Engulfed by the shadows of terrorism

The Easter Sunday massacre in Sri Lanka which was caused by a series of bombings drew the attention of even the international media. Here a sympathizer from Pakistan displays a banner praying for peace in Sri Lanka. (AFP) 

As Sri Lanka looks to pick up the pieces and rebuild a shattered nation following a series of suicide bombings, its citizens now ponder on the thought unlike never before as to what holds in store for them in the future. 

The islanders are just weeks away from celebrating 10 years after crushing the Tiger rebels, but a series of bombings on Easter Sunday gave enough signs of an impending danger of another violent armed uprising. This time fingers are pointed at an Islamist extreme group called the National Thawheeth Jama’ath (NTJ) for causing the carnage. 

• The premier must know that the economy is already unstable
• Sri Lankans have been forced to wear their thinking caps now
• Why is the name ‘Muslim’ always associated with an act of terrorism?
• Muslims disassociate themselves with such violent thoughts and acts
• Wickremesinghe’s back is to the wall again. He survived the alleged Central Bank Bond scam and a no-confidence motion against him

There is an old saying that there is no smoke without a fire. Trouble between the Sinhalese and the Muslim communities have been simmering for the past five or more years. We remember the Digana and Kandy incidents which marked the height of another communal riot. There was also a firebrand monk who led the way to adding fuel to the fire. The monk initiated mob attacks against the Muslims and these attacks could be the response of a section of the Muslim community to their frustration and the acts initiated to intimidate them. 

But there is another school of thought which backs the thinking that the attacks were initiated by a racial Muslim group with the possible backing of an external force. 

"  The US has already issued travel warnings discouraging its citizens from visiting Sri Lanka. No tourist would wish to check into a hotel where its lobby and entrance areas are dotted with a high security presence   "

Overall the general thinking now is that the Muslims have become the enemy of the Sinhalese; hence they must be chased away from this country. But given that these barbaric acts border on terrorism and that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has decided to strengthen security in the country through measures ‘limited to counter terrorism regulations only’ we must view these attacks as the work of ‘terrorists’ and not by the Muslims. A few days ago this writer read a post on social media where a Muslim posted the question as to why the name ‘Muslim’ has to be always associated with an act of terrorism? This social media user conveys the message that such barbaric acts are carried out by those with a rebel mentality and that Muslims disassociate themselves with such violent thoughts and acts. In other words what he says is that a true Muslim would never fit into the shoes of a terrorist. 

Sri Lankans have been forced to wear their thinking caps now. The opposition has begun the ‘blame game’ and naturally so after the GoSL and the ‘Police Chief’ had enough information that there were impending attacks on Christian churches and the Indian High Commission. What’s hilarious is that the state minister Harin Fernando making a public statement that he came to know of the planned attacks through his father. But that then poses the question as to why he failed to alert the authorities immediately? The Premier maintains that he and his Cabinet knew nothing about the impending attacks. 

The attacks are sure to have a crippling effect on the economy and on the tourism industry. The US has already issued travel warnings discouraging its citizens from visiting Sri Lanka. No tourist would wish to check into a hotel where its lobby and entrance areas are dotted with a high security presence. 

Security know-how

This is not the only country offering tempting packages to tourists. When there is competition from other Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and Maldives, Sri Lanka needs to think twice about its security.  

Premier Wickremesinghe has stated that the attacks were aimed at destabilizing the state and the economy. The premier must know that the economy is already unstable and the economic development in the country had dropped to 3% by 2018. This attack can’t be used to hide behind the fact that the GoSL has to pay US $ 4 billion in the form of premiums for loans obtained. We must also take into note that the International Monetary Fund has granted Sri Lanka concessionary loans on conditions like it strictly adheres to a method of financial discipline. The Government’s detractors now scream for a change of regime. But financial experts point out that whatever regime taking over the nation must rebuild its economy by following procedures like closing down loss making state institutions, reducing concessions, raising taxes and maintaining a fuel pricing fomula; all which the present government is doing. 

The regime lacks the security know-how and also committed the mistake of removing the security presence at key locations due to pressure following complaints and protests. 

On Monday Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando said on television that the authorities knew about the impending attacks, but they couldn’t do anything due to the restrictions imposed by the framework of democracy. 

He also said that the authorities will not take steps to safeguard any of the hotels in the future. Responding to a foreign journalist’s query as to why churches weren’t protected if there was news of impending attacks on them, Fernando replied, “How many churches can we protect”. What Fernando implied was that security was inadequate to protect all the churches in the country. He also said that the defence establishment never expected an attack of this magnitude. This just about sums up the security situation in the country and the mindset of the high-ranked officials in the country. 

Wickremesinghe’s back is to the wall again. He survived the alleged Central Bank Bond scam and a no-confidence motion against him, but this seems like the biggest acid test for him. Many commend his economic plans for the country, but laugh at him being naive in areas like public relations and national security. However we must not forget the fact that he has a working brain and massive international support to quell any uprising within the country. The USA, China, India and Pakistan have sent condolences, but America has gone beyond that call of expressing concern and offered help. America’s help is only there for the asking. After all a stable Sri Lanka is so important for super powers like USA, China and India.