Col R Hariharan | 30-6-2019
| Courtesy:
South Asia Security Trends, May 2019 | www.security-risks.com |
Follow
up actions
During the month, Sri Lanka
continued to struggle to recover from the after-shock of Easter Sunday suicide
attacks by National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) terrorists. It brought the nation’s
life line - the tourism industry – to a grinding halt with many countries
including India, issuing travel advisories against visiting Sri Lanka; however,
these were either withdrawn or toned down in the first two weeks of the month. Despite
this tourist arrivals continue to languish.
Under these circumstances, the
short visit of PM Narendra Modi at the start of his second tenure to Colombo,
the first by a foreign leader after the terror attacks, was welcomed in Sri
Lanka. His trip indicated India’s show of solidarity with Sri Lanka in times of
distress. During his brief visit, PM Modi held discussions with all the main
actors, including the President, the PM and the Leader of Opposition Mahinda
Rajapaksa. We can expect the visit to result in greater cooperation and
coordination between the intelligence and security agencies in the counter
terrorism efforts of both countries.
The political gridlock between President
Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe continued to dog
the performance of the government. The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC)
inquiry has revealed startling details of systemic failure which resulted in
preventing the Easter Day attacks, despite prior information. The testimonies of former Defence Secretary Fernando, sacked IG
Jayasundara and the former SIS chief Mendis have revealed serious gaps in communication and coordination between
the SIS and other security arms of the government, though all of them
functioned under the President. Overall, their evidence revealed lack of
security consciousness in the functioning of the departments under the
President.
The President has claimed the PSC
was “a drama scripted at Temple Trees” (PM’s official residence), forbidding
officials from responding to the PSC. For political reasons the Joint Opposition, the SLFP and former President Rajapaksa’s
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) have boycotted the PSC. Even PM
Wickremesinghe and the UNP members have been indifferent in following the PSC
proceedings. All parties seem to be more interested in fielding a no confidence
motion against former minister Rishad Bathiudeen, leader of the All Ceylon
Makkal Congress (ACMC), which has become a bone of contention between the
opposition and the UNP.
Security agencies in their follow up action have arrested about
2,389 suspects; 186 of them are being detained under the Prevention of
Terrorism Act (PTA). Based on the
information given by one of the five suspects arrested in Jeddah and brought
back to Sri Lanka, police have recovered over 300 gelignite sticks, 1000
detonators, 485 rounds of T56 ammunition and several other explosive material
in Kattankudy. The Ibrahim family, which produced two of the nine terrorists
who took part in the Easter Day attacks, is being investigated thoroughly for
its sources of finance and political affiliations with Muslim leaders like
Bathiudeen. The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) acting upon
information provided by Sri Lanka arrested IS sympathisers in Coimbatore in
Tamil Nadu who had social media links of NTJ chief Zahran. The NIA arrested Mohammed Azharudeen,
said to be the mastermind of the IS Tamil Nadu module on June 12, 2019.
As a part of tightening its security, Sri Lanka
proposes to deport about 8000 foreigners who are overstaying their visas. These
include among others, 1680 Indians, 936 Pakistanis and 683 Chinese.
Anti-Muslim
backlash
However, after the outburst of anti-Muslim riots
in the northwest, Buddhist nationalist fringe continued to whip up anti-Muslim
hate narrative targeting Muslim leaders and Muslim owned business. Many
political leaders supported the Buddhist monk and parliamentarian - Athurelive
Rathana Thero - when he went on indefinite fast in Kandy demanding the removal
of Muslim governors Azath Salley and MLAM Hizbullah and cabinet minister Rishad
Bathiudeen for alleged links with Islamic radical organisations. Thousands of
people marched in support of the demand, forcing the two Muslim governors and
nine Muslim ministers to resign en masse. The episode dramatically showed the
effect of growing anti-Muslim narrative in the socio-political discourse.
