Put a bullet through gun culture

Thursday, 13 October 2011 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SRI Lanka’s political culture is at a crossroads and it remains to be seen whether the Government will take last Saturday’s incident as a wakeup call and consciously work on reducing the gun culture and its interrelated industries.

What are referred to as ‘industries’ supported by gun culture and thug politics are of course the drug trade and other nefarious activities, which are notorious for happening in Sri Lanka with political patronage.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has gone on record saying the Government has to do more to prevent drug trade in Sri Lanka. This comes alongside the WikiLeaks cable quoting the US Ambassador pointing out that some of Sri Lanka’s top ministers are behind the large heroin trade in the country. Sri Lanka has long been a trading point for drugs, an instance where its natural geographical location is used to a disadvantage.

If the Government is serious about fighting the curse of drugs and its trade in Sri Lanka, then there has to be change right at the top. That starts with taking strict control of weapons and ensuring that they do not end up in the wrong hands, including party supporters. Sixteen weapons were confiscated by the Police during investigations into Saturday’s election day shootout that killed several people, including former Member of Parliament Baratha Lakshman Premachandra, and injured 10 others.

Where did these weapons come from? Why were these people allowed to carry them? And why was nothing done by the Police guard that was with the two key leaders, for surely they would have been aware of the presence of illegal weapons?

The culture of impunity enjoyed by the political ranks of this country together with others associated with them has taken the country to a dangerous point. People are afraid to speak out against politicians. They can incur much injustice, but are too afraid to point them out; they are not even given the basic right of democracy, which is to vote for the candidate of their choice. Law and order is the first causality in such a situation and next is the people.

The Defence Secretary has gone on record saying that the Army will monitor the security given the VIPs. Yet, this is not enough. Everyone knows that there are parties hired to operate outside the law and if they are protected as the top, then there is little that the Police or Army can or will do about it.

If the country has effectively defeated terrorism, then why should there be the need for these massive security contingents and vehicle convoys? Are the people’s representatives scared of the people? Or are they afraid of each other and the gun culture that gives them the right to operate above the law? Who has let the law disintegrate to such an extent and how can it be turned around?

The person who pulls the trigger is not the only guilty party. It is everyone that has fostered, supported or turned a blind eye to the development of gun culture in Sri Lanka – past and present. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword, but what citizens must be concerned about now is whether the country will also die by the sword.