People Power in the Island Nation

"It seems as if many citizens of Sri Lanka are so fed up with the crimes being committed with impunity by politicians in league with the underworld that they have begun to intervene directly to deal with such situations as they arise. People power is being increasingly exercised to curb the excesses of our crooked politicians."

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by Dr. K. de Alwis

(December, 31, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) A news item in a newspaper yesterday (28) under the title "President orders tough action" says that he had instructed Colombo DIG Nimal Mediwake to take necessary legal action against the persons involved in the incident at the Rupavahini Corporation.

My question is why the police have to wait for instructions from the President to take legal action against those who break the law? What were all those high-ranking police officers at the scene of the crime doing except protecting the criminals against those who were defending the victim of the ministerial assault? What was the IGP doing? Was he waiting for the President’s "instructions" without giving his deputies on the scene orders to arrest the wrongdoers – an act that would have defused the situation immediately? Or was he shielding the sharks, like he did when he transferred the police officer who was conducting investigations into the ill-gotten assets of VIPs in the government to the Eastern Province?

Then we hear the Chief Justice Sarath N. Silva saying, quite rightly, that we must not take the law into our own hands. But what are people expected to do when "the arm of the law", represented in this case by a large posse of high ranking police officers appointed to uphold the laws of the land, stands idly by while these same laws are being brazenly flouted by a set of notorious thugs, ministerial or otherwise? To meekly give in and not resist the criminal attack? I submit that citizens have a right to protect themselves, especially when the police appear to be siding with the lawbreakers, and they also have the right to make a citizens’ arrest as sanctioned by the criminal code. The public spirited employees of Rupavahini did both of these things with great bravery (considering that the minister and his bodyguards were probably armed) and with gusto.

It seems as if many citizens of Sri Lanka are so fed up with the crimes being committed with impunity by politicians in league with the underworld that they have begun to intervene directly to deal with such situations as they arise. People power is being increasingly exercised to curb the excesses of our crooked politicians. Politicians who patronise and shield such criminals (no matter what skeletons may exist in their cupboards that they are trying to hide), will find that the people will sooner or later exercise their sovereignty and get rid of them lock stock and barrel, as they did with Marcos in the Philippines and Milosovich in Yugoslavia. People power can be a mighty force.

I say, "More power to the people". Congratulations you brave and public spirited staff of Rupavahini!