Has normalcy returned after lapse of Emergency?

"Soon spreads the dismal shade

of Mystery over his head;

and the Caterpillar and the Fly,

Feed on the Mystery.

And it bears the fruit of Deceit,

Ruddy and sweet to eat;

And the Raven his nest has made

In its thickest shade.

The Gods of the earth and sea,

Sought thro’ Nature to find this Tree

But their search was all in vain:

There grows one in the Human Brain."

(October 01, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) William Blake is one of those exciting writers who were neglected in their time but canonised later by posterity. This was partly due to his style of writing which was not understood in his time. Today his writings have an influence not only in literature but in several other fields as well. In the above quoted last three stanzas of his poem ‘The Human Abstract’ included among his Songs of Experience, Blake refers to the human failings of evil, corruption and deceit. He was critical of extremism of all kinds, particularly, in the context of his time, the religious and the scientific rationalist. In this poem, he is referring to the ‘tree’ that grows in the human brain, a tree that bears ‘the fruit of deceit’. The deceitful man cannot resist the temptation to deceive everyone around by masking his true nature to serve his own selfish desires. He cannot resist the urge to lie and cheat to get to where he wants in life.

“These are not good prospects for the

 country to function democratically

under ordinary laws, as President

Rajapakse said that he was going to

lead the country. In neighbouring India,

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the

nineteen seventies misused emergency

 powers to stifle dissent and persecute

political opponents. She paid a heavy price,

losing her own seat at the next

General Election.”

In March 1971, the then Government of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike declared, under the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance, a state of emergency. It was done in the light of a real threat that the government then faced of an armed insurrection, which in fact materialised a few weeks later. However, order was restored fairly quickly and within a few months, the citizens were able to resume normal life, In the latter part of 1987, the threat of another armed insurgency arose; this leading to the second southern insurrection. In the North and East, from the seventies onwards, there were sporadic acts of terrorism, robbery and murder. By the early nineties, this had led to a virtual breakdown of civilian administration with the armed militants in control of parts of the North and East.

The state of emergency, first declared in March 1971, however has continued to be in operation for over forty years until August 2011, except for two brief interludes in 1976 and 2002. The country was certainly not in a situation throughout these forty years where there was a threat to the lawful government and to the life and liberty of the citizens, the reasons for promulgating a state of emergency. In the whole of this period, it has been emergency regulations and regulations framed under the PTA that have superseded the normal laws pertaining to the life and liberty of the citizen.

Plea by the Civil Rights Movement

In December 1971, eight months after the first southern insurgency had been crushed, the Civil Rights Movement, wrote to Mrs Bandarainaike under the signatures of Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra (Chairman), R K W Goonesekere (Vice Chairman), Regi Siriwardene (Secretary), Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe and the Ven Puhulwelle Wimalawansa Thero, urging a progressive relaxation of the emergency regulations. While recognising the need to have declared a state of emergency at the time it was done, they however pointed out that a democratic government, even when its own existence was imperilled, had certain obligations which it had to respect when resorting to emergency powers. It should ensure that the interference with normal rights and liberties was no greater in extent or no longer in duration than the exigencies of the situation actually required.

On 26th August this year, on the eve of the Sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and his visit to New York to attend the General Assembly, made a dramatic and well-publicised visit to Parliament where he announced that the State of Emergency would lapse by midnight of 30th August 2011. There was no one who did not welcome this announcement. The LTTE had been well and truly crushed over two years earlier; any monolithic outfit will collapse with the death of its authoritarian leader. There was now no threat the state from any insurgency. As President Rajapakse himself stated in Parliament: "I am satisfied with the fact there is now no need for emergency laws for the administrative activities of the country now....There have been no terrorist activities since the end of the conflict in May 2009. The country can function democratically under ordinary laws."

Gazettes replace Emergency Regulations

But the celebrations by the freedom-loving citizens of this country at this return to ‘democratic rule under ordinary laws’ was however to be short lived. On 29th August, the day before the emergency was to lapse, six Gazettes Extraordinary were issued. The first five of these were under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 introduced into the Statute Book by the J. R. Jayawardene Government. These gazettes basically were to restore the status quo ante in respect of the proscription of the LTTE and the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (which was linked to the LTTE) and the position of the detainees, remandees and surrendees. Admittedly the provisions of these gazettes are for a limited period; but, going by past history, such provisions have a way of being extended well beyond the original time-span declared. We know that there are some who have been detained for several years – even from long before the conflict ended in 2009. Despite the interim recommendations of the LLRC and the assurances given by the former Attorney General to the Courts, these unfortunate people remain without any charges being framed against them or being discharged. From time to time, media is leaked with statements that they are going to charged but nothing is in fact done.

