Is the Govt.t also responsible for the Kahawatte multiple murders?

by Supun Perera

(July 20, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Is the Government also responsible for the Kahawatte multiple murders? As per an Army Doctor attached to the Military Hospital in Colombo, the Government is responsible through Brigadier Kamal Sumanapala who is seen as being responsible for the closure of the Combat Trauma Treatment Center at the Military Hospital. That raises the question as to the role played by the Government through its armed forces, in the life of civilians.

When are the actions of a uniformed officer , the responsibility of the Chief? The next question is ‘who is the Chief in the above case? ‘ Is it Brigadier Sumanapala or is it the Secretary of Defence? The answer depends on whether or not Brigadier Sumanapala had the powers to act as he did? Were those powers specifically devolved to that position of Brigadier? If yes, then the Brigadier is responsible. Otherwise the Defence Secretary is responsible. The respondent accordingly needs to be the person with the official powers.

In terms of the armed forces themselves, where an officer exceeds his real powers to comply with the expectations of her/his supervisors to win – he begins to lose the powers of the laws governing his position and hence gets exposed to excessive powers which often lead to animalistic tendencies. Laws help us regulate our actions so that we do not hurt others who follow those laws. When we fail to bind ourselves by those laws, we fail to control our senses and hence kill as animals do.