Strictly enforce the toughest penalty

The country has once again been outraged and shocked into silence by a horrific crime of fiendish proportions. On this occasion five members of the same family, including two young children, aged seven and five, have been brutally hacked to death in the most gruesome fashion.

As the country remains stunned and grief-stricken over the Delgoda massacre, it would be relevant to remember that the State is yet to act decisively on the question of imposing the supreme penalty for the gravest crimes; such as murder, rape and hard-drug trafficking.

As the authorities vacillate weakly, the crime rate intensifies. Apparently, those bent on crime see the State as weak and confused and they cannot be faulted for nurturing this notion because the authorities have not done anything substantial to disprove them.

The most degenerate of criminals have realised that they could commit the most horrendous crimes, including massacres, and virtually get away with it because capital punishment would never be implemented, although imposed. In short, there is no effective deterrence against grave crime; hence the unenviable crime rate of the country.

We are not trying to make a case for retributive justice. We are not championing, “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but are calling for a strong deterrence against grave crime which has earned for Sri Lanka a considerable notoriety and stalled its progress.

Today, Sri Lanka is going the extra mile in the development effort, including raising foreign investment in substantial quantities, but all such endeavours would come to nought if we as a people do not possess discipline and are not strong-charactered.

Such qualities are not inborn but are fostered by the social environment. If law enforcement is weak and character formation impaired as a result of non-enforcement of strong discipline from the “cradle-to-grave”, one cannot expect to have a stable, law-abiding society.

Unfortunately, this is the tragedy which has befallen Sri Lanka. Let us not shy away from the fact that we are a considerably lawless, undisciplined society. Gruesome happenings, such as the Delgoda massacre, only confirm this.

Therefore, there is no getting away from the need to enforce and implement the supreme penalty for grave crime. Hopefully, it would halt our downward spiral into lawlessness.

These issues are by no means new. Time and again we have argued for strong law enforcement and an elimination of Laws Delays because our progress and well being depends considerably on it.

The State and its agencies need to inspire respect and this could not be facilitated as long as they are seen as weak and ineffective.

We are fully aware that capital punishment is a highly controversial subject. However, hairs have been split on the issue for decades and nothing concrete has emerged from these painful deliberations. On the other hand, crime in Sri Lanka has spun out of control.

We say enough is enough. The supreme penalty must be enforced and that too very stringently for the good of all.