The news
from Weliveriya is really distressing and the whole country is in a state shock
hearing the impact of Army-Police assault on the civilians. The exact number of
deaths is not known as yet. At first it was said that one and several were injured.
Later it was reported that 4 or 6 are dead. The country has a right to know the
exact number of the dead and the injured.
Even if the
number of dead is just one, should such killings be tolerated? Could such a
protest by the Innocent and unarmed civilians on a just cause drinking water in
this instance, be targeted with bullets? In my view the killings at Welveriya
cannot be justified on any ground.
Who gave the
orders to kill? Nobody in sound senses would order to confront the citizens
with bullets when their demand is drinking water, a harmless demand of about
citizens of 10 villages.
People have
neither acted on imagination, nor got mobilized by sheer selfish political interests
but motivated by a real need, water without which survival is impossible. The monks who participated in this struggle
vouched that the need is genuine. Only those in power consider it otherwise.
This is not
the first time that Rajapakha regime used bullets to wound or kill innocent
citizens in the land when the citizens asked for their just demands. The
killing of FTZ worker Roshen Chanka at Katunayaka and causing injuries to
hundreds of others and fishermen at Chilaw were the previous instances. It has now
happened at Weliveriya.
After seeing
the images of police and military operations against the civilians on TV, one
can imagine what had happened to the Tamils in the North and East for past few
decades. What did the Tamils demand? They asked for freedom to use their
language and political freedom to manage their affairs. The response of our
rulers was retaliating with bullets.
Another
aspect of this incident is that the priority of the authorities has been
protecting the polluters rather than remedying the damage caused to the sources
of water.
What has been
the role of the Environmental Authority in finding a solution to this issue?
Was it unaware that there has been contamination of underground water for some time
now? Or did it overlook because the factories are owned by some economically
powerful individuals.
These events
prompt us to question also the policy of the government over the democratic
right of people to protest. Has the Mahinda Chinthanaya withdrawn it and the
new policy is to confront the protesting civilians with bullets?
Can this happen
is a democracy. The behavior of the government in these instances tells where it
is leading us to. In this path of darkness creating a ‘culture of silence’
using bullets become an effective strategy.
Hasn’t the people being in a slumber too long?
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