The Police in post-conflict Sri Lanka

Needless to say, the Police too have played a very vital role in putting an end to the LTTE and in bringing back to Sri Lanka a degree of internal stability. They too have paid a heavy price in life and limb in the historic undertaking of freeing this country from terror and it is only proper that we recollect these crucial services the Police have selflessly rendered over the years not only on Police Day but everyday, since normalcy would not be possible without the Police being constantly around.

In the task of maintaining law and order in the North-East, the Police stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Security Forces of this country. In fact, some of the earliest killings of the LTTE in the North-East were those of Police personnel who were out there, manfully doing their duty. In the early years of the conflict, there were times when sections of the Police came in for criticism on some issues, but over the last few years leading to the defeat of the LTTE, it became very evident that the Sri Lankan Police had reached a level of eminence in fostering and upholding law and order. In other words, they had acquired a degree of professionalism which would have been the envy of many law enforcers around the world.

However, a distinguishing feature of the Police force is that it has a positive presence among the people and maintains amicable links always with a country’s civilian public. In other words, theoretically, the Police are a people-friendly arm of law enforcement.

This vital image the Lankan Police have been able to maintain, largely, over the past few years, although there have been times when some sections among the Police have erred badly. For instance, the recent court verdict on the killing of two youths in Angulana, reminded us that not all Police personnel are above reproach. Allegations of corruption are also made by the public against some elements in the Police.

Generally speaking, however, it is felt that the Police are putting their shoulders to the wheel of public duty and are delivering on their obligations towards the people. It is vital that the Police are viewed in a balanced manner. If there are some bad eggs among the Police, these are few in number, while the majority of Police personnel are above board on the issue of integrity and professional capability. Nevertheless, there are no sections of our polity that are completely free of erring elements. Singling out the Police for constant castigation on issues such as corruption, we believe, is most unfair.

While efforts must continue to render the Police completely free of blemishes, the Force must gear up to playing an increasingly significant role in post-conflict Sri Lanka. Already some positive trends are noticeable within the Police in the once conflict-hit regions of the country. We believe the majority Tamil-speaking areas must be policed increasingly by Tamil-speaking personnel and it is a matter for some satisfaction that this is already happening. It was noticeable on a visit some journalists undertook to the Trincomalee district a couple of months back that the majority of Police personnel on the streets were Tamil-speaking.

This is a change for the better. If the place of the Police is the public, then, the majority of Police personnel in the once conflict-affected areas need to be Tamil-speaking to enable them to do justice to public grievances. We do not need special commissions and bodies of experts to highlight these needs of post-conflict Sri Lanka. The application of some common sense would enable the authorities to unravel must be done.

It should be plain to see that in those areas of the country where we have an ethnically mixed population or where we have a majority of Tamil-speakers it would be extremely helpful if we could deploy Police personnel with a bilingual or even a tri-lingual capability. It should be remembered that language barriers between the public and law enforcers played a significant role in precipitating the conflict decades ago. These lessons should not be glossed over.

While it is up to the proposed PSC to come out with an acceptable solution to the conflict, we cannot help but reflect that a policy of posting Police personnel with the relevant language capability to the once conflict-hit areas would not make it absolutely necessary to contemplate any special Police powers for the majority Tamil-speaking regions, since there would be easy communication between the public and the Police.