Vigilance and more Vigilance

At the time of writing this column the victims of the Inginiyagala massacre had risen to fifteen with several of those injured lying in a critical condition. This massacre is reminiscent of the early days of the LTTE as guerilla outfit when it raided far flung villages in the North Central Province and butchered innocent civilians.

That was a time it resorted to hit and run tactics and even laid landmines on the path of security forces whom it could not confront in direct combat. Entire villages on the fringes of the battle zone were wiped out with men, women, children and pregnant mothers done to death in their sleep.

The newspapers at the time were full of the gory pictures of those massacres carried out by the blood thirsty LTTE.It also made forays far outside its domain to carry out killing sprees.

One recalls the gruesome massacres of worshipers at the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi and also the machine gunning of a bus load of passengers at Kithuluotuwa. This was typical of the LTTE at the time intending to incite a backlash in the south which failed to materialize.

With its eventual graduation to conventional warfare this chapter of its bloody past eventually gave way to fighting the security forces in direct combat. Not that it shied away from civilian targets even then as seen from the sporadic bus bombs and claymore attacks targeting civilians . But these were chiefly as a second string to its bow.

Now with the near annihilation of outfit the LTTE is bound to revert back back to its guerilla days and start attacking innocent civilians in the rural outposts as witnessed in Saturday’s attack. The Government should take cognizance of this new threat and gear its security apparatus to confront this reality because there is no knowing danger a cornered Tiger could inflict on unarmed helpless civilians.

No room should be allowed for a return of that gruesome past. Special security should be deployed to protect far flung villages that are the most vulnerable. These innocent civilians have to be protected at all cost since it is they who bore the brunt of this separatist war virtually serving as a buffer all these years preventing Tiger rampages into other areas with impunity.

They deserve all the care and protection for standing as a first line of defense and perishing in the process Victories of the forces would be of no avail if these villagers continue to live under terrorist threat.

The Government therefore should extend its humanitarian mission to cover all these villages which were at one time described as border villages. The retreating Tiger may also pose a real threat in the rest of country as seen from Friday night’s failed air attack in Colombo. Other main cities and installations could well be targets in the coming days as the security forces begin to throttle out the last ounce of life off the LTTE.

The need for vigilance therefore cannot be overemphaszied. The general public should be re-appraised of this enhanced threat and the need for cooperation with the security apparatus. The public may have to endure inconvenience and hardship. But this is a small price to pay in the larger interest of national security.

A timely call

The call made by parents and school principals for the intervention of the authorities to regulate the school van service is a timely one that hopefully would elicit the proper response. According to a front page story in our Weekend paper the Sunday Observer they have called for the registration of these school vans and regulations imposed to ensure a standard service. It is evident that owners / drivers of a majority of these school vans do not adhere to basic standards of comfort of the children travelling in these vans. Some of these vans are rickety old jalopies that threaten life and limb.

It is common to see these vans speeding along with children packed like sardines. It is obvious that profit is the uppermost motive of the owners of these school vans with nary a care for the safety and comfort of the schoolchildren. Parents are compelled to opt for the services of these school vans to ensure less hassle to their children which they may have to endure by bus travel.

However more often than not this principle is flouted by these school vans who treat the children like pieces of goods shoving and squeezing them into the every available space. This is why the call by parents for a uniform standard for school vans should be considered seriously.

Even the fare charged by these school van owners should be made unform. Some charge exorbitant fares considering the conditions under which the schoolchildren travel. Regulations should include the maximum number of schoolchildren that could be carried in a van depending on its size and stipulations relating to conditions under which the children are transported.