The views expressed by the Civil Rights Movement in 1971 in respect of the then detainees are equally valid for today’s detainees: "Those (detainees) who have committed offences under the existing laws of the land, and against whom there is sufficient evidence to frame charges, should be brought to trial expeditiously. But we see no justification for the continued detention of young persons whose ‘involvement’ amounts to nothing more than activities which were perfectly lawful at the time, such as attending classes....Every day of continued detention, in our view, only aggravates the situation. Continued detention of such persons after it has been established and accepted that they are guilty of no crime can only embitter and alienate them, and inspire in them a justifiable sense of outrage. These feelings will be shared by their families, relatives and friends. One would think that from the government’s own point of view the encouragement of such feelings of sorrow, outrage, indignation and despair would constitute a surer danger to itself and to its stated aim of involving all of the people in a dedicated effort to overcome the economic crisis than any possible hazard that may arise from letting these young people go back to their families."

These feelings referred to in the CRM letter are very eloquently expressed by Jayatilleke de Silva, until recently the Editor of the state-owned Ceylon Daily News. On 29th August 1985 (ironically the same day sixteen years later when some of the emergency regulations that were to lapse were re-introduced under the PTA), de Silva (and some others) was arrested by the Police, detained and released without any charges three years and three months later. De Silva’s ‘crime’ was being a member of Samajawadi Janata Viyaparaya, a perfectly lawful political group that took a stand against the I R Jayewardene government then. He says various means, including the mass media was used to defame the suspects. Many concocted stories were planted in the media to create an adverse impression about the suspects in the public mind. The Daily News carried a lead story giving an elaborate plan allegedly worked out by the group to capture power. But as the Secretary of the group, it was news to de Silva. Although at the time of his writing, he was Editor at the Daily News, he writes: "Victims behind bars have no means to counter this hate propaganda. Media is a powerful instrument of oppression used by rulers to suppress dissent. Yet, compared to the days when I was in detention, media manipulation for purposes of repression has become more sophisticated and more venomous today.... Recalling what happened almost two decades ago, one could write dispassionately on one’s experience. Yet such writing cannot convey the physical and psychological impact of the PTA on its victims. The anxiety for oneself and for one’s family, the apprehensions about the fate of one’s colleagues, the despair and gloom enveloping one’s very soul, the fear of the next moment, the next day, the trauma and the entire gamut of debilitating factors have to be experienced to feel the full ferocity of the PTA. In other words, for a full comprehension of the PTA, its venom has to be tasted in person."

Calling out the Army

The sixth Gazette issued on 6th September is to call out the Army to maintain public order in all 24 districts of the country in terms of Part III.12 of Public Security Ordinance. The PSO was enacted by the State Council as the last piece of legislation under colonial rule. It remains in our statute book The relevant clause under which this Gazette No 1722/17 has been issued states that "where any circumstances endangering the public security in any area have arisen or are imminent and the President is of the opinion that the Police are inadequate to deal with such situation in that area, he may, by Order published in the Gazette, call out all or any of the members of all or any of the armed forces for the maintenance of public order in that area."

Now, it will be stretching our imagination to believe that circumstances have arisen or are imminent to endanger public order in any district, leave alone in all twenty-four districts. This therefore is clearly an abuse of the provisions of the Public Security Ordinance. It seems part of the policy of increasing militarisation of various aspects of civilian life. New entrant university students were given ‘military ‘ training (or was it indoctrination) in army camps. Now, with effect from 1st October, a newly set up security company under Secretary, Defence is being deployed to take over the security in all University campuses. Several academics have issued a public statement condemning this flagrant breach of university autonomy. It surprising (or is not surprising) that the UGC, whose members are all former academics, should have meekly complied with this direction in violation of all procedures laid down in the Universities Act. We also know that the military has been and continues to be used in many areas of the work of the Urban Development Authority, including, it is reported, in the eviction of the poor from Colombo.

These are not good prospects for the country to function democratically under ordinary laws, as President Rajapakse said that he was going to lead the country. In neighbouring India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in the nineteen seventies misused emergency powers to stifle dissent and persecute political opponents. She paid a heavy price, losing her own seat at the next General Election. Popularity is never permanent; public perceptions can change very quickly. President Rajapakse is too experienced and shrewd a politician not to understand that.