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No law, no country 

07 Nov 2021

President Gotabaya Rajpaksa’s appointment of a Task Force under Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera is sparking fears that another period of conflict may be on its way in Sri Lanka. As almost the whole nation is engaged in the most widespread protest ever known in the country in recent history, one may assume the Government needs the mobilisation of those who wish to take to the streets under the pretext of defending the “One Country, One Law” slogan. The apparent purpose is to thereby divert the attention of the people from their present struggles on economic and social issues.  Ever since the 1978 Constitution came into effect, the necessity of street violence to suppress public opinion on matters affecting the nation became a necessity. Over the years, the Government and the state machinery acquired an enormous experience in the instigation of violence in order so that they could confuse the masses and divert attention from more pressing problems, onto various other matters. In a situation of violence, the people tend to get scared and begin to be cautious about freely expressing themselves and demanding actions for their problems.  This time, the problems that are emerging appear much more difficult than ever before. The problem of starvation, or at least serious food shortages, have been predicted by many. Already, a large portion of persons belonging to the lowest income groups, like those who receive some of the Samurdhi subsidy, are facing malnutrition and other problems relating to extremely basic needs. The medical system is also showing a serious downtrend, where there is constant protest by cancer patients, kidney patients, and others suffering from very serious illnesses.  The Government itself is complaining about its inability to deal with the US dollar crisis. This means that with the depletion of the nation’s Treasury, more and more burdens are imposed on the people, particularly by way of constant increases of prices on essential items. Every family, including the middle-class families, is in an agitated state.  Even the teachers have taken to the streets for long periods of time. The farmers are also on the streets in every part of the country. The protests are emerging from every corner.  Thus, the Government knows that it is now in a more unstable situation than any government has ever been in before. This is not a normal situation of unrest. This is where the Government is in the most powerless position and the people, knowing that almost everyone is joining in the protest, are feeling the greatest possible sense of solidarity and strength.  In situations of such stability, world history shows us that many amazing things have happened. For example, in Russia, in the midst of the greatest upheaval the monarchy faced, the monarchy began to depend more and more on a priest whom they thought had magical powers. This was Rasputin. Everyone who looks into the downfall of the monarchy at the time also accounts the role of Rasputin.  The more the government leaders feel politically powerless, they must seek some force that they think is able to protect them. In this case, the force is what was known as the Sinhala Buddhist movement, which had little to do with Buddhism or being Sinhala, but instead appeared to be a radical movement seeking special advantages for some groups of people. Now, caught in the worst crisis ever, the Government has appointed this so-called Task Force headed by a Buddhist monk that has repeatedly incurred negative attention for his rhetoric and actions.  Why a Task Force? The assumption is that it would give some kind of legality and legitimacy to whatever they are going to do. It indicates that the Government is behind what they do, and that those engaged in activities on its behalf would be protected. The Government has seemingly shown a propensity of going out of its way to protect its friends, and thus this Task Force is also likely to enjoy unexpressed permission to engage in whatever activities with direct or indirect impunity.  Thus, what has been envisaged under the slogan “One Country, One Law”, is that there will be no law and there will be no country. This is not an exaggeration. In fact, the power centre of the country has been blown into pieces under the exercise of the executive presidential system. A power centre means a diverse group of people who work on the authority of the State to do thousands of functions in order to ensure that the country remains stable and that all the services that the country needs are being fulfilled.  By its very nature, a power centre is a collective. The very notion of the power centre being just one man is a political absurdity. This absurdity has been imposed on the nation. The result is that the system of law has been broken down everywhere and the most popular sentiment expressed by everybody is that Sri Lanka is a country with no law. The practical reality is that there is no law in actual operation. Unenforced law is no law at all.  This Task Force will make the law enforcement situation much worse. People who work under the protection of this Task Force will be above the control of the Police or even of the military. They will engage in activities which no one can control and no one will investigate properly.  Words like the Task Force and Inquiry Commissions are the most denigrated words in the Sri Lankan vocabulary now.  Added to all this, this Task Force will contribute to another matter. That is to get a Constitution that has been drafted already, being passed without proper consultation with the people. Perhaps that drafted Constitution provides what is meant by one law and one country. It means that the will of one person will be the law, and everyone will be bound by it. Of course, this is an illusion. But illusions can do much harm before the people know how to reject them.  Thus, it would be of little use to see this new Task Force as something that will empower the majority. The majority today are on the streets. Not only the majority, but everyone today is facing the same harsh conditions of life. Never before are people feeling as one; that is, they all feel as one in their anger against the repression and the deprivations that are imposed on them.  This Task Force will try to break that oneness. An unpopular government might try to retain power by causing further conditions of violence. If the people do understand this, they will be in a position to undermine and defeat this new scheme.  (The writer is the Asian Human Rights Commission’s Policy and Programmes Director)  The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication. 

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