History repeats first as Tragedy, then as Farce
Sunday 23 September 2012
In the hierarchy of power, the political class does not come under the purview of the “general” law. Though in theory all individuals and groups are equal in the face of the Constitution, there are many exceptions and omissions made to the rule that, in practice, the social and political VIP is privileged at the expense of the commoner. We need not be alarmed at this for if one is not safeguarded and advantaged by it, then there is no reason whatsoever why one should fight tooth and nail to assume power to begin with.
The recent Malaka-Major incident is a lucid demonstration as to how the power hierarchy today operates; and how feeble and impotent the law enforcing mechanisms of the country are. As we already know, two sons of two organs of the political VIP class were alleged to have mugged a military high rank, only for the latter to later submit to the Court that he was not beaten up by the initially accused. Perhaps, the law enforcing police were wary of such an eventuality for they took their own sweet time in apprehending the suspects, days after the alleged assault. In fact, with growing media and political pressure, the two suspects routinely submitted to the police and were never taken into custody in spite of them being on the free without a glitch.
The military and the police – to which the assaulted major and his would-be guardians belong are primarily the outposts of the political VIP class. They are watchdogs alright but of the groups and individuals with political backing and patronage, their proxies and enterprises. In such a capacity, they have become to the VIP a “law facilitating” instrument while inconveniencing the common you and I with the least of ambiguities in the law book. The police would be quick to wisecrack or to book you for unlawful parking even where parking regulations are not clearly stated, for the law is mobile and arbitrary where signs and posts are not there. Perhaps, what gets released on the non-VIPs is the steam and pressure of having to unquestioningly yield to politicization; but that is not a good enough reason to tilt the law and the due process.
Guard the sins of the bastion
The major in this incident, for an alarming and altogether predictable reason, has changed his story. In other words, in the weeks which followed the incident he has been “regularized” to meet the specifications of his master class: To stand up before the highest institute of the state and deny everything that he earlier submitted as truth. Barely two years ago we saw with pity how a certain Samurdhi officer was made to resort to a similar denial – that he ordered his own cashiering by getting himself tied to a tree. History, as Karl Marx attributed to a different context, repeats first as tragedy and then as farce. In the major’s denial, what we see is him being re-absorbed to his role as watchdog whose operation is to guard the sins of the bastion; and not to leak out scandal.
Sri Lankan society, through militarization and political infiltration, is being neatly carved out into three layers. At the top end, we have a thriving bracket of social and political VIP, their inner circles and proxies. At disparity with them, and with their socio-economic and legal allowances we have the commoners: A suppressed group, and whose suppression gives more meaning to the other. This de-privileged group is extorted of taxes, are regularized and regimented through diverse means to serve the needs and mechanisms which favour the ruling class. The political VIP, while substantiating their end, continually unsettles the commoners’ cultural spaces, educational means, public life, economic chances, etc.
In between the ruling VIP and the commoners, a strategically planted and deliberated military class is in expansion. This guard of the VIP and VIP concerns is placed against the commoners and what is traditionally identified as “social and civil spaces” and are seen to be used as devices of control. The more these “regime-friendly,” uncritical militants – an effective labour force which asks no questions – are placed to head organizations, departments and schools, the less unsteady the political VIP and its hegemonic agenda becomes. However, at this securing of its own space the free will and public spirit of society is arrested and subverted by growing military expansion.
Rampage on the unarmed...
Two years or so ago, the government planted in the Sri Lankan university system a security service consisting of ex-combatants. Maintained at a high cost this ex-military plant was seen as a “militarization” process, whose removal is one aspect addressed by the ongoing FUTA discussions with the government. Unlike the public and the civilian, the military acts without reflexive backlashes. Hence, in “post-war” Sri Lanka, it has become the effective substitute to the vegetable seller, sanitation keeper, security service provider, and now sheepish witness at the Court. The absolute obedience expected and delivered by the military is a foil to the growing waves of accentuated dissent which the government, at other civil fronts, encounter. Therefore, to “win obedience” has always been a leading measure of the state agenda; and for this they would use any means possible – leave alone the reversing of petitions.
The same military organ would stamp and assault a civilian audience at a rugby match with least provocation. As it has been customary at the Nittawela rugby stadium – the home of Kandy SC where uncontested sprees of violence have been a regular feature over the past three seasons, outbreaks by military “services teams” and teams with high political connections have been both un-interfered with by the police, nor uninvestigated by the authorities (un)concerned. Even this year, the Navy-Kandy fixture ended with the visiting team and its entourage, unable to bear up the jibes of the stand, running a rampage on the unarmed, non-military spectators.
The Malaka-Major incident is still pending: For the judge overseeing the case has called for a verification of the evidence presented to him. However, as much as the law has to be predictable and consistent, so is the lack of it that one shocked.
