The old adage, 'Nero was fiddling when Rome burnt' may not be the apt description of the recent 'Kandy violence'. Yet, it could well be accepted that Kandy might have burnt because the present-day rulers in distant Sri Lanka were fiddling, and did nothing else on the governance front for a fortnight or less.
It is true that Sagala Ratnayaka had recently left the Ministry of Law and Order when, on 22 February, in 'remote' Teldeniya, an innocent truck driver H G Kumarasinghe (41), was hit on the head by a group of men when their vehicles were involved in an incident, which was, still not an accident. But when he breathed his last at the Kandy General Hospital, ten days later, on 3 March, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had 'taken charge'.
It is not inconceivable that neither of them had heard of a Kumarasinghe, nor of the incident that set off days of violence; when the curfew first and then a nation-wide Emergency was in force, subsequently. As ministers, they did not have to remain updated on every minor incident in every distant town and village, unless there was an emerging pattern.
The pattern would show up later, but with possible retrospect effect, linking the Kandy incidents, if at all, to the intervening 'Ampara episode' in the East, on 27 February. In the latter case, as is known now, Muslim eateries were ransacked as the rumour spread that they were 'force-feeding' (!) contraceptives via the food they sold.
Subsequent clinical/chemical tests by the Government Analyst have shown that they were all clumps of carbohydrates, and not any sterilization drug, as believed. This by itself may have to be investigated for how, why and when those clumps got into the foodstuff sold in those eateries, and why and how those rumours got spread – and who used both, to initiate and instigate anti-Muslim violence, though confined only to eastern Ampara at the time.
Yet, it is anybody's guess how and why the local authorities did not react the way they should have when Kumarasinghe was in hospital for 10 long days, and tension was mounting in Digana and Teldeniya. Only a transparent ministerial inquiry would show why the local Police did not arrest the three or four men who had allegedly assaulted Kumarasinghe, when his head injury had caused enough concern for the local doctors to shift him to the district headquarters hospital.
One cannot just conclude that if there was no political crisis, someone in capital Colombo would have read or heard about 'la affaire Kumarasinghe' to be able to take preventive action. Yet, there can be no denying that they might have been in a better frame of mind to hear and listen, read and quiz, if they were less pre-occupied in saving their jobs as ministers and MPs.
It is a curse of democracy, especially in the Third World, when the political leadership is entangled with and in the self the officialdom just shuts not only its mouth, but also eyes and ears. It is not only the dictum of 'see no evil, hear no evil or speak no evil'. It is even more about having access to the ministers concerned, and the institutional and institutionalised frustrations flowing from their own helplessness in such matters.
This is not to say that there was no intelligence failure, whether in terms of inputs or assessments, or follow-up action. Nor is there anything to show that the higher-ups had done all that was required in the matter only by transferring the Police concerned, when there was tension over the non-arrest of the alleged suspect in the Kumarasinghe case.
Yet, for the reported dereliction of duty by a Police officer, or of his superiors, so to say, for an entire district in many ways, and the entire country in some ways, to be targeted, does not speak of acts of sudden provocation alone. Instead, it speaks of a near-complete breakdown in law and order, which in hardcore cases of the kind commences with intelligence-failure, or inadequate follow-up, or both.
Either way, it speaks of a heightened sense of insensitivity of the administration at all levels, starting with self-indulgence of the political kind at the top, or top-most to be precise. So blinded were/ are the rulers of the day that they did not have time, inclination or energy to address administrative issues of such kind, which could not have waited eternally, for them to sort out their ego-clashes and the electoral fear of the Rajapaksas' return.
This was/is only an extension of the experiences in the past. Under the erstwhile Rajapaksa administration, non-'Tamil' minority communities, comprising both Muslims and Christians, too were targeted. On all such occasions, preventive action was avoided in the name of pre-supposed 'Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist' politics and policies at all levels, more so after the LTTE's exit.
In the hour of crisis for her family, Kumarasinghe's widow, Thilaka Pushpakumari's is a stand-alone experience, from which the rest of the nation can learn from. With uncanny bravery, she has asked of what use would be retaliatory violence of the kind. "Will it bring back my dead husband?" media reports have quoted her as saying.
The Government could be expected to provide some monetary compensation to the family, which now comprises Premakumari, Kumarasinghe's aged mother and two children, one of them disabled, according to reports. Maybe, it will and it should help out other victims, as well, to compensate for the loss of their lives, limbs and businesses, which were burnt down.
For their part, international community, ever-ready to jump to conclusion and berate Third World nations should stay away from doing it, at least from now on. They are free to continue with their 'travel advisories' for their own citizens, planning a visit to Sri Lanka, but it should stop there. Whether from the West, or Middle-East, they should ask themselves if they would entertain a Third World nation, say, from Africa, ticking them off, if their own black citizens, are targeted in similar racial violence, for which they are all well known, well into this second decade of the 21st Century?
Nearer home, however, a question haunts the inquisitive mind: If when it all had begun, be it in Ampara first, or later in Kandy, things might not have come this far, had the Government or religious heads taken the initiative for peace council meetings, and peace-counselling to respective communities. The East is the main centre of the nation's Muslim community. Kandy town is the seat of high priests of Buddhism in the country. If a call had gone out on time, or in time, maybe, much of what was witnessed, may not have happened, after all. A call from those centres, to their peoples directly, or to those in power in Colombo, may have done the trick, after all.
In comparison, all the politicians at the top of the nation's heap may have come a cropper. The Government leadership did not seem to have a clue as to what was in store or what was happening, until it all had happened. Mahinda R, despite all claims to justification that he visited the affected areas only because the Government was indifferent to the plight of the affected population, too may not have done the right thing.
If anything, in the case of Mahinda's visit, his security detail may also have something to explain. After all, the Rajapaksas, especially Mahinda is said to be on the top of any list for possible 'terror-targets', if there are still terrorists in the country and they intent targeting anyone. Leave aside LTTE terrorism, war and violence, the last of racial violence involving Buddhists and Muslims in the country, too, dated back to his regime.
Better or worse still, the Mahinda camp has always been crying foul, every time the Government withdrew a few security personnel from his detail, in the name of periodic reassessment of threat perceptions to individuals and re-distribution of available personnel. It is another matter, much of it seems to be political in nature, if only to try and reduce, if not minimise, Mahinda's mingling with the people and keeping his popularity chart continually, if not continuously, high!
This commentary originally appeared in Ceylon Today.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
N. Sathiya Moorthy is a policy analyst and commentator based in Chennai.
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