Kahawatta is our country

The gruesome murder of a 52 year old woman and her 18 year old daughter in Kahawatta shocked the entire country.  A lot has happened since that tragic night of January 31, 2012. The story of drug dealing, political patronage, abuse of trust and innocence, revenge intended and exacted etc has all come out.  

When the story unfolded and the culprits apprehended, a community divested itself of rage by burning four houses, including those of the main suspect and his politician brother.  This is how Kahawatta became a synonym for lawlessness and one hopes that arrest, detention and indictment will cool these unholy fevers, sooner rather than later. 

What is most disturbing is that certain elements of the Kahawatta tragedy are common to other parts of the country as well, in particular the nexus between criminality and politics, criminal and politician.  At all levels. 

The main suspect, Raju is the brother of Pradeshiya Sabha member who was, until a few days ago, the Coordinating Secretary of a Minister.  The story validates the commonly held view that politics and drugs are closely related. 

The suspects in this case had been apprehended on four occasions by the Police but on each occasion, it is reported, they had to be released before they could be properly questioned.  It took a special CID team to finally interrogate and obtain a confession.  In other words, for 34 days, that unfortunate community was forced to have in their midst a set of murderers.

Sadly, all this comes under ‘business as usual’ in this country.  Almost everyone knows of a story where known wrongdoers get off scot free or with (at worst) a light reprimand courtesy the invariable ‘call from the top’, the ‘top’ being some local political bigwig.  Interference is the name of the game and it has been virtually a national sport for way too long now. 

The crux of the matter is that law enforcement officers simply do not have the independence to do their jobs.  Their efficiency is therefore compromised while their errors are magnified.  This country simply does not have an overall institutional arrangement that can stop politicians (and the wealthy, who are wont to heavily fund politicians in return for all manner of favours including immunity from investigation) from taking a bite off the justice system. 

Non-compliance can result in punishment transfers and severely denting chances of career advancement.  When powerful politicians bear upon senior police officers to look the other way, their juniors take note. They learn and they put into practice the knowledge gained.  They learn to let big fish slip away.  In this context it is indeed to the credit of the CID that the suspects were actually taken in.  It implies that somewhere close to the top there are people who are actually interested in justice.  To be fair, there have been instances where police officers have shown exemplary courage and integrity, but such individuals are heavily outnumbered by the servile, many of whom double up as takers. 

When law enforcement is influenced by politicians it is to that very extent compromised.  We have seen how police officers have refused point black to investigate acts of thuggery that have been reported as-it-is-happening on television.  When a man ties up another man, that’s not ‘consensual’ or some kinky sexual ritual.  The man who did the tying was in fact giving the finger to law enforcement and the law.  The police took the finger, as it were, without shame. So too the AG’s Department. So too his parliamentary colleagues. So too his political party.  So too every single person who chose to look the other way. 

We know that the 17^th Amendment offered an outside chance to correcting the institutional flaws pertaining to policing.  We know that the 18^th took away that chance.  Be that as it may, in the end what is important is not who appoints who but what the appointed does with his/her appointment and office.  That’s where integrity is tested.

  In this situation there can be no talk of devolving police powers unless one believes there is something substantial in the matter of devolving thuggery or giving free rein to thugs. 

Kahawatta is our country and not a small geographical entity located in some district far away from the high seats of power.  Kahawatta is a tragedy and a defining symbol of ‘things as they are’, top to bottom, left to right. 

No one wants to live in Kahawatta.  Period.  Kahawatta needs to be erased from the political map and that erasing must begin with constitution.  The truth is the beneficiaries of ‘Kahawattization’ will not fiddle with the constitution (why discard a ‘good thing’?).  Who then will do the erasing and when?  The latter is hard to predict.  As for the former, the answer is clear: good people, courageous people, patriots.  If terrorism could have been eradicated, this is not impossible.  If politicians won’t lift a finger, the people must make them lift it. 

There’s a fight to recover a decent map.  It’s not about parties, colour and ideologies. It is about patriotism.  Whose side are you on and what are you going to do about it?  

[See 'Editor's Blog' in THE NATION]