Ceylon Today Editorial

THE WARD PLACE WAR…

Sunday 01st November 2015

 
A mini war was witnessed at Ward Place opposite the University Grants Commission (UGC) last Thursday afternoon between the Police and Higher National Diploma in Accountancy (HNDA) students who came in procession to meet University Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella.

The officials appeared to have bungled stating that the minister was out attending a Maga Neguma programme. The students claimed that the minister had agreed to meet them for a discussion. However, according to Federation of University Teachers Association, the minister had been engaged in a discussion with FUTA officials at the time the student-police clash had taken place. When the students were told that the minister was away, they had started a protest obstructing traffic along Ward Place.

Following repeated requests by the Police, the students had refused to disperse. During the clash it was reported that nine students and a policeman were injured. Police first fired tear gas and then baton charged the students. Some students sustained serious injuries on their heads and bodies. The Police attack on female students dragging them by their tops while another police officer baton charged a female student was gruesome and disgusting. The students claimed they were unable to hospitalize the injured as police kept vigilance near the Accident Service to arrest the wounded.

The Inspector General of Police must ensure that fundamental rights of injured students are protected as the police have no right to arrest an injured person seeking treatment. Instead, there are provisions in the law to follow with regard to arrests of injured suspects after they are hospitalized. The conduct of the police and the Riot Squad was despicable when one views the video clips of the attack. These students were not criminals to be attacked in that dastardly manner. When the students refused to disperse, the police should have obtained a Court order and asked them to disperse.

Students have a right to protest if their grievances are not resolved by the education or higher education authorities. However, they have no right to breach public order and cause hindrance to the public by congregating in hundreds across the roads. Also, the police have no right to attack students in that dastardly manner causing serious injuries even to female students. The male students who came to the rescue of their female colleagues under attack too were mercilessly baton charged by policemen.

During the previous regime we witnessed enough and more incidents involving university students as the then Higher Education Minister had constant clashes with undergrads. Every single student demonstration came under attack by the police.

If the present government does not follow a proper ethical method to meet, discuss and resolve student grievances, the situation may aggravate. And, the people would not see a difference between the previous regime and the present Yahapalanaya Government. The officials who liaise between the University Education Minister and the students with regard to fixing meets for talks should not bungle. Had those officials given advanced notice of the unavailability of the minister though a meet had been purportedly fixed, Thursday's uncalled for clash between the students and the police could have been averted.

Bureaucratic bungling has messed up issues leading to breach of the peace over the years as student-police clashes and student-university administration clashes have been aplenty. Students at university demand more hostel facilities and increase in bursaries in addition to curriculum issues. The higher education authorities should refrain from taking arbitrary decisions when periods of education programmes are reduced or increased. The HNDA students walked in procession to the UGC on Thursday to discuss the reduction in the duration of the HNDA Programme from four to three years. Those are issues that the UGC should give a hearing or permit the students to meet the minister. University Education Minister Lakshman Kiriella had been present at the ministry on that day. As FUTA officials claim, the minister had not been away attending a Maga Neguma programme when the HNDA student-police clash occurred. The question that remains for answer is whether the UGC officials informed the minister about the presence of the students for a meet with the minister.

The Inspector General of Police should not allow his policemen to conduct themselves in that dastardly manner when dealing with the student population. University and higher education student agitations, protests and demonstrations are nothing uncommon from the days of Sir Ivor Jennings. Police must meet those situations in an intelligent manner and not resort to barbaric measures to combat such situations.

Sunday Leader Editorial

Danger: Journalist Killers Freely Roam The Country

Sunday 01st November 2015

Murder, particularly political murder, demands that justice should not only be done to the victim but also casts a burden on society to unearth the killers lest they return to the killing fields for more killings or to cover their tracks.

Lasantha Wickrematunge, the founder editor of this newspaper, was killed on January 8, 2009 by unknown gunmen on Attidiya Road. Despite the damning condemnation by the international media, world leaders and an appeal made even by the Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon to bring the killers to face justice, even after six years the killers roam freely.

Before him Richard De Zoysa, a well-known journalist, writer and dramatist was pulled out of his house by thugs at dead of night on Feb 18,1990. His body was found floating in the sea the next day.

After Richard de Zoysa, it was ‘Taraki’ Sivaram Dharmaratnam’s turn. He was dragged into a white van by unidentified persons while waiting at a bus stop opposite the Bambalapitiya police station on a night in April 2005.His body was found the next day on an embankment of the lake by parliament.

Nirmalarajan Mylvaganam, a journalist covering Jaffna, was killed on Oct 19, 2000 and the killers remain free.

Prajeeth Eknaligoda, journalist and cartoonist, disappeared into thin air on Jan 24, 2010 and has not been seen again

These are some of the prominent journalists who were murdered or presumably murdered by persons, some of whose associates have been identified but not even arrested.

Threats to journalists have more or less ceased and the scribes have ceased looking over their shoulders for some time. It is presumed that the hunting season for journalists is over. But in this fickle world of Sri Lankan politics where political leap frogging and cut-throatism is abound, nothing can be taken with certainty for journalists who live  with danger.

Since  the day Lasantha was stopped  while coming to work and his life terminated,  this journal has been calling out loud and clear for the normal course of justice to prevail but all our efforts have been futile. The call made by Lasantha’s colleagues both here and abroad, statements issued by world leaders demanding justice be done have fallen on stone deaf years.

Sri Lankan journalists seem to have forgotten not only the long period when they worked with death threats hanging over themselves but also those who were killed in cold blood and others who fled abroad. It would not be out of order to ask the present government to investigate the killings of all journalists and bring the killers to book. Lasantha’s killing was obviously for political motives.  In his unique editorial written anticipating his killing, he stated very clearly that he would hold the government at that time to be responsible for his death. It is not often that a person identified who his killers would be before his murder. But given such a wide opportunity, the investigators it appeared were stymied or reluctant to proceed with investigations. We do not claim to be criminal investigators but since the professionals have not been able to make headway, may we suggest that they begin by inquiring  why previous investigators were unable to succeed in their task.   Investigators now on the job may find many political road blocks on their way, and if politics is involved both President Sirisena and Prime Minister Wickremesinghe should help clear the political blocks without getting involved in investigations.

Lasantha’s case appears to be one of criminalisation of politics and even politicisation of crime.

If one or the other happens, it would be disastrous to the police and nation. If both factors are in operation, it is absolute disaster. If politicians use criminals for committing crimes or criminals influence politicians, the law and order process crumbles and no legal police action is possible.  A Mafia takes over.

Lasantha’s killers – be it those who physically killed him on the road and if some others sitting in cool comfort gave such orders to kill – are freely roaming the country, they may be tempted to commit similar acts for purposes of their own. Killers should not be permitted to roam the country as they like.