Who are shooting the Messengers?

It appears that the CID has tried to carry out  law and order and specially what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised during his address at the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka on November 21 that under his regime there will be no room for communal-based politics and that religious extremism will not be tolerated

Colombo Additional Magistrate Manjula Ratnayake’s observation last Thursday over an arrest of an individual who had shared videos relating to recent ‘Maaveerar Naal’ commemorations without first investigating those who created and uploaded the original videos as an approach like ‘shooting the messenger’, is an eye-opener to the powerful National People’s Power (NPP) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) government and its leaders. 
The Additional Magistrate was making this remark with regard to a recent arrest made by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for allegedly spreading false information with regard to the commemoration done to remember dead carders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which is banned as a terrorist organisation. According to Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Ananda Wijepala there were 244 such commemorations that had taken place during the ‘Maaveerar’ week from November 21 to 27 in Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka and there had been at least 10 instances where  Tiger orgnisation symbols had been displayed.
According to investigators the arrest had been done on the suspicion of committing offences under section 120 of the Penal Code which says; 
“Whoever by words, either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs; or by visible representations, or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite feelings of disaffection to the President of the Government of the Republic, or excites or attempts to excite hatred to or contempt of the administration of justice, or excites or attempts to excite the People of Sri Lanka to procure, otherwise than by lawful means, the alteration of any matter by law established or attempts to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the People of Sri Lanka or to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of such people, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years”.
Before the case was put off for June 10, the Magistrate had inquired from the CID whether it had investigated on the parties who originally created and uploaded the questionable audio-visual content. The investigators had responded in the negative.  
It appears that the CID has tried to carry out  law and order and specially what President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised during his address at the inaugural session of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka on November 21 that under his regime there will be no room for communal-based politics and that religious extremism will not be tolerated. 
“We are a nation that has severely suffered at the hands of communal violence. This country has been bathed in blood and tears. Hatred has been allowed to grow among the people. However, it is the responsibility of the Parliament to prevent the establishment of a government based on such factors,” President AKD stressed during his address. 
However, if the best policies and principles are implemented following wrong or without proper procedures, even a hugely popular government could soon end up in disrepute and disrespect.
On the other hand should the government react to every social media post and make arrest is a question that needs to fonder by both law-makers and those implement the law. It is no doubt that having had a massive social media support and elected to power mainly through the popularity generated from it, NPP/JVP cannot ignore the power of social media. Yet it should not be forgotten that using social media is also the right of every citizen and that every post should and could not be taken seriously. Sometimes it is evident that there is only an extremely thin line between the right and responsibility specially when using the social media. While the government has an important responsibility to identify those who misuse the power of social media, it also has an equal responsibility to respect the right to free speech and information. If these two sides are not properly understood and handled carefully, those anxiously waiting to criticise a powerful government like this will have a great time.