Public vigilance

The incident involving Sri Lanka's World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and some STF personnel engaged in a security operation in the City is something that could have been avoided.

According to media reports the STF personnel were engaged in checking vehicles at Wellawatte as part of a security operation in the aftermath of a series of rail track bombings on the coastal line. While so engaged they had also subjected Ranatunga's vehicle for checking.

The latter though had objected resulting in an argument. The matter was later amicably settled but the fallout of this incident could set a bad precedent.

What we are trying to highlight here is the need for co-operation by all citizens irrespective of their position or status with the ongoing security efforts to ensure the maximum safety of civilians.

It was only on Tuesday that a massive carnage was averted by the timely detection of a parcel bomb inside a SLCTB bus. Thanks to the vigilance of the bus crew the deadly cargo was detected in time resulting in the evacuation of the passengers just before the bomb went off.

With the LTTE cornered in the Wanni there is no doubt that they would try to stage incidents in the City in the coming days to offset battlefield losses.

The task before the security establishment to ensure a foolproof security plan therefore is an unenviable one. The problem is magnified with the terrorists now shifting their targets to locations outside Colombo.

Hence the need for the public to be doubly vigilant while extending full cooperation to the Forces engaged in security operations in the South.

This is a time where the public has to be circumspect and put up with the inconveniences and hardships they sometimes have to undergo as a result of frequent checking.

This after all is for their own safety. However there are some among us who have regrettably failed to appreciate the gravity of the situation and treat security checking as an affront to their position and status.

Some of them grudgingly submit themselves for security checks at sentry points and depart with muttered curses. Even bus passengers are heard lamenting about delays and other inconveniences when offloaded for checking at roadblocks.

They fail to comprehend that this is a small sacrifice to pay in the larger interest of national security. This certainly is an affront on our valiant soldiers who are sacrificing life and limb undergoing untold hardships and ordeals.

There is also the argument proffered that stopping buses and vehicles for checking is a futile exercise since no terrorist in his right mind would carry a bomb when having to go through a checkpoint. But can we afford to take this chance ?

Beside the public fails to realise the logic behind the checking of passenger transport. For them this is merely routine exercise which has no relevance. But imagine the situation if all buses and vehicles are allowed to pass through without let or hindrance.

Won't this give terrorists carte blanche to smuggle in bombs and weapons at their own convenience. Checking is not so much as to detect bombs and explosives than to pre-empt the free passage of explosive with impunity and gay abandon.

It is to act as a deterrent against easy passage that such checking is intended. This is the principle behind the whole exercise and the public should be enlightened on the reasons and urged to co-operate with the exercise.

Besides as mentioned this is a small price to pay considering the sacrifices made by the Security Forces in the battlefield. In fact we would be indirectly helping the Forces in their mission by acting as another "Defence Line" preventing terror attacks in the City.

In our own way we would be contributing to the battlefield victories of the Security Forces. It would be ideal if Parliamentarians of all hues set the tone in this regard and not plead "privilege" when subjected to security checks especially when what is at stake is the country's security. Their example will go a long way towards moulding the public psyche in accepting the status quo.