“Also in recent times, we see instances of attacking and harassing people in public by the police. Rather than the question about police officers, we see that this has broken down the structure of law enforcement. There is no morality or culture of human rights protection in law enforcement. Statements made by the State Minister make this situation worse. The Minister says that human rights cases related to the police will be withdrawn if they are not completed within six months. What is the case in this country which was investigated within six months? So how does society feel about these signals? A situation is being created where law enforcement officers can not function without being subject to political power. Through these, the government is trying to cover up its incompetence. ” Says Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Member of Parliament for the National People’s Power.
She was speaking at a media briefing held at the JVP head office in Pelawatta, Battaramulla this morning (06).
Further speaking, Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Member of Parliament of the National People’s Power,
“At this time, the popularity of the government is rapidly declining. In recent history, we have never heard that a government that came to power in such favour of the people, would be disliked by the people within two years. Also, many crises are being created.
For 73 years governments had been doing various things to divert the attention of the people, in the face of its failure. One is to incite racism. It is a ploy of these political parties to create divisions among the people. Rulers do not care about the loss of human lives or bloodshed. Do anything for their power project. In the same way, this government is taking decisions that can create ethnic tensions. Not only that, we observe that measures are being taken to abolish democracy in the country.
Also, we see that they are influencing the law in various ways. One law is enforced against the opponents and critics of the government and another law is enforced on behalf of their friends. The biggest joke here is that the government that came to power promising one country- one law, is now enforcing one law for the people and another for their friends and allies. Five political activists who fought against the Kotelawala Act have been remanded for more than 100 days. Also, religious leaders who have expressed an opinion on the Easter attack are being threatened. Fr. Cyril Gamini himself has stated that there are plans to arrest and question him. At the same time, the cases of government supporters and government MPs are being dropped very quickly. This is a serious situation. This undermines trust in the law and the judiciary. These cases are filed with evidence. How does the evidence change when governments change? It’s a puzzle. This also damages the international image. These cases, which are human rights violations and have been the subject of much controversy, have now been withdrawn.
Also, we see instances of the police harassing and attacking people in public, in the recent past. We see this as a breakdown of the law enforcement structure rather than the issue of police officers. There is no culture of morality or protection of human rights in law enforcement. Statements made by the Minister of State make this situation worse. The Minister says that if the cases related to the police are not completed within six months, they will be withdrawn. What cases in this country were investigated in six months? So how does society feel about these signals? A situation is being created where law enforcement officers cannot function without being subject to political power. Through these, the government is trying to cover up its incompetence.
We think the era of deceiving the people is coming to an end. The people came together to change the government with great criticism of the politics of recent history, i.e. in 2015 and 2019. The fact that the government was deceived on both occasions and the people were well used is now under discussion. We do not think it’s possible to cheat like that again. We feel that from the reactions of the people. The majority of the people in this country do not like racism or injustice. It is the politicians of this country who are pushing in that direction. The people should send a strong message to the government that we cannot be deceived again.”
