‘Emergency will improve security’

‘Emergency will improve security’

Context:

• The emergency imposed in Sri Lanka is the first time in seven years that the country has resorted to such a measure.

Background:

• 1915: The tension between the majority Sinhalese and minority Muslims, who currently account for nearly 9% of the country’s population, has a long history.
• The first major incident of riots in Sri Lanka was in 1915, targeting Muslims.
• 1990: During the country’s civil war years, Muslims suffered violence and displacement when the Liberation Tiger Tamil Eelam (LTTE) forcefully evicted them from the north in the early 1990s.
• 2012-2017: Eventually, Sri Lanka has witnessed several attacks against Muslims since 2012, including two major clashes in the southern towns of Aluthgama and Gintota in 2014 and 2017 respectively.

Reason for recent emergency imposed in Sri Lanka:

• A number of mosques and Muslim-run establishments were attacked by Sinhalese mobs in central district.
• The death of a 27 year old man who was trapped inside a burning house and who described the attack on the building in an audio recording could have provoke violence across the country.

Implementation of the emergency:

• The current emergency measures give authorities sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects for long periods, and deploy forces where needed.
• The measures would redress the unsatisfactory security situation prevailing in certain parts of the country.
• The police and armed forces have been suitably empowered to deal with criminal elements in the society and urgently restore normalcy.

Conclusion:

• The fundamental belief that one must indulge to the extremists within the majority community must change.
• Until then other communities that are numerically inferior will never feel like equal citizens.