SF calls on police and security forces not to harass protesters

By Saman Indrajith

SJB Gampaha District MP and former Army commander Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka yesterday in Parliament called on police and security force members not to harass or attack the protesters demanding the resignation of the government and the President.

“I call on the war-heroes in the police and tri-forces not to forget the fact that people have taken to the streets as they cannot bear the pressure on them under this government. I also call on the security force members to discharge their duties in a fair and just manner. Never harass the protesters just because you have been asked by your superiors to do so. The government cannot sack all security force members numbering hundreds of thousands, and police officers totalling around 60,000 for not following their orders. Even if the government sacks anyone, those who lose their jobs would be reinstated within three months of the victory of this struggle.

“I know that there is no huge difference between the pressure experienced by the war heroes and policemen and an areca nut caught in a nutcracker. The security force members know that those engaged in the struggle are their own kith and kin and farmers who feed this nation. The police and security forces cannot beat them because they know that the demands of the protestors and agitators are just demands.

“The struggle for justice will surely be won. The people will end victorious not the Rajapaksa cabal which has few senior officers still licking their sandals. I call on war heroes to do the just and carry out their duties to serve people,” Field Marshal Fonseka said.