Editorial
Shooting the messenger
Wednesday 29th September, 2021
Former UNP MP Ravi Karunanayake once sought to ridicule the Army, in a parliamentary speech, at the height of war, by claiming that some troops were going towards Medawachchi, thinking it was Kilinochchi, and others were heading for Pamankada, having mistaken it for Alimankada. We would have agreed with him if he had said something similar about the Sri Lanka Police, for they are all at sea; they have proved once again that they do not know whether they are coming or going.
There has been a mega garlic racket at Sathosa, as is public knowledge. Sathosa recently purchased a consignment of garlic, weighing 56,000 kilos in two uncleared freight containers at Rs. 105 a kilo from the Ports Authority and sold it to a trader at Rs. 135 a kilo. The racketeers at Sathosa were planning to repurchase the same garlic stock at Rs. 445 a kilo and sell it to the public at a price above Rs. 500. The Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA) scuttled their plan, and its Executive Director Thushan Gunawardena came under pressure to step down, and he eventually gave in. The Island reported the racket, quoting Thushan himself, and its editorial, ‘Of that den of thieves’ (22 Sept.) was based on its news items.
Thushan has stood by his statements to the media and offered to assist the CID. Trade Minister Bandula Gunawardena has taken on Thushan, claiming that the latter has defamed him; he has lodged a complaint with the police. What the CID should have done was either to take action based on Thushan’s claims which we carried with comments from Minister Gunawardena’s Media Secretary, and State Minister of Co-Operative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection, Lasantha Alagiyawanna, under whose purview the CAA comes, or to ask him (Thushan) whether he could prove his claims. Instead, the CID chose to summon the journalists concerned!
Minister Gunawardena and some government propagandists supportive of him have claimed that the journalists who exposed the garlic racket, published the former CAA Executive Director’s views and commented thereon are conspiring against him (Gunawardena), and the government! As for conspiracies against governments, can Minister Gunawardena recall the names of those who plotted against the Kumaratunga administration and brought it down in 2001 while being members of it? They are the real conspirators, aren’t they?
The CID should stop offering its services as a cat’s paw to cornered politicians who want journalists harassed for exposing various rackets. Even the Cabinet of Ministers has deemed the police action at issue unwarranted and deplorable. But the CID continues to harass the media. Yesterday, it visited the Lankadeepa office.
The CID ought to use its time and energy productively because there are many unsolved crimes in this country. It has not yet traced the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday carnage, or the killers of journalists such as The Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunge.
As for the garlic racket, the matters that the CID wants to question the journalists of The Island, the Divaina, and the Lankadeepa on, are already in the public domain. They have nothing new to reveal. So, instead of grilling journalists on the Sathosa racket by way of harassment and intimidation, shouldn’t the CID summon and interrogate those who are accused of having committed real crimes such as entering prisons, holding inmates at gunpoint and threatening to kill them? Why hasn’t the CID questioned State Minister Lohan Ratwatte for what he is alleged to have done inside the Welikada and Anuradhapura prisons? Aren’t the allegations against him serious enough to warrant even interrogation?
There have been numerous rackets at Sathosa under successive governments, and they could not have been carried out without the knowledge of the political authority. Some of the former Trade Ministers have been questioned on corrupt deals that have cost the state coffers dear. They also adopted the same ruse as crafty pickpockets, who shout, “Pickpocket, pickpocket,’ while outrunning their pursuers.
Let President Gotabaya Rajapaksa be urged to take over the Ministry of Trade and the State Ministry of Co-Operative Services, Marketing Development and Consumer Protection immediately so that the garlic racketeers cannot cover their tracks and intimidate witnesses.
Editorial
Who guards the guards?
Friday 13th December, 2024
The Opposition continues to crank up pressure on Speaker Asoka Ranwala to resign over what it calls his false claim to have a doctorate. The JVP-led NPP government may have expected its opponents’ campaign against the Speaker to fizzle out with the passage of time. In this country, controversies crop up at such a rate that one finds it well-nigh impossible to keep track of them, and that may be the reason why the government has chosen to remain silent on the issue of the Speaker’s educational qualifications. But the Opposition remains maniacally focused on the Speaker’s claim in question, and SJB MP Ajith Perera has gone on record as saying that unless Ranwala resigns forthwith, the Opposition will be compelled to move a motion of no confidence against him. The government has sought to make light of the situation, but in vain.
The allegation that the third citizen of the country has made a false claim and misled the public and Parliament is too serious to be glossed over. Having failed to obfuscate the issue, the government is now evading questions thereon. Its ostrich-like posturing will only worsen the situation; the problem will not go away, given the Opposition’s determined bid to make the JVP/NPP bite the bullet and have Speaker Ranwala step down.
