Security Measures To Safeguard Cities And Towns From LTTE Infiltration Mandatory Albeit Complicated And Arduous.

March10th, 2008

While there are many people in a quandry about the legality of security measures recently introduced in the towns and major cities in Sri Lanka in the wake of recent LTTE attacks there is not a single argument which can contradict their importance and that they are absolutely necessary while it is also important that these should be executed in a manner governing the rights of all individuals in a Sovereign Democracy with no exceptions! They are not only mandatory but also complicated and arduous given the circumstances in Sri Lanka today

However given the situation within Sri Lanka relative to the LTTE's present desperation where they would stop at nothing and resort to anything within their means albeit flailing , falling by the wayside and being decimated in vast numbers and on their way out, to bring mayhem and destruction to the country, the security measures set in place at the present can only be deemed appropriate, justified and should not be interpreted as one which targets the Tamil population regardless of the rhetoric of Human Rights activists and foreign lobbies towards Tamil sympathies which could also be construed as LTTE sympathies.

They certainly cannot be be interpreted as gospel as in the past many foreign interventions, criticisms and negotiations have indeed been LTTE friendly taking Norway as a prime example although the essence of human nature might sometimes contradict this in favour of the oppressed surrounded by a majority ethnicity who feel their own rights to existences threatened by virtue of the Tamil presence in their midst which have been justified through the incidents of late which have seen a rash of LTTE attacks attributed to the help from sympathisers!

If this be the case then it is the responsibility of the Government to set in place measures which include the scrutiny of the entire population of Sri Lanka where no one is above the law relative to the Prevention of Terrorism Act or the Emergency Measures set in place to search and ascertain the credibilities and bonafides of persons found to be suspicious and have no real reason to be in areas where they are non resident and somehat ironically the Tamil people become more susceptible to the suspicions directed at people who may have links to the LTTE terrorists for obvious reasons.Regardless of how arduous the task might seem it is imperative that it needs to be done in the best interest of National Security!

While it is a catch 22 situation for the Government where the safety of the local Tamil population has to be prioritised as they pose to be the most susceptible, one has also to be aware of the reality that the LTTE use these very Tamil residents under threat, intimidation and coercion to accede to their demands or else.......!!! and this is the problem for which an appropriate panacea needs to be found and a dilemma which is multifaceted from a Government standpoint.

Case in point perhaps in favour of the appropriate solution and the only onewhich is ~ faciliitating and accelerating the drive to eliminate the LTTE from the face of Sri Lanka towards which objective the Armed Forces are giving it their all and a degree of optimism needed towards a favorable and acceptable end result where in the end there will be no freedom loving Tamils realistically victimised or incarcerated overall as the reconciliations toward a pluralistic existence for all Sri Lankans could then begin.

It is imperative that all built up and populated areas of Sri Lanka need to be made more secure and terrorist free in the face of what lies ahead towards Sri Lanka's posterity.While it is no mean feat which needs the co-operation of many sources conducive towards the end result, it is one where the Administration as well as the Armed Forces need to garner the responses of all the residents of local areas whether they be Tamil, Sinhalese Muslim or other ethnicity which needs to be in a Nation friendly direction where the responsibilities would naturally be related towards a collective spurning and jettisoning of the LTTE as a common enemy which needs to be set in place by winning the confidences of these residents.They need to be convinced that the GOSL and the SLAF are equitable to the task.

There seems however to be a single most contentious snag to this concept of late where it has been alleged that there is "a Sinhala branch of the LTTE "now engaged in attrocities in the South of Sri Lanka as well as plantation areas and a snag which need immediate scrutiny, investigation and appropriate remedial action as Sri Lanka can ill afford LTTE sympathisers of Sinhala extract at this stage which sounds more of a fallacy but stranger things have transoired in this infamous insurgency for all the wrong reasons so it's better safe than sorry! If this be the case they must be sought out and destroyed or apprehended and rehabilitated towards viewing the LTTE as the common enemy and perhaps conscripting them towards the task of eliminating them rather than being inspired by them as a frustrated few have indicated. As a last resort perhaps capital punishment might be the eventual deterrent but a measure which does not augur well in Buddhist Sri Lanka where it may also be argued that sparing the noose may augment the criminal's confidences!

Towards the objective of weeding out any and every undesirable suspect found to be LTTE friendly in Sinhalese neighbourhoods there would invariably be many related problems as where does one draw the line towards the assignment? Ethnic cleansing is certainly not an option althought the term has been falsely and deliberately used by the Government's opponents and neither is indiscriminate harrassment of a person or persons simply because he or she is Tamil and hence suspected of being a a terrorists supportive merely on speculation which is unacceptable and unfair albeit not without reason where prudence and perception must prevail and points towards Presidential pragmatism and wisdom which has indeed prevailed thus far!

There need to be strong guidelines and conditions stipulated for every person in these areas prone to LTTE infiltration towards clarifying their bona fides hinging on the expressed allegiance and support needed towards the Government's as well as the Armed Forces' task of eliminating the terrorist infiltrations where the elimination of the terrorists from Sri Lanka needs rapid fire deployment tactics so as to reduce the risk of innocent victimisation of the people with any labelling as terrorist sympathisers even on a hypothetical basis!

The vigilance of communities as well as incentives towards information leading to the detection and incarceration of infiltrators could also prove to be invaluable and a tumultuous collective effort at best which should in the end read "Fait Acompli!." where there is no question that the need for improved security measures towards safeguarding cities and towns from LTTE infiltration by far overrides the speculated victimisation of innocents who need to establish their credentials which if they dont must pay the price of incarceration within the statutes of Sri Lanka!

That there are real innocents involved in this unfortunate situation whose safety and needs are larger than life must also be emphasized and that it is not restricted to a few local areas but nationwide!!

At the time of writing this there is breaking news of a bomb blast in the Colombo suburb of Wellawatte of high density Tamil residents which appear to have all the hallmarks of the LTTE!