Archives

Speech made by Milinda Moragoda, Minister for Economic Reform, Science and Technology, Deputy Minister for Policy Development and Implementation on the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Naturally part of that process is to bring peace back to our fractured country. War has created dangerous divisions within our society. Hatred based upon ethnic and religious divides can only help the common criminal and weaken the resolve of decent people. With the ongoing peace process I hope and believe that we are removing one source of comfort from the common criminal.

There will be another dividend from a lasting peace. Both sides in the talks are exploring a lasting settlement within the framework of a federal state. The scope and structure of the new arrangements could allow us to change for the better the way in which we police our communities.

Then we need to look at how we raise our children and the values we instil upon them. Education plays an important role in bringing up new generations of law-abiding people. Teaching the basic values of decency, honesty, respect for others and their property as well as a responsibility to society as a whole needs to be brought back into our classrooms. It is also the duty of our religious leaders to ensure that people understand the difference between right and wrong, what is acceptable in a modern democratic society and what should be rejected and fought against most vigorously.

I for one hope that we do not follow the path of many other countries and societies divided by the rich hiding behind high walls and the poor sinking into deeper despair and crime. With our diverse society, our greater understanding of respect for others and the teachings of our great religions we should be leading the way in creating a more tolerant but firm and open way of life.

our religious leaders have a big role to play in this as well as our teachers. Naturally the politicians should be leading the way and dropping some of the old bad habits of the past. The judges and lawyers have a duty to see that justice is speedily and fairly applied in the courts. Perhaps what we need today is a complete review of the Criminal Justice System with the aim of speeding up the process. That means 'fast tracking' cases that are straightforward and where they restore community trust. However I am not a lawyer and this issue needs to be looked into more carefully by people who have the knowledge and the skills to do so.

But most of all our front line troops in the fight against crime, the police, have a pivotal role to play. For them to do their job effectively we must support them in return.

Whilst trying to bring up a new generation of law-abiding citizens in our schools we should also be looking at how we can encourage them to become law enforcers. Re-introducing the Cadet Corps into our schools would be a welcome start. At the same time perhaps we should encourage police officers to visit the schools and talk to them about their work and the dangers of getting involved in drugs and other anti-social practices.

But we shouldn't stop there. We should increase the interaction between the police and society by encouraging a dialogue. One which leads to greater mutual respect and where the public supports the police in their work. One such way is to see Neighbourhood Watch spread more widely over the country and not just in a few urban areas. There are many policemen who are taking a leading role in improving this interaction especially with the support of Minister Amaratunga. Those policemen should be rewarded for their initiatives and hard work.

Essentially we need to make the police part of the community they serve. No policeman can do his or her job properly if they do not know what makes their community function. The bad old days of transfers should have no role in the new society we wish to create. In the new role a policeman might typically be part of the community they serve.

They might even have been born and bred in the local area. They will know the people, speak their language and understand their customs and culture. Better still they will know who the criminals are and how to target them. Because they are part of the local community the Police will have the respect of that community.

An outsider has no interest in protecting, mediating and arbitrating, especially if he can't speak the language. He has little interest in ensuring the basic human rights of those he is supposed to protect. But someone who knows their community has an interest in respecting their human rights. Because they live there too they have an interest in working ever harder to seek justice and a peaceful environment in which to exist.

To me that seems to be a fundamental issue in human discourse. Yet that in itself is not enough. If a policeman stands by as a crime is committed or if he allows himself to become the subject of undue pressure then he fails himself and his community. A policeman must be independent of such pressures and he must be professional in his duties. he can only do if he has a deep understanding of the law, why it came about and why it is important for the deeper good of the society he serves. I believe that we need to give each and every policeman a fresh grounding in what is required of them and how they carry out their duties. That can only be provided by a new and improved system of national training.

Each and every person when coming into contact with the Police should also feel that they are properly treated. The time has come for there to be an External Independent Complaints Board, possibly under the auspices of the new Police Commission. Inevitably there have been complaints made about the treatment of prisoners in police cells. Again we could take the 'lay visitor' idea from the British system which allows for local independent people to visit police stations at any time of day and visit the cells.

And whilst talking about police stations themselves, in the short term in the North and the East in particular perhaps we should be laying greater emphasis on ensuring interpreters are permanently based in police stations as well as encouraging language training for police officers. Some of what I have talked about is short-term and could be easily introduced. Other issues will take longer. Inevitably much of what needs to be done will require funding. Money which currently we do not have.

The police will need to be better equipped. For example if they are to drive in patrol cars then those cars should be brightly coloured so that they act as a deterrent. A proper nationally co-ordinated intelligence network on criminal gangs will need to be funded, forensic science should be the norm in every part of the country with properly trained scientists running them and with the equipment to do more than a basic job.

Most of all we need to defeat corruption in the police force. That means that our police should be better paid and properly trained. Those that are corrupt should be identified and punished whilst those who seek to serve their communities should be rewarded. Specialisms should be rewarded and working in the North and the East should be seen as a challenging promotion not a punishment.

Before I conclude, I would like to touch upon one of the most disturbing manifestations of the breakdown of law and order in our society, which is the resurgence of brutality and the law of the jungle in our universities. This is of course a very complex issue which requires urgent addressing. From the law and order perspective, it is extremely important that those behind these heinous crimes face the full penalty of the law. Despite tradition and convention we should search for more innovative and effective approaches To deal with this issue. One such measures could be the establishment of a Campus Police Force, as is done in many other countries to maintain law and order in campuses.

The battle for the restoration of law and order in our society has to start and soon. We must create a society where our womenfolk and children are safe to walk the streets, where people are safe in their homes, a climate where students are free to study unintimidated, where citizens hold each other in mutual respect, where the drug barons are defeated and where the guardians of law and order can hold their heads high and are allowed to carry out duties impartially without fear or favour.

I believe that Mohammad Ali Jinnah would have approved of such sentiments. Now we must have the courage to carry out these tasks.

Mr Chairman I would like to leave you with one final quote:

"If you always do, what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got".

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager