Extension of Emergency

You have robbed the rights of the people under the pretext of war

Parliament met at 9.30 a.m. yesterday. Speaker K. B. Ratnayake chaired.

After presentation of reports and petitions and ministers answered oral questions, Minister of Irrigation and Power and Deputy Minister of Defence Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte opened the debate on the extension of the state of emergency in the entire island by one more month.

He moved "that the Proclamation made by the President under Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance (Chapter 40) bringing into operation the provisions of Part II of the aforesaid Ordinance throughout Sri Lanka with effect from 4th September, 1998 be approved.

He said: The Motion relating to the state of Emergency which was in force throughout Sri Lanka with effect from 4th August, 1998 was approved by this House on 5th August, 1998.

LTTE terrorist activities are still prevalent in the Northern and Eastern provinces, notwithstanding the fact that the government is taking all preventive measures to negate and weaken the activities of these terrorists.

It is a fact that in addition to the Northern and Eastern provinces, in several other areas such as, Kandy, Hatton and Badulla there are incidents of exploding bombs causing heavy losses to the public property and inconvenience to the general public. I am tabling a detailed statement of incidents caused by terrorists during the month of August, 1998.

It appears that the modus operandi of these mischief makers is to spread their unlawful activities to other provinces in order to destabilize the normalcy of those areas.

Police are acting on well-founded information received by them and they were able to take some suspects into custody from different parts of the country. They are being questioned and investigations are in progress. Police also have been able to recover suicide bomber kits in the Colombo city.

The Honourable Members are aware of the fact that the terrorist activities are being continued in the country unabated. As a responsible government it is its bounden duty to maintain law and order in this country and not to allow lawlessness to prevail affecting the life and property of the people. In the circumstances, the government has decided to continue with the State Emergency for the entire island for a further period.

I, therefore, sincerely hope that all the Honourable Members of this House would extend their unstinted co-operation to continue the state of Emergency throughout Sri Lanka for a further period, in order to maintain law and order, public scurity, and the preservation of State property including religious places".

Gamini Athukorale (UNP - Ratnapura District) said: Today the government completes its 4th year in power. But what the President said during the election campaign about the war and peace has not come true. It promised to end the bloodbath and re-establish peace. But we don't see an end to war. Peace is still not in sight. There is bloodshed everywhere. An army captain was shot in Colombo, in broad daylight.

You are unable to hold elections. The situation of five provinces is very bad. That is the situation today.

You took some journalists to Kanagarayan Kulam and showed them certain selected areas. They have reported what they saw in the selected areas. You have done this to justify the postponement of elections.

Please hold elections. It is a right of the people. You must not rob the rights of the people.

Gen. Anuruddha Ratwatte: Please go to the area and see the situation before speaking about it. I will also take you there if you like.

Gamini Athukorale: We have filed action in court against the postponement of elections.

You have robbed the rights of the people under the pretext of the war.

Richard Pathirana: Did you hold the 1983 general election?

Gamini Athukorale: It is good that you raised this question. You must remember that we held a Presidential election in 1982. We received a thumping mandate at that election. The referendum was held on the basis of the result of the Presidential election and the people said they did not need the election scheduled for 1983. That is all I have to tell about it.

I congratulate the new Inspector General of Police who assumed duties recently. I appreciate his advice that police officers should not do politics. This statement was reported in the media. I wish him the moral strength to uphold this policy.

Government media is conducting a smear campaign against the UNP and its leadership. There had been false allegations against Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane. The government media has used statements attributed to the President for these mischievous reports.

Gen. Ratwatte: The member must refrain from making references to the MP concerned.

Gamini Athukorale: We will oppose the emergency. But we ask the government not to stop the war and not abandon the peace effort.

E. A. Samarasinghe (PA - Matara District) said: The UNP is dodging vital issues. They are yet to discuss the vital document that holds the key to peace. Dudley Senanayaka who pledged to sacrifice his life to repeal the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact later promulgated the Senanayaka-Chelvanayagam Pact.

The UNP are deceptors. The citizens directly affected by the protracted war say that the problem was complicated by the deceptive acts of the previous leaders.

If the UNP is ready to take over the government submit your solution now. Late Mr. Bandaranaike strove to win the confidence of the minorities. Why is the UNP hiding their policy on the minorities? They leave the basic issue aside and call for discussions.

Ranjith Madduma Bandara (UNP - Moneragala District) said: When we handed over power in 1994 the entire 10,000 square kilometres of the eastern province was under government rule. We even held elections.

Out of the 9,000 square miles Northern Province only 5500 square miles are under government control.

I don't see the rationale of shifting the war to the North and the exclusion of the Eastern Province. Today the Eastern Province is controlled by the LTTE.

You are deploying one half of the armed forces in the Northern Province which is only one sixtieth of the entire country.

The government is trying to twist the reported statement of Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe. The CID is to question Dr. Jayalath Jayewardena about an alleged meeting with the LTTE.

