An Open Message To Gotabaya Rajapaksa
By Thrishantha
Nanayakkara -April 14, 2013
Dr.
Thrishantha Nanayakkara
In year
2006, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE)
took a radical tactical turn to use remote controlled claymore mines to block
Madawachchi-Mannar and Habarana-Trinco supply routes. This effectively made the
vegetation clearance on either sides of the road fruitless. Attacks were
frequent and caused huge damages to ground movements of the army. The defense
research units that attracted the volunteer support of several civilian
engineers worked day and night to develop a counter measure to jam the LTTE
remote controllers, based on some pieces of circuits found among the debris of
explosions in the North. The rate of innovation of the LTTE side was so fast
that the Government defense research units had to struggle to keep up with their
phase. Finally, LTTE gave up using remote controlled bombs. As far as I can
remember, the last attack was on the Pakistan ambassador in Colombo. To be
honest, I had respect for the researchers/innovators on the LTTE side who gave a
difficult time to us, and worked with the only intension of outperforming. There
was no hatred. For the civilian volunteers, burning midnight oil, and then
returning to work the next day was not easy. The only motivation was to see an
end to the war that kept on taking so many valuable lives. I am sure that this
was the main motivation to all others who volunteered in many other fronts of
the war. Those volunteers had complete trust in the Government to make a genuine
attempt to bring in a lasting peace by firmly establishing democracy, rule of
law, notion of citizenship, and justice, through some credible reconciliation
process after the war.
After
the war came to an end, silent ground forces went to rest, too tired of war,
with a greater appreciation for humanity, but the racist cowards came out of
their hiding places like mushrooms popping out. Unfortunately the country’s top
leadership saw this as a cheap political opportunity rather than a threat to the
dreams of those who toiled and died. To be honest, if I knew the close
relationship between groups like Bodu
Bala Senaor Jathika
Hela Urumaya, and the secretary of defense, Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, I would have quit without any hesitation, for it could
have been ample evidence of what would happen after the war comes to an end. Due
to some reason, Gotabaya showed a deep interest in protecting the country’s
constitution and rule of law instead.
The
way the law enforcement agencies behaved during recent public protests like the
movement to release General Sarath
Fonseka, the movement to protest the process of impeachment of the
Chief Justice Dr.Shirani
Bandaranayake, and the protest questioning
the activities of Bodu Bala Sena, was shameful, filthy, and
disgusting. In the case of protests to release Sarath Fonseka, we saw police
mingling around with street thugs who hurled bricks and stones at the peaceful
protestors. In the case of protests of lawyers to defend the constitutional
rights of the Chief Justice Dr. Shirani Bandaranayake, the police openly worked
among the street thugs as if they were one team. In the case of an attack
on Fashion
Bug, the police was watching how monks threw stones to damage private
property. None were arrested on site. However, we saw how the police manhandled
those who participated in a
peaceful candle light vigil in Colombo, on 12th April, 2013, without
a single warning to those threatening Bodu Bala Sena goons to disperse.
Compounding the shameful situation, a police officer later expressed his opinion
about the religious backgrounds of the peaceful protestors, as a reason to be
hostile to them, as if the country’s constitution has given him a mandate to be
hostile to religions he doesn’t like. Who thought stupidity and ignorance could
reach this height inside a police officer’s brain?
I
wanted to point out this final message to none other than but Gotabaya
Rajapaksa. Please keep in mind that Sri Lanka belongs to all its citizens. You
may have been entrusted by your brother Mahinda
Rajapaksa to defend rule of law and peace, but keep in mind that it
is not your private or family property. You are just a public servant and your
job is to protect law and order to protect all citizens, not only to protect
those who are close to you, or those who have religious or political ideologies
that resonate with yours or those of your family. Please don’t think that those
civilians, who volunteered in many fronts of research and development in the
defense apparatus during the war did so because of they were blind worshippers
of Rajapaksa
family or because they were war mongers. There was a greater dream in
their minds that you have humiliated in broad daylight. Simply put, you are
disgracing those dreams by being partial to some groups in the way you manage
the ministry of defence. May Sri Lanka be a country where all its citizens feel
safe to live, where all their constitutional rights are safeguarded, where rule
of law will sit above the tallest man, where the legal procedures respect the
constitution, and where public servant serve the public, but not nepotistic
agendas.
* Dr
Thrishantha Nanayakkara is a Senior Lecturer at King’s College
London