Leaders of Muslim community leaders have repeatedly
been appealing to Muslims to fully cooperate with the government. In spite of
this, hasty and overzealous actions by the police has increased the feeling of
insecurity among Muslims. Typical was the arrest and detention of Dr Mohammad Shafi of the Kurunegala Teaching
Hospital for over a month under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), based on rumours of the doctor carrying out 4000
illegal sterilizations of Sinhalese
women. The CID’s 200-page report on the case filed before the Kurunegala
magistrate court revealed Kurnegala police officials’ elaborate plot to frame
the doctor and use the media to create panic to justify his arrest. Police high
command is said to be mulling action against the police officers suspected to
be involved in the plot.
In Puttalam district in the Northwestern
province, Wennappuwa local body chairman Susantha Perera, belonging to Mahinda
Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), issued a letter prohibiting
Muslim traders from doing business at the Dankotuwa weekly fair, ostensibly
because people objected to Muslim traders doing business at the site. However,
police stepped in to cancel the move and filed a complaint against the PS
chairman for his illegal order.
Chief Prelate of Asigiri Chapter Warakagoda Sri
Gnanarathana, representing one of Sri Lanka’s highest Buddhist authority, presented
one of the worst manifestation of Islam-phobia. According to a BBC report, the
Prelate addressing a gathering said “I
also ask people to avoid those (Muslim) shops. Do not eat or drink from these
shops. Because it is a common notion,” he said, adding “It can be clearly seen
that they are attempting to destroy our people by giving poison.” In an obvious
reference to Dr Shafi’s case, the monk said the doctor who ‘destroyed hundreds
and thousands of children’ should be stoned. He said a group of women had said
the doctor should be stoned to death. “I don’t say that. But, that is what
needs to be done,” he added.
While political leaders including President
Sirisena chose to ignore the prelate’s hate speech, Finance Minister Mangala
Samaraweera in a statement called upon “true Buddhists” to unite against the
“talibanisation” of the religion. Diplomats from the member countries of the
Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) called upon the President and urged him
to ensure safety of the Muslim community in the face of hate speeches of some
senior politicians and a section of the clergy. President Sirisena while
assuring them of the safety of all the citizens, said that current utterances
of some interested parties were due to the prevailing political situation in
view of the forthcoming election.
Political
posturing
President Sirisena seems
to have been overwhelmed by the continuing political impasse. Addressing a meeting of media heads, he insisted that the 19th amendment
must be abolished before the next presidential elections as it had become
“a curse” to the country. The President said that it had created political
instability prevailing in the country. He added "I doubt whether the
19th amendment was drafted by a group of legal experts or a bunch of
ignorant people." The President said the amendment had been drafted due to
the request of some non-governmental organizations.
The President seems to have forgotten that he had persuaded
some sections within the SLFP faction in the government who had reservations
about the 19th Amendment, to vote for it in April 2015. The 19th
Amendment was introduced to reduce the Executive President abusing his power
and be more accountable to parliament. Though it is not perfect, its relevance
was demonstrated during the October 201 constitutional crisis, when the
President tried to remove the PM without a vote of confidence in parliament. His
criticism of the 19th Amendment only reveals his frustration in
continuing to work with PM Wickremesinghe.
However, unmindful of these negative
developments, forthcoming presidential election seems to be the preoccupation
of many political leaders. Former President Rajapaksa seems to be undecided in
choosing between Chamal and Gotabaya as the SLPP’s presidential candidate. The SLPP has scheduled a meeting on August 11
to choose its candidate. President Sirisena’s dilemma in contesting the
presidential election seems to be unresolved. The UNP is yet to finalise its
candidate from three possible contenders. In the coming months, if the
government is not vigilant, chances of political confrontation getting out of
hand and turn into ethnic confrontation
are there.
Col R Hariharan, a retired MI officer, served as the head
of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka from 1987 to 90.
He is associated with the Chennai Centre for China Studies, South Asia Analysis
Group and the International Law and Strategic Analysis
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