The massive attack on the Sirasa TV station brings gloomy predictions of things to come in the very near future to a country which is already bedeviled by lawlessness, violence and corruption. The leader of the opposition characterised the action as an act of state terrorism. Some of the leaders of the trade union movement have predicted a development towards dictatorship by the Rajapakse regime, in collaboration with the armed forces. The journalists have condemned the attempt to destroy media freedoms altogether whilst the United States characterised the incident as a blatant attack. However, there is no rational basis to expect things to become any better but, in fact, reason to believe that worse things are yet to come. If there was to be political assassinations of opposition leaders, trade union leaders, journalists, human rights activists and others who stand for democracy, rule of law and human rights it would be the natural course of things arising out of a buildup which has already taken place. It is time to raise the antennas to issue early warning signals, locally and internationally, about the situation of democratic freedoms and human rights which have become unmanageable disasters in Sri Lanka.
The real issue is as to why the opposition political parties and other democratic forces in the country have still proved incapable of dealing with this massive lawlessness, widespread corruption and the ever-increasing violence? There has not yet emerged, in the country, a willingness to accept the depth of the collapse of the rule of law and the virtual loss of confidence in all public institutions. The opposition protest has remained as lifeless murmurs and a clear articulation of the grievances of the entire population is not taking place.
The failures of the opposition, which is the only force that could change the course of the present buildup towards complete lawlessness, remain in the inability of those who are parties to such opposition to make a clear declaration to the people on the following issues: the abolition of the executive presidency so as to make it possible for a rational government to emerge again to deal with all political issues politically and not by violence and military means as is happening now; immediately resuscitate all the public authorities by the elimination of politicisation and making the possibility for the functioning of these institutions in a rational manner; to legislate for an effective corruption control system which will overcome the legal and practical problems of the present system of control of bribery and corruption; a promise to review the situation of the Sri Lankan police as a matter of urgency and bring about radical reforms for policing to take place within the framework of the rule of law only; to prove the possibility of the north and the east being able to function within the framework of rule of law and democratic institutions; to fund the administration of justice adequately so that Sri Lanka will have the benefit of a modern system of the administration of justice which will guarantee that there will be no return to the present state of lawlessness, corruption and violence.
The pleas made to this regime for the conduct of investigations into blatant crimes and gross abuses of human rights have fallen on deaf ears. Under the formula of balancing human rights and national security, as often declared by the Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, the failure to carry out government obligations to investigate crimes and maintain law and order is justified. The simple explanation of this policy of balancing human rights and national security means the suspension of the law and human rights under the pretext of pursuing national security. The nation has never been more insecure and the cause of the nations insecurity is the ruling regime itself as it always happened in times of transition from a democracy into a dictatorship.
The attack on Sirasa TV is the culmination of many attacks on the media the opposition and human rights groups. The only difference this time is the massive extent of the attack. The attack was carried out by a large group of people who were technically aware of the task they had gone to perform. When the opposition is facing that kind of massive attack it is not enough to declare them as acts of state terrorism. It is necessary to provide clear leadership to the people to safeguard their basic democratic rights and to undo a legacy of lawlessness that has existed in the country for several decades. The opposition needs to accept its own contribution to this state of collapse. However, before more of the opposition institutions and individuals become victims of this process it is time to provide all the people with an alternative democratic solution on the basis of rule of law and respect for human rights.
