A communal riot imminent – state intelligence is silent
May 31, 2017
Political and social researchers warn of a communal riot if the violence unleashed by extremist religious groups aggravates any further. The situation has become all the more precarious due to government inaction over statements made recently by Bodu Bala Sena and Islamist extremists, they say.
State intelligence which should keep a close watch on such incidents is questioningly adopting a silent approach. Top defence officials say the once well-organized and effective state intelligence in the country has now become inactive. The Army intelligence has 7,000 personnel officially and twice as much unofficially, while policemen attached to state intelligence number around 4,000.
Their attention has been drawn to the plight of the country, but there is a delay in its receiving information, say top defence officials. Previously, such situations were raised at the Security Council, but that did not happen in the past few weeks, according to them. They appreciate the cabinets’ having paid its attention to the matter.
The national defence studies institute that functions under the defence ministry claims to be conducting research on such matters and advising the government on the required preparedness, but it is a serious matter that it has not paid attention to this matter at hand. An article published by ‘Sathhanda’ confirms that staffers of that institute who are loyal to the previous regime are having their own way at the institution. The Mahinda Rajapaksa faction wants to destabilize the country through a communal riot in order to grab power, state intelligence revealed earlier. However, it has not paid enough attention any further.
Several joint opposition MPs have said that intelligence members were discouraged due to the arrests being made over accusations of abductions and murders during the previous regime. Commenting on that, top defence officials say that that was no excuse to cover up those crimes, and the government should get its intelligence to do its duty properly.
Parakrama Dissanayake – Sathhanda
