The parents in Batticaloa decided to stop sending their children to school for a week as a mark of protest over the kidnapping and killing of an eight year-old girl Satheeskumar Thinuska. Earlier six-year-old Varsha Jude Regi was also abducted and killed after a demand for ransom. According to a Daily Mirror report the decision to boycott the schools was taken following a meeting in Batticaloa town among parents, teachers and several civil society organisations.
Satheeskumar Thinuska, who was abducted, was found dead last weekend in Batticaloa. The little girl, according to the police, was a victim of a suspected ransom bid by unidentified persons. According to reports the abductors had demanded Rs. 3 million from the victim’s family. While no one has been arrested the former para-military cadres, who still possess firearms and who are suspected to be behind many criminal activities in the eastern province, are among those suspected of this crime.
The little girl’s father also disappeared without trace two years ago after he was abducted by an armed group for questioning.
Meanwhile in the south in Ambalangoda town a ten-year-old girl, Pumi Dhanawathie, was abducted but was later found unharmed. She was abducted from an international school in Ambalangoda.
All three abductions are a result of the failure of the state to ensure law and order which has resulted in criminal gangs operating freely in all parts of the country.
In the capital of Colombo itself the underworld virtually controls the city. The Olcott gang in Borella, the Karate Dhammika gang in Kaduwela and the Faji gang in Maligawatta are reported to be the most prominent gangs that engage in crime without fear of consequence. According to reports the police attribute the rising of the criminal gangs to the political patronage they receive from powerful politicians associated with the government. The police also fear the further spread of these gangs.
The spread of criminal gangs in all parts of Sri Lanka is a direct result of the political style of the ruling regime.
- In the east the government has failed to take any steps to control the armed gangs which have supported it in its struggle against the LTTE. The liberation of the East has not brought about any liberation from these armed gangs. The political patronage that these gangs have is being used to exploit the residents of the area through various crimes including abductions for ransom. When the ransom bids fail the abductees, who are often little girls, are killed and dumped. Such killings create a fear psychosis which these armed gangs manipulate for their criminal ends. As the government’s political strategy is to control these areas with the help of these armed gangs it is in no position to rein them in. As long as the government wants to prevent free and fair elections it will extend its patronage to these gangs. As long as such patronage remains the residents of the area will live in a state of fear and insecurity. The only action that the government takes through the police, as in the aftermath of the abduction and killing of Varsha Jude Regi, is to arrest a few alleged suspects and to have them killed in police custody under various pretexts. Such killings by the police does not create any confidence in law and order but rather enhances the feeling of living in a territory where there is no law and where the courts have no real jurisdiction.
- The operation of the gangs in other parts of the country, including the capital, is also the result of political patronage where the ruling party politicians and other political associates of the regime seek the support of criminal gangs in order to ensure that an atmosphere conducive to normal living is not allowed to exist. An environment where fear prevails is necessary to suppress all political and civil society activities that allow people to raise critical voices about the conditions prevailing in the country. All such criticism and freedom of expression and organisation is perceived as a threat that may lead to the rising of the opposition against the regime. Denying any possibility or action of leading to free and fair elections is a top priority within the government’s political strategy.
- Corruption is more rampant than ever in Sri Lanka. Corruption can prevail only within an environment of lawlessness. All possible actions for investigations into crime and prosecution of crimes are an obstruction to an environment of lawlessness. Therefore all such police actions are severely discouraged and no officer is bold enough to go against criminal gangs, not because of the fear of these gangs, but because of repercussions from the government itself. When the criminal gangs are confident that genuine and credible criminal investigations into their crimes will not take place they feel free to carry out whatever actions they wish to. The failure on the part of the state of Sri Lanka to create fear in the minds of the criminals of the consequences that they would face if they breach the law is a primary failure of governance in the country.
- The power of the criminal gangs results in a section of the police supporting these gangs for their own profit. The criminal-police link that has developed in this way in Sri Lanka has been noted for a long time and even some senior police officers have pointed out this problem. However, in the overall framework where the elimination of crime is seen as politically disadvantageous it is not possible to take any serious action against the police criminal link. The killing of complainants who have reported police corruption and torture demonstrates the extent to which this problem has spread. All possibilities of enforcing command responsibility and enforcing discipline has been deteriorating for years now.
While the president of Sri Lanka, Mahindra Rajapakse is seen on television, morning, noon and night daily, he has failed to make a single announcement expressing the will of the government to crush the criminal gangs. While the Ministry of Defense and the intelligence services are busier in the country than ever before, none of these are involved in any strategy or plan of action to eliminate the criminal gangs.
As long as the political strategy of denying free and fair elections remains the primary political objective of the government it is unlikely that the government will take any steps in order to crush the criminal gangs and allow normal life to return. In the attempt to alter and to close the electoral map of Sri Lanka the entire country is now becoming a victim of criminal gangs.
It is above all the duty of the opposition and the civil society organisations to rise up against the criminal gangs and to engage in non-violent actions to crush these gangs. The example given by the parents of Batticaloa in boycotting the schools for one week needs to be supported island wide. Island wide non-violent action to defeat the criminal gangs and to return to the rule of law is essential, not only for the wellbeing of the people but also for the country to return to democracy.