Sunday 23 September 2012
In the hierarchy of power, the political class does not come under the purview of the “general” law. Though in theory all individuals and groups are equal in the face of the Constitution, there are many exceptions and omissions made to the rule that, in practice, the social and political VIP is privileged at the expense of the commoner. We need not be alarmed at this for if one is not safeguarded and advantaged by it, then there is no reason whatsoever why one should fight tooth and nail to assume power to begin with. The recent Malaka-Major incident is a lucid demonstration as to how the power hierarchy today operates; and how feeble and impotent the law enforcing mechanisms of the country are. As we already know, two sons of two organs of the political VIP class were alleged to have mugged a military high rank, only for the latter to later submit to the Court that he was not beaten up by the initially accused. Perhaps, the law enforcing police were wary of such an eventuality for they took their own sweet time in apprehending the suspects, days after the alleged assault. In fact, with growing media and political pressure, the two suspects routinely submitted to the police and were never taken into custody in spite of them being on the free without a glitch.
The military and the police – to which the assaulted major and his would-be guardians belong are primarily the outposts of the political VIP class. They are watchdogs alright but of the groups and individuals with political backing and patronage, their proxies and enterprises. In such a capacity, they have become to the VIP a “law facilitating” instrument while inconveniencing the common you and I with the least of ambiguities in the law book. The police would be quick to wisecrack or to book you for unlawful parking even where parking regulations are not clearly stated, for the law is mobile and arbitrary where signs and posts are not there. Perhaps, what gets released on the non-VIPs is the steam and pressure of having to unquestioningly yield to politicization; but that is not a good enough reason to tilt the law and the due process. Guard the sins of the bastion
The major in this incident, for an alarming and altogether predictable reason, has changed his story. In other words, in the weeks which followed the incident he has been “regularized” to meet the specifications of his master class: To stand up before the highest institute of the state and deny everything that he earlier submitted as truth. Barely two years ago we saw with pity how a certain Samurdhi officer was made to resort to a similar denial – that he ordered his own cashiering by getting himself tied to a tree. History, as Karl Marx attributed to a different context, repeats first as tragedy and then as farce. In the major’s denial, what we see is him being re-absorbed to his role as watchdog whose operation is to guard the sins of the bastion; and not to leak out scandal.
Sri Lankan society, through militarization and political infiltration, is being neatly carved out into three layers. At the top end, we have a thriving bracket of social and political VIP, their inner circles and proxies. At disparity with them, and with their socio-economic and legal allowances we have the commoners: A suppressed group, and whose suppression gives more meaning to the other. This de-privileged group is extorted of taxes, are regularized and regimented through diverse means to serve the needs and mechanisms which favour the ruling class. The political VIP, while substantiating their end, continually unsettles the commoners’ cultural spaces, educational means, public life, economic chances, etc.
In between the ruling VIP and the commoners, a strategically planted and deliberated military class is in expansion. This guard of the VIP and VIP concerns is placed against the commoners and what is traditionally identified as “social and civil spaces” and are seen to be used as devices of control. The more these “regime-friendly,” uncritical militants – an effective labour force which asks no questions – are placed to head organizations, departments and schools, the less unsteady the political VIP and its hegemonic agenda becomes. However, at this securing of its own space the free will and public spirit of society is arrested and subverted by growing military expansion.
Rampage on the unarmed...
Two years or so ago, the government planted in the Sri Lankan university system a security service consisting of ex-combatants. Maintained at a high cost this ex-military plant was seen as a “militarization” process, whose removal is one aspect addressed by the ongoing FUTA discussions with the government. Unlike the public and the civilian, the military acts without reflexive backlashes. Hence, in “post-war” Sri Lanka, it has become the effective substitute to the vegetable seller, sanitation keeper, security service provider, and now sheepish witness at the Court. The absolute obedience expected and delivered by the military is a foil to the growing waves of accentuated dissent which the government, at other civil fronts, encounter. Therefore, to “win obedience” has always been a leading measure of the state agenda; and for this they would use any means possible – leave alone the reversing of petitions.
The same military organ would stamp and assault a civilian audience at a rugby match with least provocation. As it has been customary at the Nittawela rugby stadium – the home of Kandy SC where uncontested sprees of violence have been a regular feature over the past three seasons, outbreaks by military “services teams” and teams with high political connections have been both un-interfered with by the police, nor uninvestigated by the authorities (un)concerned. Even this year, the Navy-Kandy fixture ended with the visiting team and its entourage, unable to bear up the jibes of the stand, running a rampage on the unarmed, non-military spectators.
The Malaka-Major incident is still pending: For the judge overseeing the case has called for a verification of the evidence presented to him. However, as much as the law has to be predictable and consistent, so is the lack of it that one shocked.
