Abductions And Reconstructions
The metaphorical white van, by Kechambers
A lot of (Tamil) people I know go home quite early. This because the recent spate of abductions (usually for ransom) of Tamil businessmen and their families. What’s more shocking is that Police Inspector General Victor Perera (in a commendable display of honesty) said a large number of police officers and troops were involved in the abductions. Aside from the metaphor of white vans, there is a real security threat to Tamils in Colombo. And, as Mahinda said “the most powerful weapon against communalism is being fair and doing justice by the innocent Tamil people. If not, the cruel forces of communalism can completely destroy the great Sri Lankan civilization. We should understand this danger very well.”
The first step is admitting that there are abductions, as obvious as this may seem. They are certainly not all via white vans, that’s a metaphor (again, obviously). Victor Perera did deny the abductions, saying that abductions were being over-hyped in the press, etc. However, in his latest press conference,
Sri Lanka’s police admitted Tuesday that its own security personnel have been involved in kidnappings for ransom and vowed to crack down on mounting abductions and killings of civilians.
Police Inspector General Victor Perera said a “large number” of police officers and troops had been arrested on charges of abduction and extortion.
His remarks came as five bullet-riddled bodies of unidentified men turned up in the north central district of Anuradhapura Tuesday following a similar discovery of five bodies near the capital on Saturday.
The police chief said the identity of the victims was not immediately known but offered “unlimited money” as a reward for information leading to the arrest of those involved in kidnappings.
He said among 433 people arrested since September over “terrorist activities,” including abductions and killings, a large number were either police, soldiers or deserters.
“We have arrested a large number of police and servicemen and even an employee of the defence ministry in connection with these activities,” Perera said.
It is commendable that he’s admitting the problem, and admitting state forces complicity in it. What is less commendable is the statement by Minister Champika Ranawaka saying (via Groundviews),
“People will die, What can we do about it. Are you asking us the leave those alive? those bastards are traitors. We can’t do any thing because of wild donkey freedom in this country, if those can’t be dealt with existing laws we know how to do it. If we can’t suppress those bastards with the law we need to use any other ways and means, Yesâ€.
So, you have rogue elements in the police and army participating in abductions and Ministers advocating the disappearance of political opponents. That’s not a good combo, and Sri Lanka is better than that. I’ll take wild donkey freedom anyday.
Indi maybe you could consider going to live in LTTE controled Tamil Eelam. No one gets abducted or disappeared there and Minister Champika Ranawaka (wako) won’t be able to “deal” with you there.
Infact just today Sinhalese families through the red cross facilitation, were allowed to visit five of their sons wounded and captured by the LTTE in recent army and navy operations.
They (soldiers) seemed quite happy with the way the LTTE treated them. Obvioulsy you would not get to hear of such truths in the media down south. So for your convinience I have pasted the URL here for you. Feed your mind.
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=21495
Um, don’t even get me started on the LTTE. The LTTE has an internationally known record of kidnapping, disappearances, assassinations, and child abductions. A lot of what’s going on in Colombo may be Karuna related which is a spin-off of … the LTTE.
Furthermore, they are accountable to no one. What’s commendable is Victor Perera is admitting a problem, and perhaps doing something about it. The LTTE denies any problems, and continue with their thuggish ways. I’ve never argued that GoSL is a good government, but I believe that it has far more institutional capacity to change than the LTTE. Furthermore, in comparison the the LTTE, GoSL is a bunch of saints, where people can actually protest abductions and publish media reports like this. So no, I don’t think I’ll move to Eelam, because the only place the LTTE leads people is into poverty, destitution, and death.
can you respond to this david…
you said:
For the simple reason that in Serbia & Indonesia, the greater population of the whole had indicated that they were willing to allow such a poll.
please cite your sources for this BOGUS claim… other than your opinion…
Here in SL it’s clear that the majority of the country (not just Sinhalese) are against such a poll.
please cite your sources… how do you know what the non-sinhalese want…? did you ask them?
If you disagree, then you should first call for a poll in the south to decide whether a NE poll on separation is OK with the majority. If so, then you can go ahead. If not, you can’t because it would be undemocratic.
your understanding of “democracy†and how it works leaves much to be desired… as i’ve said before it is NOT up to those in the rest of the courntry to decide what happens to the northeast or in the northeast… this goes to the basic issue of self-determination… those in the northeast have the right to express it… the rest of the island CAN NOT dictate to them…
“Also, in both Serbia & Indonesia there was enough external pressure to make the majority agree to that poll, coupled with a military inability of the central government to retain the rebellious areas. That doesn’t exist here.â€
hahaha,
1) the majority in both countries HAD NOTING TO DO WITH IT… the external pressure was on the GOVERNMENTS… not the people…
2) “That doesn’t exist here.†– you mean the GOSL (central govt) “retains†/ controls the NorthEast… hahahah
whoops, wrong thread… sorry please remove the previous post indi…
[...] in abductions, bribery, murder, etc. Don’t take my word for it, that’s the word of the IGP. The cops are undertrained, underpaid and overpowered. They’re not especially qualified or [...]