Of Abductions, Disappearances and Ransoms

I never saw so many bad hats in my life – Arthur Wellesely –Duke of Wellington-1769-1852 (On seeing the first Reformist Parliament)

The statement quoted at the outset was made by the Duke of Wellington regarding the members of the then British Parliament. I leave it to the readers to decide whether the same statement would hold true with regard to the

members of our Parliament. When speaking about disappearances of journalists the name that comes to mind is that of Prageeth Eknaligoda whose whereabouts remain unknown to this date. Whether his disappearance is connected with any political belief he held is purely a matter of conjecture.

Recently it was reported from Mundel, that a little girl, five years old, had been kidnapped from her school by a man who came on a motorcycle claiming to be her uncle. The child’s father is employed in the Middle East .. A ransom of Rupees One Million was demanded but due to the efficiency of the Police, the girl was recovered unharmed. This column wishes to congratulate the police officers for the good work done and it is the duty of the Police Department to reward such officers in order to encourage others to follow their example. Sometime ago kidnapping occurred in the case of a little boy Sadeepa Lakshan in a similar case where a ransom was demanded. But Lakshan was not as fortunate as his dead body was later found in a latrine pit. It was revealed that the crime was committed by a distant relative who demanded a ransom from the parents.

There were instances when wealthy businessmen were abducted by criminals who demanded large sums of money as ransom for their safe return. According to a United Nations 1999 study, Sri Lanka has the second highest number of disappeared people in the world. Since 1980, More than 55,000 people have been killed in the past 27 years. .In 2003, the International Red Cross (ICRC) restarted investigations into the disappearance of 11,000 people during Sri Lanka ‘s civil war.(Wikepedia) Abduction in the now infamous white vans have become the order of the day. The Government has to be committed to the upholding of the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Judiciary as recommended in the LLRC Report.

It is also true that the US and some other western countries are hatching a conspiracy to destabilize the Sri Lankan regime The International Monetary Fund insisted on the depreciation of the Rupee thereby raising the cost of living. At the time the Government lost its popularity due to the rising cost of living the US brought a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC with the object of imposing sanctions thereby destabilizing the Sri Lankan regime. Whatever different political opinions we may hold, we as Sri Lankans living all over the world should unite and rise up to this challenge. A US General after the invasion of Iraq boasted that the US had pushed Iraq back into the middle ages. These conspirators have caused misery in many middle-eastern nations due to their greed for oil. We, Sri Lankans, should not let that happen to our motherland, the little pearl of the Indian Ocean .

The Government should also respect the Rule of Law and uphold the Independence of the Judiciary and not permit abductions or disappearances to continue without proper investigations and application of the penal consequences that accrue to the perpetrators of such crimes. Rule of Law must reign supreme in any civilized nation lest anarchy or the law of the jungle prevail. Let me conclude with an amusing anecdote as usual.

A passenger on a cruise ship spotted a bearded man on a small island, shouting and desperately waving his hands. The passenger sought out the captain and asked:”Who is that man?” “I don’t know” said the captain “but every year when we pass he does that”. It would not be surprising that even if our well fed politicians when speeding in their luxury limousines past the starving Sri Lankans by the wayside burdened by the cost of living, took up a similar attitude as the captain of the ship ignoring the old man stranded on an island without the basic amenities.

The writer is an Attorney at Law

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