Primacy for due process of law

Leader of the House and Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva's detailed reply to TNA MP R. Sampanthan's special statement in Parliament on Tuesday on the issue of 'political prisoners' and connected questions, should help to put the record straight on Sri Lanka's current efforts at establishing normalcy and reconciliation. There is absolutely no basis to claim that we have in this country any 'political prisoners.' The persons who have been detained by the authorities have been subjected to the due process of the law and it could in no way be made out that they have been put behind bars arbitrarily or on grounds that have no solid legal basis to them. In essence, this is Minister de Silva's answer to the TNA leader.

No persons are behind bars in this country today on account of their political beliefs and convictions. In the case of those from the North-East, it is on account of the crimes that they have committed while in the service of the LTTE, that they have been detained or imprisoned and that too after being tried in a court of law. In fact, High Courts are to be established in Colombo, Vavuniya and Mannar within a month to hear cases against some of those who were detained recently under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. 'Political prisoners' are usually arbitrarily thrust into prison or detained by authoritarian regimes for their beliefs and this is not the case in this country.

Needless to say, we are a legally constituted, democratic government and the Rule of Law holds sway here. Therefore, it would be the height of irresponsibility to claim that some of those who are detained or have been imprisoned are 'political prisoners.' Those detained are being tried or will be tried in the courts of law and to the extent to which this happens it cannot be made out that arbitrary arrests or detentions are taking place. But it must be borne in mind that justice cannot be administered in a haste and that the law must be allowed to take its course if miscarriages of justice are to be averted.

While the state needs to single-mindedly ensure that justice is meted out to all expeditiously, it is the responsibility of all sections of the Opposition to refrain from engaging in mindless and destructive criticism of the state. The TNA has, apparently, turned a new leaf by demonstrating its allegiance to the National Flag and it would be a necessary corollary of this position that the TNA engages with the state in helping to resolve the issues facing the people of the North-East.

Ideally, the TNA should seek to be a party to those state mechanisms and processes that have as their end the expeditious resolving of issues faced by North-East detainees, if this is not already happening. It would be quite futile to engage in the kind of confrontational politics of the past that did not help the North-East people one jot but only contributed towards plunging the North-East into civilian strife.

In fact, populist politics, in whichever region of Sri Lanka, need to be approached with great caution. It is yet to dawn on some sections of our polity that what is most required currently is a constructive brand of politics which would be of immense assistance in nation-building. Sending out emotive appeals to constituencies is part of the stuff of populist politics but in terms of putting Sri Lanka together again and in making it whole, such politics would prove futile. For, it would result in re-opening 'healing wounds' and re-introduce old strains to the body-politic. Rather than have recourse to populism our political parties need to think in terms of nation-building and evolve strategies which would help in this all-important undertaking.

It should also be borne in mind by those sections of the Opposition that are tending to veer towards a confrontational course with the state that, come what may, the Rule of Law must be made to stand supreme in this land. The state cannot afford to let down its defences although the Tigers are no more. Security needs to be maintained in all parts of the country and on a continuous basis. Accordingly, some security operations are required and the people need to be supportive of the state in these matters.

But the state, for its part, needs to be mindful of the fact that legal and connected processes need to be carried out expeditiously, so that no section of the public would have reason to suffer from a sense of grievance. Systems need to proceed apace and smoothly.