Disarm politicians and their goons!

Editorial-September 13

Nearly four and a half years have elapsed since the end of the war. The government is boasting that terrorism is a thing of the past. President Mahinda Rajapaksa tours the former war zone and addresses political rallies without fear of terror strikes. Time was when he used to grumble about being a prisoner at Temple Trees. Now, he enjoys the freedom to visit even the former stronghold of the LTTE! Whoever would have thought elections would be held in that part of the country with men, women and children moving about freely.

But, there has been no discernible decrease in security provided to lesser politicians who continue to wreak havoc on public roads in the southern parts of the country with their huge security contingents and back-up vehicles that bear down on the ordinary road users.

Polls monitors have called upon IGP N. K. Illangakoon to seize all illegal weapons in the hands of politicians in the provinces going to the polls lest they should be used to terrorise their rivals within the next few days and on the day of polling. There is no reason why the police should hesitate to do so.

It is the government politicians and their goons who have been flaunting and firing weapons as part of their election campaign. We fail to see any difference between illegal firearms and the so-called legal ones that are put to illegal use. On the other hand, there is no need for any civilian to be armed in peacetime. Therefore, all politicians and their backers must be banned from carrying weapons, ‘legal’ or otherwise.

There must be a proper threat assessment and security provided to politicians should be adjusted accordingly. Some of them need no security at all; it is they who pose a threat to others as we saw in December 2011 in Tangalle, where a gang led by a government politician killed a foreigner and raped his girlfriend. If it could be established beyond doubt that any politician is under threat, uniformed police personnel should be assigned to protect them. Private armies responsible for many crimes must be banned forthwith.

The country is awash with illegal weapons and there are thousands of battle-hardened military deserters at large besides a large number of trigger-happy hardcore criminals who have become a law unto themselves. The police have their work cut out in taking on the netherworld of drugs and crime because of the nexus between politicians and the underworld figures who do a lot of political work for the ruling party, as is common knowledge.

On several occasions during the last few years, the STF conducting operations against organised crime came up against a brick wall because the police commandos happened to take on some politically connected killers, drug barons and extortionists. While the anti-social elements are thus protected, ordinary citizens who take to the streets seeking redress to their grievances are shot dead!

The government, we repeat, should heed the polls monitors’ call for banning illegal weapons and take necessary action to rein in its violent politicians and ensure that upcoming elections will be free from violence and malpractices.

The UPFA has sought to ridicule polls monitors by claiming that they are singing for their supper and blowing issues out of proportion to impress their foreign sponsors and get more funds. But, the fact remains that they serve a useful purpose, given the violent disposition of politicians notorious for their propensity for rigging polls. The best way the government could take the much-maligned monitors off its back is to conduct free and fair polls. Will it care to do so?