The war that Sri Lankan government fought against the LTTE for about three decades ended recently. And in the first Presidential election after the defeat of the LTTE, the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapakse and the retired army General Sarath Fonseka fought a bitter electoral battle. In the election campaigning both candidates claimed the credit for the defeat of the LTTE. When the results came, Mahinda Rajapakse won by a margin of 17% votes and since then he has been on a hunt to crack down on all his political opponents mainly Sarath Fonseka by making a mockery of democracy and freedom of expression and speech.
Sarath Fonseka was arrested last Monday and will reportedly face a military court martial on charges of revealing military secrets and for plotting the assassination of the President Rajapakse. The arrest of General Fonseka shows that the President is determined to crack down on his opponents after the election victory. When he won the elections with a comfortable majority it was expected of him to guide the country towards a better human rights record but the recent crack down undermines any such reasonable hopes. The level of intolerance towards criticism shown by Rajapakse is similar to the intolerance shown by certain authoritarian and Communist states. The same level of intolerance can often be seen in countries like Myanmar and China where there is systematic crack down on any criticising voices on the government in power.
The timing of the arrest is also alarming as Sarath Fonseka had recently announced that he was ready for testifying before an international court on war crime charges against the government in Sri Lanka headed by Mahinda Rajapakse. In a press meeting Fonseka had accused the Secretary of Defence, Gotabaya Rajapakse, brother of Mahinda Rajapakse, of ordering executions of surrendered LTTE leaders at the end of the war. However, the accusation was later retracted.
The way in which the retired General was arrested also drew flak from the global community. People present at the place of arrest have reportedly said that he was dragged away in a disgraceful manner after threatening others. According to eye witnesses there were around 100 soldiers and they even prevented Fonseka’s security guards to leave the place for about two hours. The arrest was not an unexpected event as there were signs that the government was getting ready to have a serious clamp down on all forms of opposition. Sarath Fonseka even said that he is fearing an assassination attempt on him. The airports of the country were told not to allow him to leave the country as well.
Not only has Fonseka been arrested but many of his supporters as well as journalists with the state media suspected to be supporting Fonseka and the opposition have been arrested or have also faced threats and violence. Amidst a peaceful protest march near Sri Lankan Supreme Court, there had been violence yesterday where certain armed gang, allegedly the supporters of the ruling party, attacked the supporters and legislative members of the main opposition United National Party and leftist party JVP or the People's Liberation Front.
In another related development, President Rajapakse dissolved the Parliament clearing the way for early elections, which will probably be held on 8th of April. Rajapakse would be hoping to get an absolute majority in the Parliament there by cementing his grip on the power. The way in which things unfold now it would be an appalling situation if he gets an absolute majority in the Parliament, which would make him a sort of authoritarian ruler. India has a great stake in the affairs of Sri Lanka and therefore should use its diplomatic strength to pressurise Rajapakse to respect the spirit of democracy. We should also try to bring the attention of the Sri Lankan government to the plight of the Tamilians in the northern part of the country.
It is time for the international community to press the Sri Lankan administration to respect the values of human rights and democracy. If we fail to do so at this point of time we would be facing another human rights catastrophe in the near future in the Asia-Pacific region.
