The
unfortunate chain of events that unfolded in Jaffna a few days ago could well
be the first of that magnitude reported for quite some time. The mob was asking
for the physical custody of several men who were accused of gang raping and
killing a young girl while the men were being produced before a magistrate. Perhaps
they were in a hurry to give the accused the harshest punishment without waiting
for the usually slow legal process. Whether it was some spontaneous reaction
from the people or the work of some organized group needs to be established
through an independent inquiry.
However some
who were bent on making easy political capital out of it were quick to say that
these were the signs of terrorism raising its head again and this sort of
things would not have happened if they were in power. It is rather unfortunate
that such irresponsible statements are being made by our political leaders at a
time national reconciliation is of paramount importance.
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| Protesters in Jaffna |
If there
were no such incidents or protests in that part of the country in the recent
past it was not because people were very happy and they did not want to protest
because they had a perfect administration there during that time. The simple reason
was that the military was in tight control, there was no civil administration
in the north and they did not have democratic space to engage in any kind of
protest.
Protests are
a normal thing in any democracy and you see many of them in Colombo almost
every other week mostly in front of the Higher Education Ministry or the UGC.
In a democracy what needs to be done is not to prevent protests, dissention or
expression of different opinions, but accommodating them and taking notice of
the causes behind such protests and taking remedial action.
However,
this particular wave of incidents exceeded the limits of peaceful protest and
developed to be mob violence destroying state property, obstructing police duty
and attacking police personnel. Especially since these developments have taken
place for the first time after ending terrorism there can be natural fears
among the people as to whether there is any return of terrorism. That is why
there is a need to have a thorough investigation into the matter to find out
whether there was any political or other organized group behind it.
In the event
there is no proof to say that there was such organized group behind it,
naturally it follows that it was some spontaneous reaction from the people
against dastardly and inhuman behaviour by a group of men against a female
member of the society. Then the question will arise why such behaviour when
there are law enforcement authorities to take appropriate action.
The possible
answer is that during the many decades of terrorism there was no democracy in
that part of the country. The LTTE which had practically absolute authority
over the territory did not have a fair system of trial. They mostly resorted to
summary trials or kangaroo courts and harshest punishments were meted out
against whoever they thought had perpetrated a crime. What people in the north majority of whom may
be below the age of forty would remember is that kind of summary justice and
not fair trials for every criminal.
The reaction
of the Jaffna youth to the rape and murder in question would have naturally
come from what they had seen and experienced in the immediate past and their
ignorance as to how police and law courts function in a democracy. It will naturally
take a reasonable time for them to experience what democracy is all about and
see the value of having a fair system of justice.
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