Eternal vigilance essential

A major disaster was averted on Tuesday when a policeman on beat duty in Borella spotted a suspicious bicycle, which ultimately turned out be laden with a 15 Kg claymore bomb. Had it exploded, the damage to life and property would have been enormous as the bicycle was parked near a filing station bordering one of the busiest roads in Colombo.

A policeman’s keen eye and sense of responsibility saved hundreds of lives. It goes without saying that the Police Department should recognise this policeman’s dedication and reward him appropriately. He has set an example for all others in the Police, the Security Forces and indeed, the public.

In fact, eternal vigilance is the need of the hour. As a terrorist organisation once said, “Governments have to be lucky all the time, but we have to be lucky only once”. As the quotation implies, all they need is one loophole, one lax movement to achieve their ignoble designs.

In our case, we cannot afford to let down our guard for one minute as we are dealing with one of the most ruthless terrorist organisations in the world.

The LTTE has repeatedly proved that it has no qualms about committing mass murder in the name of liberation. And mundane matters such as the ethnicity of those killed do not enter the picture when the LTTE goes on a killing spree.

In one recent incident, a little girl from Colombo’s Tamil-speaking community was killed on the spot when the LTTE exploded a van in Bambalapitiya targeting an EPDP activist. It is evident that some of the recent incidents could have been averted if people had been more vigilant.

The Security Forces are doing a tremendous job 24/7 to safeguard the public and vital installations from terrorist attacks. They have indeed thwarted many attempts by terrorists to cause havoc. But it is a task they cannot accomplish alone. Public assistance and cooperation are essential.

This is not so difficult as it sounds. All one needs is an eye for anything out of the ordinary or any suspicious vehicles, objects or individuals. A woman who noticed a lorry with two strangers in Wattala recently promptly notified the Police.

When Police swooped in, the two LTTE operatives took cyanide. Police and Army bomb disposal experts found a veritable arsenal inside the lorry. Perhaps, if the woman neglected to notify the authorities, the two LTTEers would have succeeded in carrying out their deadly mission.

Even in the case of the three wheeler which exploded killing four commandos in Kollupitiya on August 14, better vigilance would have made a difference.

A simple telephone call to the Police Emergency hotline that a three wheeler has been parked in a suspicious manner would have prevented this incident, in which the Pakistani High Commissioner narrowly escaped death.

We must be vigilant all the time, wherever we are. Sometimes a suspicious object or person can turn out be perfectly innocent, but that is a small price to pay for peace of mind and security.

This brings us to the whole question of the ‘inconvenience’ caused to the public by security measures. Some measure of inconvenience is inevitable in an environment of heightened security with road blocks, security checks and house-to-house searches.

All communities alike are affected by these measures, but they are implemented for the greatest good of the greatest number. It is thus our duty to cooperate with the Security Forces in their endeavour to ensure law and order and security.

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