Is the Law an ass or hermaphrodite?

By I. P. C MENDIS

‘The law is an ass’ – is an expression commonly used when describing a legal situation which is seemingly absurd. The situation as we find ourselves in today, in Sri Lanka, is such that one is entitled to question as to why this expression should be restricted to the ‘ass’, and whether ‘hermaphrodite’ would not be more appropriate to our ‘blessed’ country; where the Kabaragoya/Thalagoya variant is unashamedly and constantly applied.

Examples are legion and citations would be superfluous. Street protests and demonstrations were invariably confronted with water cannons and sometimes brute force during the yahapalana regime (where most of the SJ B stalwarts were fully involved), as was evident with a ‘high-up’ of one of the armed forces exercising it with gay abandon, not so long ago, and observed on media footage. As for the recent street protests, in continuous operation for over two weeks now, notwithstanding the serious dangers inherent in the form of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, water cannons and brute force were conspicuous by their absence, despite provocative behaviour by protesters, such as breaking down barricades, hooliganism and mob conduct. On the contrary, a police inspector lost two fingers in one melee but still no retaliatory action!

Law enforcement apart, arrests made subsequently are being criticised heavily. That the protests are being encouraged, supported and turbo-powered by political interests, no less boosted by the SJB, was plain to see. The ‘modus operandi’ is clear – to topple the duly installed government through extra-parliamentary means, such as break-down of law and order, economic ruin, diversion of concentration, or attention, from important and urgent issues of governance, create shortages of essentials, misuse of trade union power, attempts at provocative action to compel, if possible, human rights violations, block foreign aid and investment, and generally create mayhem, aimed at International condemnation or intervention.

The Leader of the Opposition and of the SJB, Sajith Premadasa, has made no bones about his intentions when he publicly asked the government to resign and hand over the reins to the SJB (aka Sajith P) as the government had failed in its vaccination drive. This, of course, was not the first occasion in which he had so hinted. This worthy, who in parliamentary parlance is recognised as the ‘shadow’ Prime Minister, needs to learn from the practices in Britain, said to be the cradle of democracy, where Clement Attlee, the then Labour Leader and ‘shadow’ Prime Minister, afforded unconditional support to Winston Churchill, the PM during WW II, in the interests of the State and its people; and did nothing surreptitious, or underhand, to sabotage or undermine the government’s war effort.

Sajith Premadasa should not be in a hurry. Tactics which may have worked in the plan to some extent to oust Ranil W from the UNP and politics, would not be germane when it comes to a government, which was elected with a two-thirds majority (the democratic will of the people) only one-and-half years ago. The demonstrations and protests have been undertaken in a very grave atmosphere of a very lethal new virus, against which the whole world is struggling and battling for survival.

Teachers’ Demands –

The teachers’ demands have had no relevance to the present regime. It had been almost relegated to the limbo of forgotten things for the last 24 years! The circumstances in which the teachers’ issue was handled by President CBK, reportedly more to counter her rival’s election promise, has been clearly explained by a former Secretary and Chairman of the Salaries and Cadres Commission (Mr. K.L.L. Wijeratne), in the issue of the The Island newspaper of 3^rd August 2021. The right to assemble, or protest, enshrined in the Constitution, is acknowledged, but that does not, I believe, include any license to interfere with rights and freedom of others, including health issues and their right to life. The congregation of their cadres and supporters endangering the health, or lives, of others, ignoring health guidelines, is certainly not a constitutional right.

Demonstrations or protests –

Merits and demerits of the teachers’ demands apart, the country is facing a very grave situation where survival of its population has to take precedence over any other and where, due to its global affectation, assistance from other dispensations are at a minimum. The economy is in dire straits. The least the population, as a whole, could do, at this critical juncture, is to assist the government in any way they could to minimise or solve the problem. Not so, some of our worthies, who gleefully seek to take full advantage of the grave situation the government is faced with, by adding fuel to fire. The government itself, unadvisedly and with total lack of foresight and finesse, provided a good portion of the fuel by seeking to introduce the KNDU Bill, which provided a ladder for jumping ‘quadrupeds’ (as the pithy Sinhala saying aptly describes) in the form of political activists to infiltrate and create havoc. The Government has had second thoughts, and has temporarily suspended the introduction of the Bill in Parliament.

SJB

– The SJB, led by Sajith Premadasa, itself did seize the opportunity with both hands, lending readily its unstinted support for the protests and totally irresponsibly, without compunction or sympathy for the country or its population, innocent children included (on tenterhooks), threw caution to the winds so far as spread of the viral infection goes and chose to go the whole hog with full support for opposition to the Bill, coupled with teacher demands, caring ‘two hoots’ for health guidelines and herd immunity.

Sajith Premadasa offers a very puerile explanation in denying that the demonstrations or protests did not cause the present surge, querying whether some Ministers and Parliamentarians got the infection from the protestors. Even if all of them had worn face masks, the mob collection was very evident to the naked eye, almost falling over each other at times. It comes ill from a responsible Leader of the Opposition who has his eye on the top post! His irresponsible and unworthy posture and stance is a direct blow to the people of this country, more than to the President, Prime Minister or their government. This indeed is a time that every citizen must forget political and petty differences, and rally round the government to initially get over this hurdle. Sajith P’s dreams of forming a government at this stage is misplaced, and will remain a dream. He is entitled to his hallucinations albeit at the cost of survival of his own supporters as well, who form part of the population of this country facing grave danger. This country needs statesmen, not political opportunists or political gamblers!

As for other political activists, the less spoken the better in the context of their own history and performances, some terrorizing the people and ruining the economy. To find them today in the role of the ‘defender of the faith’ in constitutional propriety is a welcome transformation, if only the required element of trust exists. A teachers’ union stalwart, true to his name with a history of unadulterated authoritarianism, has openly declared to continue the struggle, despite a union collective, led by a Buddhist monk, declaring a temporary ‘ceasefire’. The only way for the relevant union membership is to take a leaf from ‘perestroika’ and free themselves from the grip. Trade Union Leaders, despite their vehement denial of their street demonstrations being responsible for the current deadly COVID wave, need to hide their heads in shame, inside their political cloaks; the rank and file, too, seriously giving thought to the damage done under-cover of political activists with their hidden political agendas! No amount of strong denials can hide the facts!