A deplorable attack

The Sri Lankan public was rudely awakened yesterday by yet another bomb explosion in the heart of the City which claimed the lives of four persons including two schoolchildren.

The claymore mine set off at the busy Slave Island bazaar somewhat close to the Army Headquarters also injured 25 others, including soldiers, women and children. An Army bus was the target of the attack.

Coming a day after the assassination of Parliamentarian T. Maheshwaran yesterday's incident no doubt is an unsettling prospect for the public. It is also a chilling reminder of the brutality of the LTTE.

It is the third such attack within the City in the course of one month following the bomb attack at the Nugegoda No Limit store and the explosion at the office of the EPDP leader Douglas Devananda.

If past experience is anything to go by then the public will have to brace themselves for similar bomb attacks particularly at a time when the LTTE is on the retreat in their strongholds and is bound to cause mayhem in other parts of the country.

The Tigers, by all accounts, are on their last legs. There is also the likelihood of the LTTE carrying out more such attacks in the City and also in other parts of the South so as to take the heat off the military thrust in the Wanni and also shore up morale of its rapidly depleting cadres.

It may also have in its sights the country's premier economic targets in a bid to scare off investors. With the battles intensifying the Tigers would now have no compunction about taking on soft targets - as seen from the Nugegoda incident - something it shied away from in the recent times not wishing to raise the opprobrium of the international community.

It must be borne in mind that the Tigers generally view civilian casualties as collateral damage. They do not care about the community or religion of persons killed or maimed by their bombs.

Therefore it is time the Defence authorities reassess security plans and put in motion an effective mechanism to meet the emerging threat. Yesterday's incident is certainly not an ideal start for the nation which ushered in the New Year with much expectation for peace, unity and brotherhood.

The LTTE may step up attacks in the city in the run up to the Diamond Jubilee Independence celebrations and the security establishment should be alert to this possibility.

Inquiries should be made whether security has been compromised in the wake of the dismantling of some checkpoints. If so alternative methods should be devised to ensure the security within the City is brought to the same level and intensity as when these checkpoints were in place.

The need for public vigilance too has to be constantly reiterated. It is to the credit of the majority community that they have not reacted to the continuous provocative acts by the LTTE after that unfortunate blot in July 1983 and President Rajapaksa should be commended for always reiterating the sentiments of brotherhood in his speeches concerning the Tamil community.

It has always been the President's refrain that the ordinary Tamils should not be equated with the LTTE.

The public have to a duty to inform the Police or the Armed Forces of they come across suspicious parcels, vehicles or persons. Several tragedies have been prevented recently due to the alertness of civilians.

Some security measures may also inconvenience civilians, but we have to realise that extraordinary steps are called for to deal with extraordinary situations. The greatest good of the greatest number must be the guiding principle in this case.

It is doubly important at this stage to have a viable political solution ready to accommodate the aspirations of the majority of the Tamils to coincide with the anticipated return to peace.

The political process through the APRC must be given a fresh lease of life so that all grievances and aspirations of the minorities are resolved and a climate created for a peaceful co-existence between all communities.