Political Activity Stifled; Authoritarian Agenda Swells
Prof. Kumar David
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) launched a campaign in Colombo on 11 October to fight harassment and attacks on political activity in the North, especially in Jaffna, by state authorities, namely the military and the police. The launch was supported by a persuasive video of widespread anger about abductions and arbitrary arrests and included sound bites from Mano Ganesan, JC Weliamuna, Nirmal Dewasiri, Vickremebahu, Lal Wickrematunga (Lasantha’s brother) and others. It is a production of a new Centre for Rights Protection which, to the best of my knowledge, is the first explicitly pro-left human rights civil-society entity. Most human rights groups sport liberal, religious or rightist ideological flavours, or are linked to international organisations. I was pleased to see an alternative that leftists can link up with.
The meeting was captioned as a campaign to secure the release of Lalith and Kugan, two FS members who were abducted in Jaffna about 11 months ago, but the purpose was not merely to shed tears about its own cadres. The emphasis was on highlighting the repression of Tamils, on a daily basis in the North where abductions and disappearances continue unabated. Out of sight of Colombo society, folks in Jaffna are facing intimidation, confiscation of lands and humiliation. The reports are first hand from FS cadres working among Tamil youth for over a year despite threats and attacks by the military. The video showed gatherings of Tamil women carrying placards and chanting slogans demanding to know about their abducted sons, husbands and men folk. All this corroborates what the TNA has been saying in parliament and conveying to the international community, and is a wake up call to Colombo on a theme the media prefers to pay little attention to.
These young chaps are not going to be intimidated; Rajapakse and the military have caught a tiger by the tail! The FSP made no bones about explicitly accusing the military of abducting and holding Lalith and Kuhan in an army camp and made mention of eye witness sightings. A fortnight ago burnt oil was thrown on FSP’s Dimithu Attygalle and two others while campaigning in Jaffna and police foot-dragging and indifference told a stark story. The cops know who the attackers are but will not go into camps or make arrests. When Attygalle and Premkumar Gunaratnam were abducted and tortured in March in Colombo, Gothabhaya did not conceal from the Australian High Commissioner that his forces were the perpetrators.
Unlike in the first six years of the Rajapakse Administration when some attempt was made to hide sate involvement in abductions, now it is blasé. A “So what! Who the hell cares?” attitude pervades; state terrorism is on the loose, flagrant arrogance compounded by unconcealed impunity. The hubris of threats to the judiciary and manhandling of the JSC Secretary are symptomatic of siblings drunk on power. Sadly for those who remember the old left, today’s Vasudevas, DEWs and Tissas will drain the last dregs of this goblet of shame before they make their exit rolled in Dead Left shrouds. Alas, such are the joys and perks of ministerial office.
The question that many ask is when or where will this stop? Are we on an inexorable road to dictatorship, or will an explosion involving parliamentary and extra-parliamentary arenas spell the end of the Rajapakses? There is no open and shut answer to these questions; the political analyst must consider options and weigh possibilities. Let me have a jab at gauging what I think the Rajapakse game plan is, and then pronounce why I think their well laid schemes will “gang aft agley”.
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