Batty Weerakoon (Minister of Science and Technology): The most striking question, as I see it, posed by Thamilchelvam was that he has asked if there is a unity between the two main parties over this issue. If there is no agreement what is the use of initiating talks with us? he had asked. I think this is the underlying hitch to solving the ethnic issue. You have not yet defined the unit of devolution.

The strategy of the UNP is to shelve the government proposals by calling for talks with the LTTE. Why don't you submit your amendments. We have the backing of the Tamils for these proposals.

Abdul Cader (UNP - Kandy District) said: "I am going to tell the House about the crimes being committed by PA organisers in the Kandy District making use of the emergency rules.

On September 4, our leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was scheduled to visit the Nawalapitiya electorate. On the third, I went there. My bodyguard was stoned and there was an incident. After that the PA organiser got the police to arrest him.

At the meeting at least 10 persons including women were assaulted. My telephone wires were cut off five times. When Renuka Herath was speaking someone stripped himself and was displaying his nudity.

Diesel in polythene packets were thrown at the crowd. Tyres were burnt around my office. There were burning tyres at many places. I could not enter my office. Soil had been strewn all over the place.

Police are silent and inactive. Police are frightened to take action against the culprits.

I have never cheated anyone. Anybody can investigate. I have no objection. A supporter of the PA had said he had stolen some files belonging to me and handed over to one whom he discribed as "Lokki". The man after consuming liquor said 'Cader is now finished'.

I don't know why PA supporters are exploiting the name of the President.

I think the PA organiser of Nawalapitiya is jealous of me. He does not like me making financial contributions to religious institutions and assisting poor people. If the PA organiser does not like it I can stop it.

We could not construct a stage for the Leader of the Opposition when he visited Nawalapitiya. He had to address the people standing on a table. He had also to use a megaphone to address the people.

You can continue to harass me if you want to. The more you harass me the more votes I will get.

You must transfer the OIC of the Nawalapitiya Police. He is not taking action against PA trouble makers. Some of the trouble makers are Samurdhi Animators.

The Minister must look into these matters.

Dixon Perera: We welcome the appointment of a far sighted police chief. We commend his endeavours to rid the police of political influence and bring it up to one of the best police forces in South East Asia. We request him to initiate an independent police inquiry into all irregularities in the functions of the police. There are numerous reports highlighting the inaction and other misdoings in various departments of the police force.

The Traffic Department of the police needs special mention as it is a dire need to discipline motorists. Regular monitoring of the security divisions of the police to check into shortcomings, is also an essential need.

Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane (UNP - National List) said: I must thank the government for giving me an extraordinary publicity over the state media.

I went to Madhu as a Christian pilgrim. I went on this pilgrimage with the written permission of the President herself. Some persons have criticised my pilgrimage taking shelter under the privileges. I challenge them to make their utterances outside parliament.

I have used one of my fundamental rights when I went to Madhu.

I challenge anyone to prove that I met Tamilchelvam.

I have visited Tamil, Muslim and Sinhala families in the embattled North and East since 1994. I will go to these places even in future to assist the poor people suffering in those villages.

I made a statement about my visit to Madhu on the floor of the House on July 12. I made this statement after the Lake House carried a news item about this visit of mine. The news item was published for 8 days under the same distorted headline.

I met the Speaker before I made the statement in Parliament. My statement was a written one and the Speaker deleted some parts of it.

Last night the CID came to my house and questioned me for 4 hours. They asked about the type of statues, I saw at the Madhu Church. They asked me who the priests were and how the mass was conducted.

This is a denial of my fundamental rights. Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims have a fundamental right to observe their religions freely. Police cannot question people for going on pilgrimages.

Security authorities have arrested a Tamil who is employed by the ICRC as a driver. He is being detained without any reason since July 9.

This person is a gentleman. He had been transporting the bodies of dead soldiers for the last three years. Such is the service he has rendered to the people of the country.

I am not afraid to talk to the LTTE. I am also not afraid to admit if I ever did it. If I ever get a chance to talk to the LTTE I would gladly do it.

A. Adaikkalanathan: Both parties should come to the negotiating table. The Tamil people have suffered immense hardships under emergency regulations. The government has achieved nothing under the war. We oppose the state of emergency due to the sufferings inflicted on the Tamil people. Our people have no faith in the halfway solutions.

Ediriweera Premaratne (PA - Kalutara District) said: Dr. Jayalath Jayawardane spoke about a threat to his life. But I want to tell him that we will not allow such a thing to happen to him.

The positions Dr. Jayawardene is holding in some social service organisations, have been acquired by him through his association with the Temple Trees during the time of President Premadasa.

P. P. Devaraj (CWC - Colombo District) said: There is some form of conflict in every country. Recently two academics from the university of Northern Ireland came here. There may be differences in the conflict there and the conflict here. But we can learn things even from dissimilarities.

We have not been able to extricate ourselves from the conflicts we are facing. The two main political parties of the country are taking the country for a ride. If the problems of the country cannot be solved during their time, these two political parties must take the blame for it.

The question of the political parties seems to be that how the solutions are going to affect them politically.

A bi-partisan approach is necessary to solve the problem. We need friends to resolve problems. Therefore we must try to find genuine friends.