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Civilians feel the heat as Govt forces and LTTE lock
horns
Last
Wednesday’s senseless carnage in Nugegoda must be condemned
by any right thinking person. An attack that deliberately targets
civilians-- whether in LTTE-controlled areas (like the alleged killing
of school children in Kilinochchi) or in the rest of the country--
by any person, group or the State must be condemned.
Even though it did not claim responsibility, the LTTE is strongly
suspected of planning and executing that horrendous act of destruction
at a dress boutique in a busy crowded town.
The target is clearly not military, nor is it political.
Prabhakaran unabashedly targeted ordinary civilians sans even a
warning.
On Tuesday, Prabhakaran was preaching to the international community
about Sinhala racism. The next day he demonstrated his crass racism
by blasting a bomb in a predominantly Sinhala suburb, Nugegoda.
At the inception of the war, the LTTE would blast bombs in busy
places like Pettah and Maradana, frequented by Sinhalese, Tamils
and Muslims.
During the current phase of war, the LTTE deliberately targeted
Sinhala civilians at Welikanda, Kebeththogollewa, Nittambuwa and
Seenigama.
If the blast at Nugegoda was in retaliation for civilian targets
by the military, what is the rationale for killing 12 Sinhala villagers
at Welikanda and 64 more at Kebeththigollewa—before the war
intensified?
It appears, the LTTE is desperate for a backlash to ensure a fresh
wave of refugees in Tamilnadu and the West. To achieve its aims,
the LTTE is willing to subject a hapless Tamil population to further
pain.
For all its acts of violence, the LTTE received its just desserts
by being banned in several countries. So much for LTTE terrorism!
What about the State?
The State has to protect civilians and uphold their fundamental
rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.
The State also has a duty to protect its citizens from possible
indiscriminate terrorist attacks that could kill and maim Sinhalese,
Tamils, Muslims in short all its citizens. Those who care for their
security, look up to the State for protection. They, too, have a
responsibility to co-operate with the security forces.
Extra vigilance and swift security measures, no doubt, have helped
thwart many a plan of the LTTE to unleash wanton violence.
But, security excesses have been committed and the government must
rap those responsible. Denying these excesses is bringing the government
to disrepute locally and internationally.
Racial profiling and harassment of law-abiding citizens must be
stopped. To take people to custody, there must be a reasonable suspicion.
Arrests based on ethnicity, only aggravates the ethnic conflict,
making the community an enemy of the State. Those taken in must
not be treated in a degrading way. The State must speedily investigate
and release the ‘cleared.’
On the issue of detainees, as representatives of the Tamil community,
TNA MPs and other elected MPs, should be able to voice their sentiments
in Parliament. It should not be conceived as racism. Government
Whip Jeyaraj Fernandopulle said of the 2,184 taken in, 360 are still
in custody.
What was the yardstick in taking thousands of Tamils into custody?
In trying to quell or quash terrorism, the State has no right to
harass. Tamil civilians, no doubt, must co-operate in view of the
overall security of the country.
The State has also no right to kill civilians from a community in
an organized way in the name of security or the war. If this happens,
it is nothing but genocide.
The international community has a role to play as per agreement
by member states of the United Nations back in 2005.
“Each individual State has the responsibility to protect its
populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes
against humanity. This responsibility entails the prevention of
such crimes, including their incitement, through appropriate and
necessary means,” states the agreement to which Sri Lanka is
a signatory.
“The international community should, as appropriate, encourage
and help States to exercise this responsibility and support the
United Nations in establishing an early warning capability,”
according to the agreement.
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