The government finds itself in a quandary; if it continues to ignore calls for remedial action, its rivals will intensify their campaign against the Speaker, and if Ranwala succumbs to the Opposition’s pressure by any chance, that will be a huge comedown for the ruling alliance. However, the government cannot go on dilly-dallying and prevaricating indefinitely. It will have to grasp the nettle soon.
If Speaker Ranwala fails to prove that he has a doctorate, and the government refuses to take any action, the Opposition is likely to go ahead with its no-faith motion. The JVP-NPP combine will find itself in a more unenviable position in such an eventuality.
The government has a two-thirds majority in Parliament and therefore it can torpedo a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, but if it does so, its credibility and integrity will be at stake. While it was in opposition, it would take the moral high ground and tear all previous governments to shreds for defending their members who were in the wrong. Its frontal attacks on those administrations and its solemn pledge to usher in a new political culture resonated with the public, as evident from its spectacular electoral wins in the recent presidential and parliamentary elections. Therefore, it will have to be mindful of the moral aspects of its actions as much as their legality.
The JVP/NPP ascended to power by lowering the esteem of the national legislature in the eyes of the public with the help of an effective vilification campaign against the members of previous governments. It also pledged to raise the quality of the MPs and the standards of Parliament. In fact, it triggered a massive wave of anti-politics to make its victory possible. The issue of the incumbent Speaker’s educational qualifications and the Opposition’s campaign for his removal on the grounds that he has flaunted a fake doctorate is bound to have a corrosive effect on public trust in Parliament. This augurs ill for the country’s democratic wellbeing.
It is incumbent upon the leaders of all political parties represented in Parliament to have a serious discussion on the issue at hand and find a solution. They should do everything possible to obviate the need for a no-faith motion against the Speaker because such a situation would only further undermine public trust in the legislature and provide a big fillip to anti-politics.
The JVP/NPP is in a dilemma. While defending the Speaker, it has to safeguard the integrity of its civic morality initiative aimed at improving the moral and ethical standards of electors and the elected alike. One is reminded of the Juvenalian question: Who guards the guards themselves?
Editorial
All hat and no cattle?
Thursday 12th December, 2024
Washington has given the JVP-led NPP government a much-needed leg-up while the latter’s political opponents are on the offensive, protesting against a host of unsolved issues that are likely to take their toll on the new administration’s approval rating. Public resentment is welling up, and the Opposition, which suffered a crushing defeat last month, is all out to recover lost ground and make an early comeback.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu said in Colombo over the weekend that the US government remained committed to supporting Sri Lanka’s on-going anti-corruption drive. His assurance must have gladdened the hearts of the NPP leaders. No sooner had Lu made that pledge than the US imposed sanctions on former CEO of SriLankan Airlines Kapila Chandrasena and former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga, and their immediate family members; the US said it had done so due to their involvement in ‘significant corruption’. Chandrasena has been designated for allegedly accepting a bribe for ensuring Sri Lanka purchased Airbus aircraft above the market value, and Weeratunga is facing sanctions for having allegedly benefited from a corrupt scheme involving the procurement of some MiG aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force.
US sanctions against Chandrasena and Weeratunga are welcome, but the question is why Washington has not targeted the masterminds behind the aforesaid corrupt deals. Chandrasena and Weeratunga are related to the Rajapaksa family, and it is now up to the NPP government to pull out all the stops and have the Airbus and MiG deals thoroughly probed. If it does so, it will be able to find out where the kickbacks ended up. Obviously, nobody would have been able to cut such mega corrupt deals without the blessings of the rulers of the day. If those who acted as fronts or collectors for their political masters are prosecuted successfully, the fear of having to serve long prison terms will make them reveal the truth.
Now that the US has offered to help trace Sri Lanka’s stolen funds and bring them back, the Dissanayake government should request Washington to probe the assets of those whom the JVP and the NPP accused of having amassed a great deal of ill-gotten wealth and stashed it away overseas. They have named and shamed the members of the Rajapaksa family. National Organiser of the SLPP and former Minister Namal Rajapaksa keeps daring the government to probe allegations against him and his family. So, why doesn’t the NPP government request Washington to probe the assets of the members of the Rajapaksa family in the US?
No one has drawn more flak from the JVP/NPP than Basil Rajapaksa for the various corrupt deals during the Rajapaksa rule. Political rivals of the Rajapaksa family have used him as a foil to make themselves out to be paragons of virtue. The JVP/NPP also gained much political traction by bashing Basil, and promising to probe his assets. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake often laments that investigations into an ‘ownerless’ palatial house at Malwana have hit a brick wall; the rivals of the SLPP claim that Basil had that house built through a front; they have not been able to substantiate that allegation. What prevents President Dissanayake from ordering a fresh probe into the Malwana mansion to find out the real owner of the property?
