ARE DEATH THREATS AGAINST GANESAN POLITICAL?
Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader Minister Mano Ganesan had been provided with Special Task Force (STF) security as he had sought the intervention of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and had also written to the IGP in September claiming he had faced serious security threats, according to an article published in Daily Mirror last Saturday.
He must be the second person plagued with death threats after the so-called government of good governance (Yahapalanaya) came to power in January, 2015. Earlier, Anika Wijesuriya who provided evidence before the Presidential Commission on the controversial bond transaction in February, 2015, fled the country and was later given police protection when she returned, as she too claimed of being threatened with death after her appearance before the commission.
Minister Ganesan had told Daily Mirror that certain politicos in Colombo were behind these threats and some defeated politicians were all out to destroy his party and to block the fair representation he sought for the communities his party represented in the city council. So, the threat is political. Here the question remains as to why he had written to the IGP about the threats as early as September – long before the local government election process started -- if the threats are related to his “seeking of fair representation in the city council for the communities his party represents.” But it should not prompt one to belittle the threats he claimed he received.
With certain clues about the threats against his life, Ganesan provides a jigsaw puzzle for people to make out from where these threats emanate. He says, “the links between politicos and underworld elements are visible. I decided to keep my party and candidates away from such threats in Colombo North. There had been shooting incidents during the last parliamentary election campaign in Colombo North. Two weeks ago, there was a shooting incident reported from Modera.”
Minister Ganesan’s complaint is disheartening as we rarely heard any politically-motivated physical attack or such threats in the past three years, before which such incidents were rampant and in most occasions, happened with impunity. The authorities should not let a recurrence of such a situation.
It was only last week President Maithripala Sirisena warned he would not hesitate to use the ‘sword’ even on his relatives, friends or party supporters in his journey to create a clean, unstained and people-friendly political culture. As if to test his credence of warning, one of his ministers who toiled to elect him as president, had complained about the threats he faced on the very next day. If the said security concerns are genuine, it is not sufficient only to provide security to Minister Ganesan, rather the culprits should be put behind bars so that they do not harm anyone.
On March 12, 2015, fresh from an election of a president who vowed to bring in good governance, all party leaders including President Maithripala Sirisena signed a document called the ‘March 12 Declaration’ in which political parties undertook to create a clean political culture in the country. However, we hear some political parties have nominated corrupt and rogue politicians as candidates for the upcoming local government elections and the election watchdog, People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), has also complained this fact to the Elections Commission. This points out that the vows, declarations and rhetoric on political platforms by politicians would not make any difference in the situation, unless those statements are tied to a tangible course of action.