The General Released!

IS SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT’S CONSCIENCE PRICKING ?

| by N.S.Venkataraman

( May 17, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The spokesman of the Sri Lankan government has now said that General Fonseka will be released from the prison shortly. Of course, many persons who suspected Sri Lankan government’s action when it arrested General Fonseka would also now suspect Sri Lankan government’s action when it would release him.

One cannot see any reason as to why the Sri Lankan government would release the former army chief now , if the reasons that it cited earlier for his arrest were true. Sri Lankan government has not come out with any credible explanation for its present move. People are left guessing and now rumour mongers have a field day.

In the process, the credibility and image of the Sri Lankan government has taken a severe beating.

Under the circumstances, many may conclude that for Sri Lankan government , arresting and releasing a politician is only a political decision and the decision would change from time to time depending upon the political exigencies and calculations. The sad fact is that those who are in charge of the government at decision taking level do not seem to understand that history would judge them very harshly, if they would think it appropriate to arrest and release anyone at the drop of a hat.

The last few years after the defeat of the separatist forces has been a period of glory and ruin for the image of Sri Lankan democracy in the eyes of the world. The glorious period was when many Sri Lankan citizens felt grateful to the government for liquidating the LTTE and therefore voted for the government with massive majority. The ruin started when the government thought it fit to arrest the former chief of army , who many thought was the real hero in the war against LTTE. When the former army chief was arrested, many felt it was like a stab at the back of army chief and viewed the action disapprovingly. Many found difficult to believe that a person who was hailed as the hero could be branded as a traitor overnight.

While releasing Gen. Fonseka , the present Sir Lankan government has to give a credible explanation and perhaps, reassure the people that such vindictive actions would not be the order of the day in future.

The process of democracy does not start and end with merely conducting the elections and winning the polls. The content of the democracy is much more than this. Certainly, the arrest of Gen. Fonseka then and release now will not convince anyone in the world that democracy in Sri Lanka is vibrant and mature. Obviously, much more work and struggle is called for, to restore democratic culture and practices in Sri Lanka, which the Sri Lankan citizens highly deserve.