As presidential election campaigns gathered momentum last week, voters from minority groups seemed to have entered the equation.
Both candidates -- incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa and his rival Gen. (Rtd) Sarath Fonseka --- who in the past were identified as “hardliners” for their unrelenting stance towards the political aspirations of minority communities --- displayed more love for the latter during the course of their campaigns.
The problems of ethnic minorities dominated both sides’ electoral rhetoric as well.
Whereas President Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed that he had served the Muslims in the country by way of accommodating 20 ministers from the community in his administration and urged the Tamil National Alliance parliamentarians to be ministers in his future government, Gen Fonseka stated ‘merely declaring that there are no minorities in the country would not suffice’ adding that the latters specific concerns needed to be addressed. Gen Fonseka’s words were quite different from the ones he uttered at a press interview nearly a year ago when he reportedly proclaimed that the country “belonged to the Sinhalese” and that other communities should not demand “undue things under the pretext of being minorities”, observers noted.
The government last week indicated that it would soon release over 700 Tamil detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations while also announcing that it intended to resettle by the end of January, over one hundred thousand conflict-affected Tamil refugees who are at present housed in interim camps in Menik farm, Vavuniya. The government is also planning to enhance power supply facilities in the north as well as set up 58 new post offices in the province, according to government sources.
IDPs - who will they vote for?
'Electoral ploy'
While these latest developments were welcomed and appreciated by members of affected families, critics claimed the ruling regime’s “newfound appetite” to better protect the minority interests was “politically motivated” and part of “an electoral ploy aimed at wooing Tamil voters.”
With regard to Tamil detainees, Deputy Minister of Justice V. Puthirasigamani said “except for those against whom indictments have been filed, we are planning to release all others detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA”
Puthirasigamani is also a member of the Committee on Prevention of Crime which was established under a presidential directive to handle, among other things, the matters concerning those detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA --- a “draconian law”, for whose abolishment certain human rights groups have been campaigning over the last several years.
The Committee on Prevention of Crime is headed by Justice Minister Milinda Moragoda and has as its members the Defence Secretary, the IGP, Prisons Commissioner and others.
Many of those detained under Emergency Regulations and the PTA were arrested on suspicion and have been held under detention without trail for a long time, sources pointed out.
According to Minister Puthirasigamani, of all the detainees to be released, 631 persons are in remand while the others are in the custody of the CID, TID or the police.
Asked to comment, leader of the Democratic Peoples Front and Convenor of Civil Monitoring Commission Mano Ganesan MP who backs Gen. Fonseka’s candidacy said he welcomed “without criticism the decision to release those detained under Emergency Regulations and PTA” even though the move appeared to be a “political one”.
The suffering families of the detainees would now be relieved, he noted.
Why were they taken in?
Human Rights lawyer M. A Sumanthiran said “if they didn’t have evidence, these people should not have been taken into custody in the first place. It is a welcome move nevertheless”.
Suresh from Thalawakelle (the source’s actual name has been withheld to protect his identity) whose brother was arrested on suspicion in 2008 and remains detained under emergency regulations said he was pleased to hear the news and was awaiting his sibling’s release.
“My brother was arrested when he returned to the country after working abroad for a few years” he said.
With regard to the resettlement of IDPs in the north, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishad Badhiyudeen said large numbers of displaced people were being resettled in their areas with a view to completing the resettlement process by the end of January.
(Published in LAKBIMAnEWS, January 3, 2009)
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