Protests, arrests and gutted assets

Saturday 27th August, 2022

The Opposition has condemned the government for what it calls a political witch-hunt against the Aragalaya activists, and called for an end to the spate of arrests. It has said such coercive measures will not help intimidate the public into submission, and the causes of social unrest have to be eliminated if popular uprisings are to be prevented. But it has failed to knock any sense into the ruling party leaders, who are convinced otherwise and determined to go on strong-arming protesters.

Politicians are impervious to reason when power goes to their heads. But they are not alone in abusing power. What we witnessed during anti-government protests a few weeks ago may serve as an example. Some protesters took the law into their hands, and wreaked mayhem and forced others to do their bidding, while claiming to protect democracy. They even roughed up Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, who visited the Galle Face protest site to pledge solidarity with them when they came under attack. How they would have behaved if they had captured state power is anyone’s guess. They brought the entire protest movement into disrepute and enabled the government to use the PTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) to crush agitations.

The Sri Lanka police, who are usually blamed for inaction and tardiness, have proved that they are capable of swift action. They have gone into overdrive to arrest those who torched the houses and other properties of the SLPP politicians on 09 May and later. Dozens of suspects have already been taken into custody, and many more are expected to be netted soon, we are told. Among those arrested during the past two days are three suspects who allegedly carried out arson attacks on a hotel which is said to belong to someone connected to the Rajapaksa family, and the houses of some former ministers including Rohitha Abeygunawardena.

Let the police be commended for their prompt action although their high-octane performance is selective. All those responsible for grave crimes such as murder, arson, assault and looting in the aftermath of the 09 May attacks on anti-government protesters must be brought to justice. They deserve deterrent punishment. Similarly, the SLPP politicians and their goons involved in unprovoked attacks on the Galle Face protesters must be prosecuted. Sadly, the police stand accused of giving them kid-glove treatment for obvious reasons.

The government is reportedly planning to compensate the ruling party politicians for damages to their properties. Before it undertakes any such commitment of public funds, it has to ensure that the actual values of the damaged properties are disclosed to the public and their owners made to reveal whether they have declared those assets and how funds were raised therefor. The public has a right to know how people’s representatives have acquired wealth and whether they have duly declared their assets to the taxman.

It may be recalled that during the Mahinda Rajapaksa government, the then Minister Basil Rajapaksa, speaking at a convention of dairy farmers, declared that the only asset he had was a herd of milch cows. If so, how come lesser politicians have built palatial houses, some which the so-called Helmet Brigade burnt down following the Galle Face goon attacks on 09 May?

Let it be repeated that the government, before undertaking to pay compensation to the aforesaid politicians, make public the plans, estimates, deeds, etc., of their damaged/gutted buildings in addition to their asset declarations. It ought to convince the public that their money will not be used to pay compensation for damages to politicians’ properties that have been acquired with ill-gotten funds.