Paramilitaries: a Civilian’s Experience

Dilrook Kannangara

It was in 1988, September 12 to be precise; Colombo schools closed for 3 months till January 1989. Again in March 1989 schools were closed officially till September the same year. During these times, workplaces, banks, markets, sports and recreational activities, public ceremonies and many more were at a standstill. Things changed dramatically by July’89 and stayed same until October 1994.

I felt safe and secure and so was almost everyone I knew. Investors obviously felt the same as investments increased dramatically, skyscrapers were planned and after a few years later they all came up frantically. No economic nerve centres were attacked by terrorists in spite of intermittent aerial bombardment on LTTE controlled areas. Also military operations were taking place without any civilian and economic casualties. All this prosperity is squarely attributable to the acts of paramilitaries.

Although a considerable number of acts of paramilitaries and the government forces during this time were not in the interests of the nation, they were successful in sustaining investor confidence, public security and the national economy. If I remember right there was no bomb scare at all and not even slight damage to economically important places were inflicted. STF was manning many places in Colombo and elsewhere and was considered a paramilitary under the laws existed then. Troublesome elements were screened out by nobody-knows-who and were eliminated ahead in time. There was no need for curfews or post mortems.

Things changed after CBK assumed office in 1994. Instead of preserving the good of paramilitaries, the CBK administration uprooted them exposing the people, economic nerve centres and investors to the brutality of terrorists. In November 1995 when the Oil Refineries were set upon by the terrorists, residents attributed it to the transfer of the STF camp in the area. Many more attacks followed targeting civilians and the national economy.

Engaging the terrorists at the door step of the Central Bank, Kalanitissa power station, Sri Dalada Maligawa and in the inside of the premises of the BIA and oil refineries proved the sheer ineffectiveness of the security forces in restraining suicide bombers. Even the world superpowers are rendered helpless against suicide attacks. Another destructive outcome was the “blame game” that our politicians and some officials are very skillful in playing.

What should have been done in 1994 was to support the paramilitaries but to restraint them against political victimization. They should have been awarded immunity only where terrorists were targeted.

This grave mistake costed the country dearly and continues to haunt us with insecurity, etc. Economic mishaps include the poor tourist season of 2006/07.
Encouraged by all these, the terrorists continue to threaten to destroy our dams, hospitals, ports, etc. If it is to happen, the economic, human and strategic loss would be enormous. Also it will give enough ammunition for the NGOs, the “international community”, peace humbugs, etc. to force their solutions on us; as if we are a failed state.

I urge the government to bring back the days when we felt completely secure and safe, devoid of its evils (political victimization). There can be no political ideology that promotes terrorism, division of country and ethnic disintegration. It is a terrorist phenomenon and hence made to pay at the hands of the paramilitaries.

Make use of the strengths of the paramilitaries to maintain law and order. The masses will not be affected at all as they are all peace loving, law abiding citizens. However, there will be bad but necessary “side effects” that has to be taken into account and proper systems for justice resolution should be in place to minimize them.

I urge the government to consider a pragmatic approach to paramilitaries than a utopian ideological approach. The difficult part of terrorist war is that the enemy is not fighting face-to-face, but there are advantages as well. These include the ability to destroy the enemy by delicate operations. Infiltrators can be destroyed without any resistance and also be vital sources of information. Let us capitalize on the advantages of a terrorist campaign waged by cowards who seek protection among civilians and some terror aligning politicians.

There is no justification for the continued suffering of 20 million people just because of the fantasies of a megalomaniac supported by about 30 thousand terrorists. Also the human rights of the 20 million should be upheld even at the expense of possible human rights violation of few thousand suspects. This is the right perspective of the economic and security concerns we have today and we need tried and tested and practical remedies. Failure to do so will ensure that the enemy gets what it wants; killing of ethnic Sinhalese and Muslims; incite ethnic intolerance and prove its case for an armed struggle in the face of ethnic violence against Tamils