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DateLine Tuesday, 23 September 2008

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Census with good conscience

The registration of Tamil civilians who had taken up residence in the Western Province during the past five years went off smoothly on Sunday. A majority of these civilians were those who had fled the fighting in the North and sought safety in the city.

Newspaper captions and TV showed people gathered at Police stations, schools, temples etc. to register themselves as requested by the authorities.

According to reports there had been over 90 per cent of response to the call for registration. According to a survey some 10,800 families had arrived in the Western Province from the North over the past five years.

By all accounts all courtesies and assistance had been extended to those who came for registration and the atmosphere was friendly and cordial.

There was even a ‘welcome’ sign displayed in one such centre which no doubt would have allayed any suspicion or misgivings in the minds of the Tamil civilians.

It is hoped that this would signal the beginning of a close bond between the law enforcement and the Tamil residents which had been strained somewhat during the recent past over various allegations.

There were of course many critics who were opposed to this census claiming such a move amounted to discrimination on communal lines. These sections claim that this was no worse than last year’s relocation of lodgers in Colombo.

But this as well as the current exercise were done with the purest of motives namely to ensure the city was free of terror attacks.

The Government cannot afford to take chances with the lives of the people at stake. It has to cover all loopholes. Similarly Sunday’s census was a harmless piece of routine.

The Police should be commended for going out of its way to put these people at ease and give the lie to all the unfounded criticisms. There were no complaints of harassment or the civilians being subject to any ordeal.

This was corroborated even by the General Secretary of the All Ceylon Hindu Congress who said the census had been free of harassment.

The Government of course is justified in conducting such an exercise in the larger interests of public security. Extraordinary situations demands extraordinary measures as the popular saying goes. And what we are confronted with today is an extraordinary situation.

With the Military juggernaut moving inexorably towards the final kill the terrorists are bound to take desperate measures to shift the balance in the current offensive. It is no secret that the terrorists would make use of any loophole to gain an advantage.

Part of the LTTE strategy will be to get its members infiltrate the South in the guise of civilians as we have seen in the past. The LTTE even did not let pass the visit of Pope John Paul 11 to the country in January 1995 when the Government allowed pilgrims from the North to travel to the South.

It was later revealed that some Tiger operatives had mingled with the pilgrims who arrived for the Pope’s final mass at the Galle Face Green. Such an eventuality always exists and it is the duty of a responsible Government to learn from the past.

The Government has to look into all available avenues to plug in the security loopholes. It has to look into all possible means to narrow down the odds on a possible terrorist attack in the city. The current census is one way this could be accomplished.

The security of the public at large is the predominant factor. This necessarily has to eclipse all other considerations. It was only last week that a catastrophe of a huge magnitude was averted when a bomb planted in a passenger bus was detected in the nick of time.

It is no secret that there are LTTE sleeper cells in the city and the Security Forces have already flushed out several such safe houses. Last year they detected a Claymore factory in Mattakkuliya slap in the middle of a dwelling populated by Tamils.

Had this detection escaped the Security Forces a mind boggling calamity would have ensued. It is also no secret that Tamil civilians are cowed into submission by LTTE operatives to do their bidding on pain of dire consequences. There are also others who work hand in glove with the terrorists for pecuniary gain.

There are also terror suspects who are engaged in spying on the movements of VIPs and the information passed on to Tiger hitmen.

The security establishment has to contend with all these factors to ensure public security is not compromised. It is an unenviable task given the odds involved. On the one hand it has to take the flak from so called human rights groups. On the other it is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring public safety.

No doubt the overriding factor is public safety and all measures taken by the Government are with this aim in mind.

For their part the public too should lend its support and cooperation in this exercise and bear with certain inconveniences and hardships to fulfil this need. It is but a small price to pay for one’s own safety and the protection of life and limb.

Like Clowns in a Town in Mississippi:

JVP now fools the JVP...

Clowns of the JVP breed are a species, blind to democracy. And they blindly dance to the rhythm of the beat of “gun fire” as the Clowns who performed in the Army of Idi Amin, and danced with arms in their hands nearly four decades ago, the time the JVP was born in Sri Lanka.

Full Story

A rare politician with exemplary qualities

A tribute to ex-President D.B. Wijetunga:

When President D.B. Wijetunga at the time of assuming office said, “There is no ethnic problem in Sri Lanka; there is only a terrorist problem”, he was howled down, and labeled a ‘Sinhala Buddhist chauvinist’ by his own party and opposing forces.

Full Story

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