The spectre of fear raised to stalk the land

Ever since Maithripala Sirisena was elected President of this country in January 2015, for four years this island nation never witnessed a single terrorist attack or for that matter the many civilian marches held in exercise of their right as enshrined by Article 14 in the Constitution, never heard the sound of a single shot fired nor was a single death reported at any one of these protests.

Beneath the din of democracy in practice, beneath the sharp cacophony of the clash of opinions the nation was at peace with itself and the air it breathed was one of general calmness. Not that anyone noticed the welcome change in the environs consciously and savoured it as being ‘too good to be true’, but took it in their stride as their birthright to enjoy this sunny interlude of placid times.

If the many felt this way, it seemed otherwise to a few on the fringes. Such times to them were too bad to be true. In fact, it was anathema, a curse cast upon them by the faiths that condemned them to the horrors of a barren exile.

An attempt was made last year in March to revive old racial scores when a few Muslim shops and homes were burnt in Digana. The cause: On the night of February 22, a 42-year-old man was driving his lorry when he was repeatedly tooted by a three wheeler to give way. Inside the three-wheeler were four Muslims, the lorry driver a Sinhalese. When the lorry driver stopped at a station to refuel, the four Muslims too stopped and assaulted him. The police arrested the four Muslims and later released them on police bail. Only when the lorry driver succumbed to his injuries nine days later, did they realise it was a case of manslaughter or murder and begin their search to arrest the suspects.

On March 4, Sinhala mobs from surrounding areas descended on Digana town to beat their drums of hate and to trumpet their racial superiority and, on the strength of some spurious Sinhala chauvinism, to rake the coals of bigotry and set ablaze Muslim homes, Muslim shops and attack mosques. A young Muslim man died in the incident.

The SUNDAY PUNCH of March 11, last year raised the question: “From where did these scumbags claiming the right to represent the Sinhalese suddenly come? From what dead wood did they creep out? From what stinking sewers did they emerge? What right did they have to drape themselves with the Lion Flag of the Sinhala race and use it to wipe the excreta of their opprobrium? And soil the national standard of all Sri Lanka with their faeces?”

On March 6, curfew was imposed in the Kandy region and on March 7 several social media sites were blocked.

The waters had been tested and found inviting. The masterminds who pulled the strings of their puppets to instigate and incite mob violence had found how easy it was to shatter the peace and create conditions which warrant the imposition of a State of Emergency and need an iron hand to control the situation.

Apart from the Digana racial incident and another similar racial incident which occurred in Gintota in 2017, the country experienced a welcome period of peace until it was shattered by Muslim suicide bombers who attacked three churches and three five star hotels in Colombo and brought a pall of gloom and uncertainty to linger on, turning the nation’s prayers into one unified appeal for the safety of the State and its people.

The opposition took the cry up and made it the nation’s anthem. After six months of the tragedy, this Lord’s Prayer is sung full blast at every gathering. The opposition’s charge is that since the government has arrested eight army intelligence personnel, the intelligence gathering operations had been paralysed and rendered impotent. It is this breakdown in the largely neglected intelligence service, they claim, that made possible the Easter Sunday carnage.

But hold on. Wasn’t it the case where the intelligence body kept their ears to the ground and knew in advance details of the impending attacks? Wasn’t it also the case that they were further fortified by an intelligence report sent from their counterparts in India who too warned with “hard intelligence” giving the date and the targets? Thus wasn’t it the case that the security intelligence personnel were fully informed and though the warnings were sent up the rungs there was a communication breakdown at the very top?

Though the Defence Secretary, Hemasiri Fernando, and the Inspector General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara were fully apprised of the deadly warnings they failed, it is alleged, to convey the same to the President who was away on holiday in Thailand with his wife and children. This alleged failure at the top for which both IGP Pujith and Defence Secretary Hemasiri are presently languishing in remand on charges of criminal negligence and murder.

Their failure to inform the President -though it is a matter of contention -- and to take measures to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks despite having prior knowledge of the attack cast no reflection on the efficacy of the intelligence network. Their sin cannot visit the heads of those below them.

Thus, isn’t the opposition’s charge that there was a complete breakdown in the intelligence service a little too exaggerated, cut to suit their own personal agenda designed more specifically to take full advantage of the nation’s tragedy rather than to reveal the true situation?

And based on that premise isn’t their call for security and a strongman at the helm of government just four days after the Easter carnage, a trifle far-fetched? A blatant attempt to fish in troubled waters? Isn’t it an insult to the memory of all those who perished in the flames and rubble of April’s Easter Sunday bomb blasts, that the coals of that indescribable mass tragedy should be raised repeatedly to revive the dying embers of political parties’ fortunes? And with the security of the nation as their main war cry arrogate the power to enact whatever laws they deem fit to ensure that the nation’s safety is guaranteed and anyone who questions it is branded with the mark of a traitor.

As long as the fear psychosis is instilled into the public’s mind by repeatedly raising the spectre and continues to breathe therein, the comforting need for a totalitarian form of government to guarantee peace of mind will always exist.

This Tuesday, President Maithripala Sirisena, on the eve of taking flight to Japan to witness firsthand the grand coronation of its Emperor, issued an extraordinary gazette which called out all three armed forces for the maintenance of public order with immediate effect in view of the upcoming presidential election which was twenty-five days away. Accordingly, personnel belonging to the Army, Navy, and the Air Force would be deployed in the 25 districts and territorial waters.

Why? Why this sudden need to summon the tri forces out from its barracks and march on the roads to maintain public order?

Why are there ominous signs of imminent collapse of civilian life visible only to presidential eyes and no other and make him deem that it is necessary to prevent civil rebellion by making the tri forces goose-step the streets?

Is the President content to acknowledge that civilian rule is no longer possible and that military might to prop up the last dying days of his regime is the only option available to him to make his fear run and the government to function?

The ongoing fear psychosis syndrome seems to be driving home the last nail in to his Presidential coffin as well.

Beneath the din of democracy in practice, beneath the sharp cacophony of the clash of opinions the nation was at peace with itself and the air it breathed was one of general calmness. Not that anyone noticed the welcome change in the environs consciously and savoured it as being ‘too good to be true’, but took it in their stride as their birthright to enjoy this sunny interlude of placid times.