MR’s security
Posted on December 7th, 2015

Editorial Courtesy Island

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is faced with serious threats due to the curtailment of his security and the release of hardcore Tigers, his office has said. The government has sought to deny this claim.

The despicable practice of governments reducing their opponents’ security in a bid to tame the latter is not of recent origin. The Rajapaksa government stripped the war winning Army Commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka of special security after he had fallen from grace and challenged the then President Rajapaksa politically. Today, the boot is on the other foot!

The present government obtained a popular mandate, promising to be different from its predecessor. Now, it has to make good that pledge and ensure that all political and military leaders responsible for the country’s successful war on terror are protected without leaving any room for allegations that it is using security as a tool to control and harass some of them.

If it can be proved that former President Rajapaksa has done anything illegal while in office, let him be severely dealt with according to the law. Some ministers claim that billions of US dollars that the members of the former ruling clan and its henchmen allegedly amassed through fraudulent means have been stashed away overseas. If so, that money must be brought back and the culprits prosecuted without further delay. It can be used to bridge the budget deficit! But, the former President’s security must not be reduced on any grounds. He deserves special security as the only President who fearlessly provided political leadership to the country’s war on terror. Had he buckled under foreign pressure or sought to curry favour with some western powers by suspending military operations, nobody would have been safe here today.

It is being argued in some quarters that the Rajapaksa government released more than 12,000 LTTE combatants and, therefore, the present administration shouldn’t be faulted for freeing three or four dozen terror suspects. This argument is not without some merit. However, what should be of concern here is not the numbers as such but the reason why the LTTE detainees currently being held were not released together with those 12,000 suspects. They were detained because they were hardcore LTTE cadres who couldn’t be rehabilitated according to the big guns of the previous government.

Nobody should be kept behind bars indefinitely simply because they are terror suspects. The previous government erred by not bringing charges against the detainees it describes as hardcore terrorists. But, the present government will do well to refrain from throwing caution to the winds when it handles a sensitive issue of this nature. What was reported from the North during the recent Mahaveer Week made one wonder whether the situation in that part of the country was as normal as it was made out to be. There certainly is a pressing need for the government to tread cautiously without trying to humour anyone!

The late President Ranasinghe Premadasa made a fatal mistake by exposing his political opponents to danger for having made an abortive attempt to impeach him. He would never have been able to overcome the political fallout of the Lalith Athulathmudali assassination even if the LTTE had failed to assassinate him in 1993. Lalith’s death triggered a political tsunami which plunged the country into turmoil and ended the UNP’s 17-year-rule. Those who don’t learn from history are said to be doomed to repeat it.

The government tells us there are no terrorist threats at present. If so, the credit for that should go to those who defeated terrorism without grovelling before Prabhakaran and signing ceasefire agreements with him. Threats to political leaders don’t emanate from the LTTE alone. Terrorism was something unheard of in this country when Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated. Hence, the need for providing special security to the political leaders who have reason to believe their lives are in danger!

 

7 Responses to “MR’s security”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    Security is POLITICIZED.

    Gen Janaka Perera was NOT given army security. He was only given POLICE protection.

    War ended in 2009. Why wasn’t these HARDCORE TERRORISTS punished with convictions? Terrorism carries the DEATH PENALTY. It must be implemented.

    Anything can happen. They can escape from prison or plan attacks from the prison. Timely death penalty to terrorists would have solved this problem.

  2. Nanda Says:

    Back to last November , I cannot forget how those Indians who were convicted for drug trafficking and sentenced to death were released back to India but Sri Lankan involved in the same crime who were also sentenced to death are still art death row.

    How do we justify this? Compassion to Indians only ?

  3. Susantha Wijesinghe Says:

    NANDA !! THIS IS WHERE MR SHOWED HIS SERVILITY AND FEAR TO INDIANS. HE WAS ALWAYS APPEASING THE WRONG PERSON.

  4. jay-ran Says:

    “He deserves special security as the only President who fearlessly provided political leadership to the country’s war on terror. Had he buckled under foreign pressure or sought to curry favour with some western powers by suspending military operations, nobody would have been safe here today.”
    The above statement in the Island Editorial clearly shows THAT SRI LANKANS CAN LIVE WITHOUT ANY FEAR OF BOMBS AND LTTE KILLER QUADS, “IS BECAUSE OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT MR’s GREAT LEADERSHIP.”
    Now the BATALANDA GATHAKAYA WITH UNGREATFULL GATHAKAYA ARE TRYING TO RELEASE ALL THE HARDCORE LTTE ACTIVISTS WITH A DIRTY AIM BEHIND!!!
    MAY THE BLESSINGS OF THE NOBLE TRIPLE GEM PROTECT MR & THE FAMILY,TRY FORCES WHO FAUGHT WITH DEDICATION AND THE MR POLALISTS POLITICOS< PREVENTING THE TWO MINEEMARU GATHAKAYAS DESTRO SL AGAIN!!!

  5. Fran Diaz Says:

    Backtrack to Root Causes of Terrorism :

    1. Colonisation & Cold War

    2. Errant Tamil leadership going for Separatism, both in Lanka & Tamil Nadu

    3. TN Dalit Tamils lose Caste stigma in Lanka – wants Lanka for themselves now, encouraged by vested interests

    4. Lanka has Tamil language in place – welcome mat with other pluses

    Put your minds on how to avoid/stop the Root Causes affecting Lanka, and solutions can be found peacefully for all here.

  6. Lorenzo Says:

    Released Endian drug dealers in 2014 were from TAMIL MADU and KERALA. Over 20 of them were released in 2014 on a single day.

    They probably brought more drugs to SL since then.

    Endia quickly realized how weak the SL govt. was and used RAW agents to divide UPFA.

  7. Nanda Says:

    We have to find 1 “FEARLESS” man or woman.

    To me only some of our soldiers fought fearlessly and fully dedicated.
    Even some soldiers had crime in mind than fight. Those cannot be considered as FEARLESS.
    At times these soldiers surely have betrayed the FEARLESS.
    Others helped with FEAR and sideliners, cheer leaders now behave like LEADERS.

    With FEARLESNESS one inherit other qualities like generosity, compassion,100% honesty and these people command respect than demand.

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