The need for vigilance and caution

Yesterday's parcel bomb explosion at Wellawatte which killed a civilian and injured six others including four schoolchildren was typical of the LTTE to mark a special event with a bang-this time the Batticaloa local Government elections.

This should have been all the more reason that vigilance should have been at an optimum. But the public should be equally warned against taking vigilance to absurd lengths as yesterday's incident showed.

According to our reports the individual who perished was a beggar who had fiddled with the parcel concealed in a clay pot on the centre island separating the carriage way, with deadly results. This should open the eyes of the ordinary public not to get carried away by misplaced heroics and leave suspicious objects and unattended parcels well alone.

This incident should prompt our Defence authorities to issue a strict warning to the public to steer clear of danger. The public should also be prevailed upon to evacuate from such locations. They are only supposed to alert Police Emergency or the Army Bomb Disposal squad and not venture into daring that could result in grave peril.

The offer of rewards to civilians for gallantry should not be at the risk of endangering life and limb and this should be instilled in the minds of the public who may dare to flirt with danger whether out of public spiritedness or with an eye for rewards.

A similar act of carelessness resulted in the tragedy in Nugegoda where several lives were lost. Vigilance certainly should be encouraged and fostered especially during the present times.

There had been many acts of gallantry like the one at the Anuradhapura weekend fair where the off duty serviceman acting on the spur of the moment defused an explosive devise saving huge loss of lives. This type of bravado should not necessarily be emulated by the ordinary public.

Such heroics could only cost lives. The public should be warned in no uncertain terms that they are only required to summon Emergency.

The Sri Lankan public is also well-known for their ghoulish curiosity which has been always on display during bomb attacks in the city where crowds flock to the scene of the carnage in their numbers with morbid fascination.

So far they have been fortunate that there had not been a second bomb which could have been triggered off once sufficient crowds had gathered. The strategy of the LTTE is to claim as many lives as possible to fulfil its unquenchable thirst for blood. Even the arrival of large contingents of security personnel including Service chiefs, on the scene is not advisable until given the all clear after the risks have been eliminated.

The LTTE which is on the retreat is bound to vary their mode of attacks which may come in the form of parcel bombs or letter bombs to supplement the cruder claymore bombs.

While the public should be enjoined to be extra vigilant and prepare for any contingency they should also be strongly enjoined against flirting with danger.

Yesterday's incident may perhaps drive this point home.

Popularise reading habit among young

Steps taken by the North Central Provincial Council to develop school and public libraries is certainly a welcome move particularly at a time when the reading habit among our younger generation is on the wane due to a plethora of factors, chief of which is the influence of television which has had telling impact on young minds.

Time was when teachers and elders waxed eloquent on the virtues of the reading habit to the young and in those pre-television days books and novels were in high demand and one came across people both young and old hooked on reading sometimes late into the nights.

Schools and Libraries too were often overflowing with youth eagerly looking for a good book to satiate their hunger for reading. Today alas the younger generation is more absorbed in their computer games and is often seen at video libraries while little or no attention is paid to garnering knowledge from books or publications.

There is no knowing how much the present generation may be losing due to lack of emphasis on reading and in this regard the moves made by whatever agency to propagate and rekindle the reading habit among a wider section of our people should be lauded and appreciated.