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Weliweriya no more than a debate in the House
After the tragic events at Weliweriya, one would expect all hell to break loose in Parliament over the issue, but instead, what transpired in the House was a politically correct statement made by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe on the incident, and an equally politically correct response from House Leader Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva.
The Opposition Leader in his statement on Tuesday, did raise some pertinent questions such as why the Army, rather than the Police, was deployed in the Weliweriya areas, and as to what evidence the Government has that other groups instigated the crowd, to which answers were not forthcoming.
Instead, the House Leader got away by saying that the Army had acted in self-defence, without saying why the Army had been deployed in the first place. He also spoke of reports of petrol bombs thrown and gunshots being fired from the crowd, but did not say where these reports came from.
DNA Kurunegala District MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake and several other UNP MPs did take the time, during the course of another debate, to talk of the Weliweriya incident. MP Dissanayake said that instead of adapting a high handed attitude towards the protestors, what should have been done is look at the genuine grievances expressed by the people of the area, who fear for the their health , their children’s health and the health of their unborn children. “Is it wrong for the people to raise their voice for such a cause?” he asked.
He also criticised the intervention of the Defence Secretary in the Weliweriya incident, “Whatever is the force at his disposal, is the force he sent into Nandikadal, which is the same force he sent to Weliweriya,” the MP charged.
UNP Badulla District MP Harin Fernando too criticised the crackdown on the people’s protest, as well as the attack on media personnel covering the incident at Weliweriya. “An unofficial censorship has been imposed on the media, and it has been prevented from covering this incident. Do people have to be attacked in this brutal manner when they ask for water?” he asked.
MP Fernando also referred to the killing of Free Trade Zone (FTZ) worker Roshane Chanaka in May 2011, and said, till today, no one has been held accountable for his death while engaging in a peaceful protest.
An attempt to secure a day long debate on the Weliweriya incident was made by the Opposition, but what was agreed upon was to debate when the House meets late August. By then, it’s likely the Government would rake up another issue to distract attention from Weliweriya, or is more likely to appoint a committee to probe the issue, which would be akin to putting the seal on the matter for good.
Talking of Government-appointed committees, Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera revealed in Parliament on Tuesday that 10 months after he appointed a three-member committee to inquire into the Welikada prison riot, he is yet to receive its report. “When a committee is appointed, it must be allowed to work independently. We have asked it to submit a report as soon as possible. It’s not a committee that works full time, but we should get it by the end of this month,” the Minister said in response to a question raised by UNP Anuradhapura District MP Harrison.
Twenty nine inmates were killed in the shoot-out that took place after the Army was called in to quell the riot inside the prison. MP Harrison questioned as to why the Army had gone inside the prison, when there were Prison Department personnel deployed, but the Minister said that the Army came to assist prison officials to carry out a search operation, and a majority of them were stationed outside the building.
With a Government that has made a habit of appointing committees and commissions to hush up issues, it is unlikely that even if a report on the Welikada prison riot is submitted, it will be made public, and will be confined to gather dust on a shelf somewhere.
After all, the report of the one-man committee that probed the Katunayake FTZ incident in which worker Rohshane Chanaka was killed in the police shooting, is yet to be made public more than two years after it was submitted to the President.
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