Fasting marks one month; whither the northern people ?

Oct 25, 2017

Today (25) marks one month since the political prisoners Madiarasan Sulakshan, Darshan Ganeshan and R. Tiruvarul began a fasting at Anuradhapura prison. Their lives are depending on the liquids being injected into their blood. The government disregarded this matter for one month and does not appear to give a solution today either. The people of the north have shown to the government that this was a matter concerning them, by staging a hartal. Various parties are making various statements, while the media in the south is painting it to serve their needs. However, when will we, as a country, understand the depth of this problem and the harm that could be caused if left unresolved?

The reason for their fasting is the unreasonable transfer of their case from Vavuniya high court to Anuradhapura. The Attorney General’s Department took four years, just to amend the charge sheet. The only amendment made was to include Tiruvarul as a suspect. The others had already staged a fasting over the delay in the case. This is no simple matter from their side.

 

The president told northern representatives that this was a matter for the Justice Ministry to negotiate and settle. TNA MP M.A. Sumanthiran spoke along the same line, that this could not be solved by fasting, as the security of a witness was a matter for the court to solve. Politicians, whether in the south or the north, are no different when they ignore its political implication and confine it to a mere matter for courts.

 

The only witness in the case against the three is a former LTTE member. It is a shame that the authorities are unable to provide him with security at the Vavuniya court. We believe that they should resign with dignity if they think that security in Vavuniya cannot be guaranteed eight years after the war ended. If anyone says the authorities have fallen to the level of being unable to protect one witness, it should concede that the AG’s Dept. is conspiring against the suspects.

 

The south’s media has been overstating the charges against the three. They are accused of killing a group of military personnel under their custody. Anyone can level allegations. The problem is proving them. Anyone should understand that had the AG’s Dept. been able to prove the charges against them, it would not have delayed the case for four years, or not have transferred the case to Anuradhapura. Had there been concrete evidence, the case should be over by now. The delay is because the evidence is not strong.

 

If a politician ignores all these and says this should be solved according to the law, there should be something missing in his politics. The AG’s Dept. comes under the Justice Ministry. When the Dept. becomes the accused in delaying the case, it is like setting a thief to catch a thief to try to settle it through the courts.

 

Back to the charge. Had they really murdered military personnel during the war, that itself is a political matter. It was not due to a personal matter that they had done that. Persons like Karuna Amman who should be accused of thousands of such murders are living a free life without any charge, while a few are being targeted by court cases. What we have to say to those who compare these with war crimes charges is that after settling the matter at hand, if needed, either the both parties pardoned each other or punished through a court process, under  the normal law of the country (not the PTA).

 

Now, the law is being enforced unreasonably. On one hand, there is a legal process under which the repressive PTA is being enforced to obtain confessions from men by hanging them in the nude by their legs and beaten up, or their heads immersed on petrol and beaten up. On the other hand, the courts and the AG’s Dept. are taking a racist line. That is why cases are thrown away in the north and punishment given in the south under the same basis. Only a racist can say the hearings for which confessions are obtained under the PTA are reasonable.

 

Speaking about the politics beyond the three prisoners, it is for the first time the northern Tamils trusted an executive president of the south. They did not vote for Maithripala Sirisena after signing agreements. They believed that he would solve their problems. Their agreements came through their hearts. If he tries to get away instead of solving their political issues, that will lead to broken hearts. The president gets a request not from just three prisoners, but it is a litmus test of his fulfilling promises. Tamils are wondering how a president, who is unable to solve the problem of three prisoners, will solve their political problem.

 

If any harm comes to the trio’s lives, the executive president will have blood in his hands. Can anyone say that the disappointment of the Tamils will lead to a political problem that can make the country suffer for decades to come?

 

What is needed now is a direct political intervention in consideration of the future of the country. This is not a problem of three prisoners, or the all 130 political prisoners. This is a problem of the sensitivity of the southern politics to the political problem of the entire Tamils. Therefore, the government should take a political decision and free these prisoners. That will create a situation in which even the war crimes charges can be dealt with in a more flexible manner.

 

Firstly, the government should prove that it is not afraid of the southern Sinhala extremism that refuses to give anything to the Tamils. They are painting terrorists in the face of this problem, while signing election agreements with Karuna Amman. We do not criticize the freedom enjoyed by him. What we say is that other ex-LTTE members too, should be given that same freedom. The rulers should have a backbone to stand firm in the face of the pressure by the Sinhala racists. President Sirisena’s back is against the wall. History decides on such incidents.  He should think about the country’s future and extend the hands of reconciliation to the Tamils.

 

- Ruwan Nelugolla