Towards a weapons free milieu

The argument tendered by the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on the fairness to demand the Thamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulihal (TMVP) to surrender its arms while there is still a large stockpile of firearms in free circulation in the South deserves closer scrutiny.

According to JHU spokesman Nishantha Warnasinghe while there is no clear proof to show if the JVP had surrendered all its arms since its abortive uprising in 1989/90 there is also the unaccounted arms that were in the possession of State sponsored counter insurgency units or vigilantes as they were commonly known, that has to be factored in.

The gist of his argument appears to be that while the TMVP which had now repudiated its arms struggle and entered the democratic mainstream had retained their arms only to defend themselves against the LTTE threat, the danger of the large volume of unaccounted arms freely circulating in the denizens of the South too needs a plausible explanation more so given the rising crime wave sweeping the country.

The danger is exacerbated by the fact that these are sophisticated weapons against which there is no defence. The spate of armed robberies and bank hold-ups witnessed in recent times were executed with modern firearms.

The existence of arms in such uncontrolled profusion has also contributed to the culture of impunity with which crime is being committed. Adding to the equation is the large number of service deserters who have been found to be responsible for the unprecedented number of robberies countrywide while it is also reported that they are being hired by underworld elements to carry out contract killings.

True, the brutalisation of society engendered by the three decade old ethnic war was a major contributory factor for the culture of impunity and with more and more weapons getting into circulation the public resigned themselves to crime and violence.

This no doubt is a dangerous mind-set from which the public especially the younger generation has to be exorcised. While the victory on the battle front would some day return society to normality it is incumbent on the Government to complement this transition with a complete weapons free milieu in the country which will help dismantle this culture of impunity which has taken hold of the public.

It may be a herculean task, but the Government should make every endeavour to try and seize these weapons before their wider spread and ending up in the wrong hands. The then UNP Government provided weapons to various political parties at the height of the uprising and while some time ago a list was produced indicating the recipients it is not known if these weapons were recovered or still in circulation where they have ended up.

One recalls that not many moons ago some of these weapons surfaced at a political party office whose members were at the receiving end of the terror campaign. The mini armoury it was claimed was only the tip of the ice berg of the large volumes of firearms still in circulation.

What became of them is not known. Therefore it is time the Government acted to ferret out all unaccounted weapons circulating in the South as a first step in freeing the country of the culture of violence and impunity while ushering a society of law-abiding citizens.

Encountering the food crisis

The assertion made by Agricultural Development Minister Maithripala Sirisena that the indigenous food production drive under the Api Wavamu Rata Hadamu concept has picked up and proceeding apace is good news from an economic point of view to the country.

The project was launched in September last year by President Mahinda Rajapaksa chiefly with a view to promote indigenous eating habits and to revert our people back to the traditional foods.

As the Minister said if the project keeps up to the current momentum the country will soon have a rich harvest of indigenous crops which while meeting the country's food demands would also help cut down drastically on the country's import bill expended in getting down imported food.

Many Governments started food drives under various labels and the home garden concept was promoted by both Dudley Senanayake and Sirima Bandaranaike regimes, though after the initial euphoria the campaign failed to progress much beyond.

The Present Government too should not let lethargy creep in but ensure the momentum is continued if we are to reap the optimum benefits of the exercise.

Today even industrialised countries such as Japan are laying more and more accent on agriculture development with various subsidy schemes offered to local farmers. A looming food crisis has also seen the industrialised West now giving pride of place to their agriculture sector.

Here too the Government should encourage cultivation in every available space given that the pace of development is swallowing up all available land and very soon even the unspoilt countryside may be swallowed by industrial expansion. Some time ago there was talk to bring in legislation to acquire idle lands and put them into productive use.

The Government should also think of introducing laws to make it compulsory for land owners to cultivate at least part of their vast extents or lend them out on commercial terms for this to be accomplished. Sri Lanka should be prepared for any contingency in the wake of the looming food crisis.