A simmering volcano

With four shots that rent the air at Bokundara on Thursday, was gone another underworld kingpin, known as Soththi Upali. Upali had managed to escape machine gun fire at Borella, a few weeks before. But this time his rivals outwitted him and caught him on the wrong foot. His murder is a pointer to the stark fact that no one is supreme in the underworld and gang warfare spares none. Reign of Mohamed Alis of crime is often short.

To believe that Upali's killers have won is only to be naive. Sleepless will be the nights his fellow criminals have before avenging him as is the way with the underworld.

The Attorney General went on record the other day saying that there were nearly five thousand antisocial elements at large. The police, he had said, lacked the pluck to deal with them effectively for the fear of fundamental rights cases that are usually filed against the police. We don't intend to pooh-pooh this excuse, but only ask the police whether it is only the underworld elements who have fundamental rights. For the same police rarely hesitate to pounce on the law abiding citizens at the slightest provocation.

The AG's revelation makes one shudder. Aren't we seated on a simmering volcano? So many thugs concentrated in so small a country are capable of running a parallel government like the Mafia in the southern parts of Italy. Gun running is rampant and black money flowing in and above all with a war going on in the north and east with thousands of policemen and troops pinned down there, there prevails an ideal situation in the south for criminals to operate freely. They have the right connections and the correct amount of money to retain the best lawyer in town. Bail for them is just for the asking and out they walk from remand prisons to wipe out witnesses who dare give evidence against them.

As such, it is disastrous for us to let the underworld elements settle their personal scores all by themselves and comfort ourselves by muttering, 'As ye sow, so shall ye reap.' It is the society as a whole that has to reap what criminals sow. Or it is not only those wielding weapons who perish by them, but the innocent too. Therefore, the murder of a criminal cannot be dismissed as an act of his personal karma.

It is against this back ground that the death of Soththi Upali, J. P. has to be viewed. The law enforcement authorities must step in and put an end to the on going gang warfare. The government has to give more teeth to the police by legislating for the underworld to be cracked down on urgently and setting up special police units with special training and more personnel required for the task.

A prerequisite in this regard is to deny criminals political patronage that they are enjoying at present.

Regulating trishaws: a welcome move

It is good news that three wheelers will be regulated more effectively from the beginning of next year. Minister of Transport and Highways, A. H. M. Fowzie has told the press that these trishaws will also be metered so as to prevent the exploitation by unscrupulous drivers of the public.

This is something that the government should have done years ago. But better late than never. There are about 70, 000 of these machines on roads catering to the not-so-affluent. They suit a developing country in that they are small, fuel efficient and easy to maintain.

But the freedom of the wild ass that trishaw drivers have enjoyed over the years is such that they have apparently become the law unto themselves. Charging exorbitant fares and turning and overtaking on road at their whims and fancies they have come to be looked upon as a nuisance rather than a service.

If a person gets into a three wheeler without first doing the customary heckling, he is in for a shock at the destination. The fare will be at least twice higher than usual. Or if the passenger is a stranger not knowing the terrain where he takes the ride, the fare is further jacked up. Come a drizzle, the fare doubles and bargaining becomes futile as three wheelers are then in high demand.

The only way out of this parlous situation is to meter these machines as the Minister has pointed out. But he will have to ensure that these meters are not tampered with or knocked off on rainy days so as to fleece the passenger.

Criminals have also displayed a predilection for three wheelers in their sordid operations such as drive by shooting. This is an area that someone other than the Minister of Transport has to probe as there appears to be a nexus between the three wheeler fraternity and the underworld. But the Minister can adopt deterrent measures such as having drivers' identity card displayed prominently in three wheelers. There was a proposal to this effect sometime back and we would like to know what has become of it.

These measures may not be to the liking of the three wheeler drivers and there is likely to be resistance to them. But determination and commitment will help the Minister overcome it. As to the violation of road rules by the trishaws, the police have to take stringent action. Increased fines and constant vigilance will help the police with this task.