Priyantha Diyawadana  gets his justice

A Pakistan court this week announced its verdict in the mob lynching case of a Sri Lankan. Priyantha Diyawadana, a general manager of a Sialkot factory was murdered and torched by a mob of 800 men over allegations of blasphemy. According to reports from Pakistan, 89 people accused of the lynching have been convicted in the case. Out of these, six suspects have been handed the death penalty, seven were given life imprisonment, and 76 others two years in prison each. 

Priyantha’s lynching by the mob created widespread shock and sorrow in December 2021 and the then Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was quick to condemn the brutal killing, promising swift justice against the perpetrators. Even though there would never be a replacement of a loved one and the verdict delivered in Pakistan would be of little consequence to Priyantha’s family, the swift administration of justice in this case will offer them a sense of closure and it sets an important precedent for accountability for religiously motivated crimes that have plagued the South Asian region.

This column will not endorse or condone the death penalty even for heinous atrocities because even in such cases there is a margin of error in the administration of justice that cannot justify such an irreversible sentence. While there is empirical evidence to suggest that the death penalty does not present a deterrence against such crime, there is also clear evidence that a more effective deterrence is found in expeditious, fair and transparent administration of justice. The fact that this crime was investigated, prosecuted and a verdict given within a matter of five months by the Pakistani authorities should be welcomed and it should be a lesson on how an effective judicial system would serve the interests of the citizenry. 

Such speedy judicial processes have been rare in Sri Lanka, even for crimes that had shocked the very core of society. The main suspect in the rape and murder of five-year-old Seya Sadewmi in 2015 was sentenced to death by the Negombo High Court within a matter of months based on a confession. However, due to initial mishandling of the investigation and falsely accusing others of the crime, the police compromised the credibility in the process. A three member Trial-at-Bar was appointed to hear the case on the abduction, gang rape and murder case of schoolgirl Sivaloganathan Vidya which delivered a verdict in just over two years of that crime.

Other than these two relatively recent cases which can be considered as exceptions, the norm has been for such cases to drag for years.

Even more concerning should be the sheer lack of accountability and justice for crimes that were committed in this country against minority communities, instigated by certain organised groups which have gone unpunished for generations. Up to 3,000 innocent Tamil civilians were killed during the July 1983 pogrom and many more such violent incidents have happened since with impunity. 

In 2014 the Bodu Bala Sena, an extremist group that continues to receive State patronage, orchestrated violence in Aluthgama that led to the deaths of three persons. This was repeated in Ampara, Dambulla, Digana and Kurunegala in the following years. None of these crimes have been punished and not a single individual held accountable. Instead, the current administration of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has elevated the perpetrators of these crimes to high office and guaranteed them legal immunity. As Sri Lanka has discovered in recent years, these mad dogs of extremism are not easily contained once unleashed. While politicians benefit from the hatred, division and suspicion created within communities, such politically expedient endeavours have contributed to the deterioration of the moral fabric of the whole society. 

As we take some comfort in the verdict delivered in Pakistan for the crime committed against Priyantha Diyawadana, Sri Lankans must take stock of our own shortcomings in the deliverance of justice for the countless crimes committed in the name of race and religion.