Militarisation of police function: The danger ahead
Since beginning of March this year, there has been a hue and cry about Police functions being militarised. The Military Police intruding into traffic control had legal challenges being raised as reported in the Sunday Times of March 1 in Sunday Punch 2. The fact of the matter is that there are apprehensions about the intentions behind bringing in the military.
Far more serious than intruding into traffic control are the blatant arrogation of National Intelligence Services to the Military and the intrusions to the Criminal Investigations Department and placing it under military surveillance. Meddling with court proceedings, shielding military and family miscreants from prosecution, and disturbing intrusions by the military into civilian life, have become the order of the day. It is alleged human rights activists and journalists have been placed under the same surveillance and intimidation as families of political victims. These actions point towards military rule in place.
The next question to ponder is, why military rule? When a democratically elected political leader veers from democratic principles, the powerful will always find ways to abuse their privileges, and unlimited corruption sets in. As a result, the leader’s position becomes unpopular and unstable. The extremity of many of such leaders’ fears and their behavioral patterns rooted in their individual personalities explain the need for militarisation. Attempted assassination by the LTTE may have given rise to paranoia which means power, fear, and anxiety will continue. Militarisation per se is not going to work for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s survival unless he takes the next step of disarming the people and buttering up the military. Thence will follow the pattern of former dictators who were high-ranking military officers in many a dictatorship.
If the GR-MR-SLPP wins the elections as forecast, it is also being forecast that the GR presidency will become a potential dictatorship -- his modest dress and doing away with grandiosity notwithstanding.
A question that begs an answer is: What is the Inspector General of Police doing while all these unlawful activities are being carried out? The same question calls for an answer from the National Police Commission ( NPC) which wields all the powers over the police. It’s time the moribund NPC woke up.
With the Police and the NPC acquiescing, it looks like a dictatorship will be a cakewalk unless parliament becomes strong and watchful.
( The writer is a retired Senior Superintendent of Police. He can be contacted on Seneviratnetz @gmail.com)