National Security in Sri Lanka :
Boston, we are not sitting ducks
Fools, men of little intelligence give themselves over to negligence, but the wise man protects his diligence as a supreme treasure The Buddha -The Dhammapada
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Security Forces personnel engaged in de-mining activities.
File photo
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Army personnel helping construct houses in the
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It was reported on the Colombo Page on April 27, 2013 that: Sri Lankan Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York Ambassador Major General Shavendra Silva said that the United States and other Western countries should understand that terrorism wherever and in whatever form is terrorism and it should be eliminated. Speaking to the national radio Major General Silva said bombs used in the Boston attack are similar to the bombs used by the Tamil Tiger terrorists in Sri Lanka.
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Army Commander Lieutenant
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Jagath Jayasuriya |
The Ambassador said the people of U.S. commended their security services for apprehending the terrorists connected with this attack. Noting that Security Forces of a country are responsible for safeguarding the people from terrorism Major General Silva said Sri Lankan Forces protected the country eliminating the Tiger terrorism. Highlighting that still arms and ammunition are being recovered from the former battlefields in the North and East, the UN envoy said placing Security Forces in those areas is not a matter to be considered in a different perspective, Such vigilance is indeed essential in the interests of National Security.
De-mining operations
It was reported in May last year that the Security Forces in Sri Lanka found the largest stock of explosives since the end of the civil war three years ago. 6,000kg (13,230lb) of explosives were discovered in a bunker used by the rebels in the North. The Security Forces regularly unearth weapons and ammunition from the North, where the last and bloodiest battles of the 26-year civil war were fought. Police said that they discovered the haul after receiving a tip-off.
The plastic-encased explosive, C4, were found near the town of Puthukudiyiruppu. One defense analyst said he was sceptical about the reported finding, asking how such a quantity could have remained undetected for so long. But another said he was sure it was genuine and believed the ammunition was found 6m (19.6ft) underground. Experts say the Tamil Tigers, whose leadership was wiped out in the final army offensive in 2009, favoured C4 over explosives like TNT because it was more powerful.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Colombo said weapons used by both sides during the war still have a tangible effect on Northern Sri Lanka as internal refugees try to start their lives afresh in their home areas. Occasionally children are injured or even killed.(Courtesy: BBC)
Bloody battles
As the North was heavily militarised by the LTTE, the war left behind a heavy concentration of weapons and stray and unexploded ordinance (UXO), while undetected mines in some areas may present a danger. However, it is important to note that in addition to the Sri Lanka Army’s own Humanitarian De-mining Unit, at least eight other organisations engaged in de-mining and clearance of UXO, were engaged in de-mining operations to ensure a mine-free Sri Lanka. The fragility of the post-war environment also demands a stabilising security presence. It should not be forgotten that the reign of the LTTE, which ran most of the North for over two decades, was itself brutal and arbitrary, undoubtedly leaving fissures and cracks in the Tamil society. Then there are the insecurities of the returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Muslim community – forcibly evicted by the LTTE, with 48-hour notice, from the Vanni more than 20 years ago – who are only just making their way back, only to find in some cases that the lands and houses they were forced to leave behind have long been in the possession of others.
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Ambassador Major General
Shavendra Silva |
As much as these are reasonable arguments for a security presence, in the North and East of Sri Lanka, providing such a sense of security, ensuring the rule of law and the sort of stability needed in the Northern Province would actually be a civil policing function rather than a military call of duty. Indeed civil policing is central to ensuring that conditions, which may encourage any sort of organised violence do not recur. Although there has been little evidence of any regrouping, let alone resurgence, of the LTTE or its supporters in the North and the East it is prudent for the Security Forces to exercise due diligence by monitoring the activities in these areas in order to avoid any such regrouping or resurgence in the interests of national security.
LLRC recommendations
It was reported that the Sri Lankan Army is to scale down its presence in the former battle zones of the country's North and East, where the troops fought bloody battles with the Tamil Tiger terrorists and liberated the region. The Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya has said that the Army is now completely ready for far-reaching reforms in its structural composition regarding ground realities, security and needs of island-wide ongoing development projects.
The government has been criticized in recent times for the presence of military in the former conflict zones in the North and East nearly three years after wresting control of the region from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). As part of implementing recommendations made by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, (LLRC) the government has begun to scale down the Army's involvement in the administration of the region and has handed over certain operations to civilian administration.
"While scaling down the number of different regimental and area headquarters and presence of troops in the North and East, plans are afoot to assemble more and more battalions together to form only most required headquarters," the Army Commander had said. According to the Army Chief, the skilled troops who fought at the operational front during the final battles are to be deployed exclusively for security arrangements while troops with multifaceted vocational skills are to be used for all islandwide development work carried out by the government.
Development efforts
The Commander has spoken about measures to expand training at battalion levels and to offer more career development training sessions in the future. It is laudable that the Security Forces personnel have been observed rendering a yeoman service in the development efforts in the country including the beautification of our cities.
In conclusion it may be said that continued monitoring with due diligence has to be maintained by the Security Forces in the North and East as well as other areas of Sri Lanka to prevent any disruption of normal civilian life thereby posing a threat to the security of our nation in order to ensure that unfortunate occurrences such as the recent Boston bombing that occurred in the USA does not take place in our country.
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