One may recall that in October 2014, speaking at a dairy farmers’ ceremony, Basil, who was a powerful minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government at the time, claimed that his situation was no better than that of an ordinary dairy farmer. He said he was a farmer’s son, and the only asset he had was a herd of dairy cows! That was how he sought to counter his critics’ claim that he had amassed ill-gotten wealth. So, if Basil has acquired assets that are worth more than a herd of cattle either here or in the US, he must be made to account for them. The US should be able to do so unless it is playing both sides of the fence, so to speak. After all, Basil is an American citizen.
While stumping for the NPP in the run-up to last month’s general election, President Dissanayake vowed to go all out to ‘catch the thieves of state assets’. It is high time he matched his words with deeds.
Editorial
Drug barons vs. the law
Wednesday 11th December, 2024
A much-feared underworld figure named Arumahandi Janith Madushanka Silva alias Podi Lassi, charged with possession of narcotics, has been released on bail. Lawyers who appeared for him told reporters on Monday (09) that he needed protection because the STF had threatened him with death. What they left unsaid was that their client had issued threats to no less a person than the Head of State. In 2020, while being detained in the Boosa Prison, Podi Lassi and two other underworld characters known as Kosgoda Tharaka and Pitigala Keuma threatened to harm the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne, and some senior prison officers.
Sri Lanka has seen ambitious projects under successive governments during the past several decades to turn it into a hub of some kind or another in the region. Much-advertised campaigns to make it a centre of international shipping, global trade, IT, education, etc., have not reached fruition. However, some underworld kingpins have already turned it into a narcotic hub, to all intents and purposes if the sheer amounts of dangerous drugs frequently taken into custody are any indication.
Sri Lanka’s anti-narcotic laws are characterised by some inadequacies that allow clever lawyers appearing for drug lords to drive a coach and horses through them. They have done so on numerous occasions much to the dismay of the police and the public.
One may recall that a notorious drug dealer named Mohommad Najim Mohommad Imran alias Kanjipani Imran obtained bail in 2022. Everybody knew that he would flee the country, and he did so a couple of weeks later. The then Public Security Minister Tiran Alles claimed that some unscrupulous lawyers had facilitated Imran’s escape as well as that of another criminal called Ganemulle Sanjeewa. Who can ensure that Podi Lassi will not emulate Imran and Sanjeewa?
Imran was arrested in Dubai together with Sri Lanka’s Napoleon of Crime, Samarasinghe Arachchige Madush Lakshitha alias Makandure Madush, in 2019, and brought to Colombo. Madush perished allegedly in a crossfire between the police and an underworld gang while in custody. Imran has been running his crime syndicate here from overseas. He is believed to have masterminded the murder of Wasantha Perera or Club Wasantha about five months ago. No wonder Citizen Perera is on the same page as Mr. Bumble (in Oliver Twist), who says the law is an ass.
While Operation Yukthiya was proceeding at full throttle, under the previous government, we pointed out that the war on drugs had to be fought at sea, on the shore, and in ports. Most narcotic consignments find their way here in fishing craft and freight containers.
Last week, the Navy intercepted and brought to the Colombo Port a fishing craft with a haul of crystal meth weighing 400 kilos. In December 2013, the Customs found more than 131 kilos of heroin in a container which a coordinating secretary to the then Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne had requested the Customs to clear on a priority basis. In July 2017, more than 218 kilos of cocaine were detected in a shipping container of sugar delivered to the Ratmalana Economic Centre.
Whenever a drug czar is netted, a well-coordinated operation gets underway to secure his release, with lawyers, politicians, and some rogue elements in the police and other state institutions such as the Government Analyst’s Department springing into action. In September 2023, Nadun Chinthaka Wickremaratne alias Harak Kata almost made good his escape during an interrogation session at the CID headquarters. His plan to poison the police personnel on duty, and flee went pear-shaped thanks to some Argus-eyed STF personnel. Besides, more than a dozen Police Narcotics Bureau officers were arrested in 2020 over their links to drug dealers.
The foregoing point to the power of the netherworld of crime, and the enormity of the narcotic problem Sri Lanka has been striving to tackle all these years. Inadequacies of laws, corruption in the state institutions tasked with fighting the scourge of drugs, and political backing for narco barons have made the task of ridding the country of narcotics even more uphill.
The need for reworking Sri Lanka’s anti-narcotics strategy to optimise it to meet the existing challenges and the emerging ones vis-à-vis the powerful drug Mafia, which is becoming more resilient like a pathogenic virus, cannot be overstated. A major drawback of the ongoing anti-narcotic operations is the lack of a holistic approach to overcoming multisectoral obstacles that stand in the way of neutralising the hydra-headed scourge. This is something that the new government, which is keen to liberate the country from the clutches of the drug cartels should take cognisance of.
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