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Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse used the third anniversary of
the defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to
stage an unprecedented show of military might. The parade only
underscored the degree to which his government rests on the country’s
huge military apparatus.
In all, more than 13,500 members of the
security forces paraded in Colombo: 398 army officers and 4,628
soldiers, 115 naval officers and 2,651 sailors, 78 air force officers
and 1,383 airmen, together with the civil defence force and the police,
including the notorious Special Task Force. The parade was accompanied
by 148 vehicle columns, a fly-past of 33 war planes and a naval convoy
of 72 warships off the coast.
The roads leading to the Galle
Face Green were all closed for a week to allow for rehearsals, causing
serious disruption to traffic to the central city area. On May 19, the
day of the celebrations, ordinary people were totally absent. The event
was an entirely military affair—even the children who were brought in to
wave the national flag came from a school exclusively set up for the
sons and daughters of servicemen.
The stench of militarism
surrounded the entire affair. It was deliberately designed to intimidate
working people and youth amid growing opposition to the Rajapakse
government’s austerity measures. The parade and speeches were broadcast
at length on radio and television.
Rajapakse’s speech again
hailed the “victory” over the LTTE. Hundreds of thousands were killed in
more than a quarter century of a criminal war to defend the power and
privileges of the dominant Sinhala ruling elites. In the last months,
the Sri Lankan military killed tens of thousands of civilians. After the
last pockets of LTTE resistance were crushed, the army herded nearly
300,000 men, women and children into detention camps. Three years later,
there are still 17,000 languishing in the camps.
Rajapakse
referred to “war heroes and veterans” more than 15 times in the first 10
minutes of his speech. He boasted of the benefits his government had
given to veterans: the largest housing project in Sri Lanka, a separate
school for “war heroes”, care for disabled veterans, and grants for
their children. “I do not think any other country in the world respects
its heroes and veterans in such a manner,” he declared.
In
reality, the ranks of the military were filled out with economic
conscripts, young people driven to join up by poverty and unemployment.
They were used as cannon fodder in a ruthless war of attrition that left
many dead or disabled, with their families subsequently struggling to
survive.
Referring to the role of the military, Rajapakse
declared that the “war heroes” who established peace now have “the task
of rebuilding the country and adding to its beauty.” Over the past three
years, the government has extended the military’s ambit into many areas
of the economy. The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has been placed
under the defence ministry. It is overseeing the eviction of more than
70,000 families from shanties in central Colombo as part of the
government’s plans to transform the city into a finance hub.
Rajapakse
bragged that his government had ended the country’s state of emergency,
but most of its provisions remain in force in separate legislation.
Thousands of Tamil youth are still being held without charge or trial as
“LTTE suspects” under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Abductions
and “disappearances” by pro-government death squads colluding with the
security forces continue unabated. The government-appointed Human Rights
Commission of Sri Lanka has reported 21 disappearances from the
beginning of the year to April 18. No one has been arrested for these
crimes, let alone punished.
Towards the end of his speech,
Rajapakse rejected calls for an end to the military occupation of Sri
Lanka’s North and East. “We must ask if we are in a position to remove
the armed forces camps in the north and reduce our attention on national
security,” he declared. “That is not possible. Armed services camps are
not found in the north alone. They are seen throughout the country.
They are seen in Colombo and Giruvapattu in the south.”
The
continued heavy presence of the military, not just in predominantly
Tamil areas but throughout the island, points to acute underlying social
tensions. The Sri Lankan military has not been reduced in size since
the end of the war and remains, per capita, one of the largest in the
world.
Rajapakse declared that the war had “compelled us all to
live in the midst of many restrictions and obstructions” but insisted
that “today, the country that faced such restrictions has returned to
normal.” For working people this merely sounds like a bad joke.
Rajapakse hinted at the growing opposition to the government when he
appealed for “patience to save the victory we have won.” Workers
expected that the end of the war would bring an improvement in living
standards, but conditions have only worsened.
The government is
under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to slash social
spending and implement pro-market restructuring. Rajapakse has reduced
price subsidies on a range of basic items, including fuel and essential
foods. A virtual wage freeze is in place, even as prices rise and the
rupee has devalued by nearly 20 percent. Only the wealthy elite has
profited from the Rajapakse government’s projects to “rebuild the
nation.”
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