Letters to the Editor

The question uppermost in our minds, after the initial shock and horror of the attack made on the Army Commander right within the grounds of Army HQ, was: "How on earth was it possible for a suicide bomber to penetrate what we thought would be the best guarded place in Colombo?" I am surprised that we haven't seen a spate of letters asking this very question.

One news report tried to gloss over this daring breach of tight (so we thought) security by suggesting that the bomber had taken advantage of the Army's humane attitude towards pregnant women. It doesn't speak much for the professionalism of our security forces if that is to be used as an excuse. They should know, none better, how cunning and ruthless the LTTE are.

It was left to The Sunday Times correspondent, Iqbal Athas, to raise the question in his Situation Report in The Sunday Times of April 30. Most disturbing was the heading of his article, "Who in Army HQ tipped off bomber?" Cynics in town had already freely aired (verbally, of course), their opinion that there are people who would do anything for money, but my mind refused to accept that dire possibility. Maybe, I was naive. Now, I'm wondering......

To quote Mr. Athas, "It is easily the worst incident in the two decades of separatist war and interludes of peace with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A female suicide bomber infiltated the heavily-fortified Army HQ in Colombo. She threw herself before Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka's motorcade. If not for motorcycle outrider Corporal Ruwan Yakandawala, who kicked her, faced the full brunt of the explosion and died on the spot, Lt. Gen. Fonseka would be no more. If that was bad enough, there is something still more bizarre. No one knows how she found her way into Army Headquarters and there is no official record.

“A Criminal Investigation Department (CID) team tasked by Police Chief Chandra Fernando, has an uphill task. They will have to find out how the suicide bomber gained entry to carry out the dastardly attack. More important, they will have to unravel how one of the biggest security breaches in Sri Lanka's post independent history occurred."

The whole of that article is well worth reading and it certainly chills the heart and disturbs the mind. That Corporal Ruwan Yakandawala died a hero's death will scarcely be a comfort to his family. We, the general public, have a right to know exactly what happened, and how. We need to know the truth of the matter and I only hope that President Rajapaksa himself will realize how necessary that is, if public confidence in the Army is to be restored.

The location of the main Sri Lanka Army Hospital within the Army HQ premises seems to be a big slip-up. It looks like strategy planners for the Army had overlooked some of the basic military principles in security.

Any hospital depends on a big staff. That includes medical, para medical, cleaners, and maintenance staff to name a few. Then the OPD patients, inpatients and visitors make in and out movements of the people to a hospital many fold.

So when a hospital is located close to the Army Headquarters, the nerve centre of any Army, it is obvious that providing security for such a place is going to be a tough task.

Unfortunately, reported corruption in Sri Lankan government organizations like the Department of Registration of Persons where National Identity Cards are issued and the Department of Registration of Motor Vehicles would have made the security services’ undertaking more daunting. This is because the LTTE by now must be having forged IDs, passports and motor vehicle registration to disguise themselves!

All creatures on this earth have the right to live as much as we humans have. All religious leaders emphasized the importance of treating animals humanely as one of their fundamental tenets. But alas, in a world of largely deteriorating human values, one could hardly expect man to treat animals with kindness when everywhere we witness man’s own barbaric and misbegotten actions towards his own kind.

It is disheartening to observe the manner in which dumb creatures like cattle and household pets are treated in our predominantly Buddhist country. We know that these animals had been serving man in a thousand and one ways since the dawn of civilization.

How ungrateful are the owners of these animals to dispose of them to the butcher for slaughter for a mere fistful of rupees. These innocent animals are treated in the most inhuman and barbaric manner, starved for days and mercilessly beaten to make them weak, then sardine-packed and transported to their place of no-return – the abbatoir. Why can’t these heartless animal owners allow these dumb creatures to travel with freedom at least on their last journey? The most despicable part of this episode is how some of these animals are invariably found dead in transit due to starvation, dehydration and suffocation.

Once I saw a lorryload of such illegally transported cattle being seized by the Police. These animals were gasping for breath through suffocation. The driver, his assistant and a pot-bellied, morose–looking man clad in white, presumably the Mudalali, were seated in the front seat. It was so ironical to see a picture of Lord Buddha hung on the hood opposite the driver bearing these words – Siyalu Sathwayo Nidukwethwa, Nirogiwethwa Suwapathwethwa!

With regard to pets like dogs and cats – the situation is even worse. I have seen sanctimonious householders mostly in elite society, who seem to be God-fearing and religious leaving their female puppies and kittens on the highway after dusk to be run over by vehicles or to die a natural death through starvation and exposure to the rigours of weather.

It’s 2550 years, on this Vesak Full Moon
Since Lord Buddha passed away,
Blessed be our eyes
And ourselves meritorious
To see and participate
In these anniversary celebrations
On this historic commemoration,
We are ever grateful
Ever indebted and faithful
To our most venerable Maha Sangha
The disciples of Lord Buddha
The guardians of Buddhism
Who, with great dedication
Propagated and preserved
This valuable doctrine
The teaching of Lord Buddha
‘That nothing in this world is permanent
That everything is subject to decay’
Through the long, long march of time
Without a break, without a crack,
Even at the risk of their own lives
Hiding here and there, themselves
Also hiding the Sacred Relics
Sometimes sacrificing their lives
During foreign invasions,
Memorising the scriptures,
From generation to generation
Then writing them on ola leaves
And finally printed in books,
Buddhists all over the world
Pay homage, pay tribute
To the venerable Maha Sangha
The venerable ‘sons of Lord Buddha’
With great honour and gratitude,
May the Order of Bhikkus
And Bhikkunis too
Flourish for ever
Preserving the teaching of Lord Buddha
Our Great Master!
May all beings be well and happy!

'Letters to the Editor' should be brief and to the point.
Address them to:
'Letters to the Editor,
The Sunday Times,
P.O.Box 1136, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Or e-mail to
editor@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or
features@sundaytimes.wnl.lk
Please note that letters cannot be acknowledged or returned.