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Interior Minister vows to eradicate gun culture

by Sarath Malalasekera

My vision of a Policeman is that he should be a gentleman with a knack for public relations rather than a mere gunman. The gun culture should be totally eradicated from the face of this country. And I need the fullest co-operation of the entire Police Force from the IGP downwards to achieve this object, said new Minister of Interior John Amaratunga outlining his future program of work in an interview with the 'Daily News' yesterday.

This new vision was originally spelt out by the new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. "We will follow it to the letter, the Minister said.

For the first time in Sri Lanka a separate Ministry has been set-up for the Police Department, he said.

The Minister said in future Policemen will not have to go to courts to get their due promotions. Promotions will be given on merit by a special Committee appointed by the Ministry. The Ministry will consult the Attorney General and the Inspector General of Police on this matter.

Strongly condemning the present gun culture, the Minister said that he had advised all police officers to bring trouble makers to book without any political bias. He said that he also had asked politicians not to interfere with police duties.

The Interior Minister said that he was prepared to grant an amnesty to surrender of all illegal weapons. Thousands of illegal weapons are in the hands of underworld activists. The most important task is to ascertain how these weapons came to Sri Lanka and who were behind the import of illegal weapons.

The other important challenge faced by him is to established a good rapport between Police and the Public. Without a cordial relationship with the Public the Police was not in a position to maintain the dignity of the noble profession and assist the country's development effort, Minister Amaratunga said.

The Minister said that the Chilaw Police had arranged a public meeting on December 20 with the assistance of all religious leaders in the area to discuss several important issues to wipe out the gun culture from the area. The Minister said that he hoped to have this type of meetings through out the country.

The World Bank and the UNP will assist Sri Lanka in wiping out the gun culture from the village level, the Minister said.

Minister Amaratunga emphasised the important instructions given by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to all Ministers to give the maximum co-operation to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga as and when she needed the Police protection or any assistance.

Minister Amaratunga was educated at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and De Mazenod College, Kandana. He was later admitted to the Ceylon Law College and passed out as an Attorney-at-Law. For ten long years, Minister Amaratunga practised as a criminal lawyer in several parts of the country.

The Interior Minister had held several important posts in the J.R. Jayewardene Government. In 1988 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Finance. Later in President Premadasa's time, he was a State Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In 1993, he was appointed as a Cabinet Minister and held the Home Affairs portfolio.

In 1994, he was elected to the Parliament with the highest number of preferential votes from the Gampaha District.

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