What of the ‘War on Terror’ within?

Many years ago, Sri Lanka was world renowned as ‘Paradise’. Tourists found the country as the best kept secret in the world for its scenic beauty and the serenity and the warmth of the friendly people. For Sri Lankans, east or west, home was best in its truest sense. Even with what people described as a fragile ceasefire, a few years ago, we saw Sri Lankans who lived abroad for decades, coming home to roost.

However, the same cannot be said anymore. Of late, tourists visiting the country are few in numbers and those who come, don’t stay long. As opposed to expatriate Sri Lankans deciding to come back, today, we see them encouraging their remaining kith and kin to migrate. The brain drain, for both economic reasons and for lack of better future prospects, is intensifying. For a multitude of reasons, both national and global, even the economy and the private sector is engaged in a battle of sorts as well.

If people hoped that, Sri Lanka would return to normalcy sooner than later and restore the paradise fame, then, such expectations have only got more distant from becoming a reality.

For many sons of the soil, who have toiled hard to make a honest living and also contribute to socio-economic development, the mere fact that, Sri Lanka remains in the top rankings of the global Failed States list is disconcerting. Despite being a hotbed of democracy, over 50 years of independence and having had one of the most intelligent and competent civil services in Asia, the fact that, the country languishes in the lower ranks in Best Practices and factors of Good Governance, is a further setback.

Despite being blessed by peace loving and pious multi religions, today, Sri Lanka, as a country, is tarnished by terrorism, ruthless violence, allegations of fundamental human rights violations and injustices. Law and order is applied and enforced indiscriminately by different authorities, self-empowered and self-centered politicians, their individual henchmen and officials alike.

There is growing opinion among the public that, basic tenets of democracy and fundamental rights are increasingly qualified, questioned and at times, not justified or ruled out, for the mere pursuit of individual or politically petty agendas that are disguised as national or patriotic.

As we have continuously maintained, the people and society at large are firmly behind the Government of the day and the security forces in their fight against terrorism or real terrorists who are bleeding the country economically and socially with their untenable armed struggle.

However, as a responsible Government, in the same zeal of fighting terrorism, it must also show no mercy for excesses in this battle, if it is the cause for the rising crime and deteriorating law and order situation within the country or, those are the spillover effects of the war against terrorism.

The spate of unidentified attacks on media, which we acknowledge even the President condemned, doesn’t augur well for the credibility as well as popularity of the Government.

After repeated assurances from all concerned, if the democratic society had hopes of a long overdue end to attacks on media - the pulse of the people, then the latest incident on Monday, when an unidentified gang brutally assaulted Sri Lanka Press Institute Acting Manager, Advocacy, Namal Perera and British High Commission Political Officer Mahendra Ratnaweera, was good enough to kill such expectations.

Since it involved an employee of a diplomatic mission of a foreign country, one that is globally influential and is a longstanding development partner of Sri Lanka, the attack is of greater concern over a multitude of implications. This explained why there was a spate of international condemnation apart from local organisations.

The US Embassy, in a statement yesterday, reiterated that “a press that is free of intimidation, is an essential component of any democracy.” We are aware that the Government recognises this and has been supportive in many ways. But it appears that, baring some initial measures, the Government hasn’t been able to effectively put an end to the terror against media.

It is in that context that, the Government should take it upon itself to bring the perpetrators of this crime, swiftly to justice.

Such a course of effective action, though remaining elusive thus far over past attacks, would rebuild trust and respect, as well as support to the Government, all its patriotic institutions and officials, for their war against terrorism from the very people, including the responsible media and civil society, who have remained loyal to this cause.

Government is quite right in having identified wiping out terrorism by those armed as the most immediate priority to usher peace in the country. It had made significant gains in this fight thus far.

In its overall quest, it is critical that the Government must ensure confidence and support of the people and key societal organs such as media are intact, if not reinforced rather than resisted.

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