Athenian democracy being enacted?

by Vickramabahu Karunaratne

(January 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) January 8th was the commemoration of the death of Lasantha Wickrematunga. He was brutally killed two years ago. Pradeep Eknaligoda disappeared about one year ago. Both of them paid the penalty because they vehemently denounced the oppressive war against the Tamil people, and tried to expose the cruelties involved. Not that they condoned the cruelties associated with the Tamil insurrection. But as journalists they were bold enough to challenge the Mahinda regime. I participated in the Bodi pooja at Nugegoda Nalandaramya, organised by media organisations. I do not believe in temple politics, but if a temple ceremony is organised to remind the heroic efforts of two media giants, then I believe it is my duty to participate in that event. These are difficult times. I believe that I escaped death from the killers of the Mahinda regime on 7 January, due to the efforts and sacrifices made by NSSP members and our friends. Maybe we could expose who organised the killer group in the coming period. But police is silent on all these issues. They have so far failed to corner the culprits. Does that mean those who defend the rights of minority nationalities are non persons? Are they peopling without civil security and police protection?

Killings and disappearances

In the Tamil areas the problem is more fundamental and widespread. Killings and disappearances have increased suddenly. These victims were mostly people who raised voices over the rights of Tamil people. Parliamentarian Sumanthiran in his rational and bold interview to Lakbimanews said, “.our acting party leader Mavei Senathiraja raised the same issue and gave details of 18 incidents that have come to our notice. The Leader of the House, Nimal Siripala wanted time although his fellow cabinet minister had raised the issue a day before.These are incidents which have started to happen suddenly, all over again. We had the same situation 3-4 years ago and lasted about a year. At one stage, murders were going on at the rate of two to three a day. All were committed by unidentified gunmen who were never arrested, and history is repeating again. This is happening in a place where there is very tight security.”The problem is whether the police are taking these crimes seriously. When scrutinized closely, each of these victims were involved in protests and challenges to the state, on minority rights problems. Does that mean these people are non persons without human rights? Therefore, police need not bother? Sumanthiran emphasized quite correctly “The police should conduct an investigation and arrest the guilty. We cannot irresponsibly point fingers; therefore we are also waiting for the police investigations to end. However, the point is not the reason as to why people are assassinated — but why no one is being arrested. The issue is this: when JVP MP Sunil Handunnetti was assaulted in November, the JVP alleged that army intelligence was behind the attack. They even published photographs but no one was arrested. When an investigation is not conducted, naturally suspicion falls on the government.”

I believe the reason why people are assassinated or killed is quite relevant to the problem we are facing. If they are assassinated for raising the voice for this or that minority issue, then automatically these cases cease to become crimes to be handled by the police. This is the plain truth. Such cases are considered to be terrorists or traitors problems, outside the domain of civil society. These victims are classified as aliens to democratic civil society, hence they have no rights.

Central issue

They do not come under the vigilance of general law and order. Clearly this has become the central issue today in Lankan civil society. The Mahinda regime has enacted a latent fundamental principle; unseen categorization of humans by a chauvinist declaration. It says that the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony of Lankan society cannot be questioned. Anyone who challenges this draconian principle could get killed or disappear and no legal body will investigate into such happening. In some sense it is like Athenian democracy. In ancient Athens only the adult males of ancestral families were citizens. Those Athenian citizens who had completed their military training had the right to vote in Athens. This excluded a majority of the population, namely slaves, freed slaves, children, women and outsiders. Athenian slaves were the property of their master (or of the state), who could dispose of them as he saw fit. He could give, sell, rent, or bequeath them. A slave could have a spouse and children, but the slave family was not recognized by the state, and the master could scatter the family members at any time. Slaves had fewer judicial rights than citizens and were represented by their master in all judicial proceedings.

Under the Mahinda Chinthanaya, those who adhere to the Sinhala Buddhist hegemony, those who accept the war as a great benevolent deed to be respected without a question - a great patriotic war and those who abide by the unitary constitution with one nationality- the ‘Lankan’ identity, are the real citizens. In this categorization while Premadasa is a citizen Ranil may not be. Lasantha, Pradeep, all those who do not accept the glory of the “patriotic war”, and those who believe in Tamil liberation are non citizens and their fate is nobody’s business. I hope this is only a transitional insanity we are going through.