May 26, 2013, 7:31 pm


Jehan Perera writing in the Sunday Leader of May 12 has very appropriately drawn the attention of the public to the slow but deliberate attempts at encroachment of the military on civilian life in Sri Lanka. It is a dangerous trend which can greatly strengthen the civilian dictatorship like the one that prevails in Sri Lanka at present through widespread use of service personnel for essentially civilian activities.


The preferential treatment given to service personnel in the form of enhanced pensions, official transport with unlimited fuel allowances, continued recruitment for the services even when peace prevails, opportunities for higher education including medicine, are all privileges extended to them for the favour of undivided loyalty to the party in power. Further, on the highways and in places for parking, such as in hotels, supermarkets, private and government hospitals, one can clearly see the bold encroachment by defence personnel in their official vehicles with scant respect to legitimate civilian users, who are compelled to park outside the allotted premises.


Their careless and reckless driving has caused many accidents, for which they are neither held responsible nor accountable; the aggrieved parties have only to grin and bear as the Police too remain inactive against the wrong doings of service personnel.


Running of tourist transport services, hotels and restaurants are being carried out in a seemingly efficient and cheaper manner, but this is only because the massive expenditure in salaries and logistics are paid separately to the defence services and are not included in the balance sheet! In the formerly war- stricken North, the civilians are already being made to suffer by taking over of land to establish military camps even before the displaced have been completely settled. Such encroachment even before the provincial administration has been established in the North is clearly wrong and indefensible and goes against the spirit of LLRC recommendations.


Let us hope that at least the Old Left in the government would alert the public about the dangers of this intrusion into the civilian sphere.


R. Vidyasekera


Dehiwela

island.lk