helpful for a country in crisis.

(javidyusuf@gmail.com)