“The Beijing Swift” By Prof. Samitha Hettige ©

In mid-November the Chinese leader chaired a conference focused on the path of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and it is reported to be the first such held after him assuming office. According to Chinese sources, the President has proposed key approaches to strengthen the rule of law and on upholding the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) role on making a China a vibrant socialist nation by 2049 when the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) will be celebrating one hundred years. Prioritizing people's interests when advancing the rule of law was stressed by the leader as it is the people who will in turn make the CPC strong.

The conference gave weightage to the CPC leadership in taking the PRC forward in the 21st Century. It also focused on the Constitution of the PRC and suggested future legal reforms be implemented strictly in accordance with the Constitution. The goal is to build a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics focused on national security, scientific and technological innovation, public health, bio-safety and ecological civilization as these will be the key pillars on which the modern nation would rest on withstanding conflicts and chaos that would challenge the PRC in the years to come.

The PRC has had a stable journey for seven decades and it is still trying to strengthen rule of law. Sri Lanka unfortunately never had a stable peaceful journey during the same period. It has never had any goals such as the centenary goals of the CPC and PRC as well. Challenges to rule of law in the country was debated on many instances since independence. 1962 coup to topple Sirima Bandaranaike government, 1971 uprising, aftermath of 1980s referendum, 1987 uprising and the 30-year war which ended in 2009 initiated serious debates on rule of law in the country. It is now known that internal and external forces who did not want to see Sri Lanka progress were behind creating many of above situations.

The incident at the Mahara prison last week is described in different ways. When it comes to prison incidents, there are few incidents that should be analyzed before commenting on Mahara. When Siripala AKA “Maru Sira” was hanged on a court order, there was a debate on whether his death occurred before being hanged. Even a song was composed on the incident. When late Vijaya Kumaratunga was imprisoned, his wife visited him with a journalist disguised as a servant. The photo taken inside the prison by the journalist formed new debates (the journalist later died during a visit to the north when the LTTE attacked the plane he was in).

At a situation during 1983 July “Kuttimani” who was in prison for crimes against the state was killed while inside the prison. Later a similar incident within the Bandarawela resulted in police officer being sentenced. Then there was the Welikada prison incident in 2012. Another view is about an attempt to create a similar incident within the Welikada prison once again to hit at the President. It is also said that due to transferring some prisoners to other locations based on intelligence reports the incident was created at Mahara and not Welikada. Sri Lanka is struggling to stand up. COVID-19 undoubtedly has added extra weight on that effort. As always, the forces that were there to stop Sri Lanka progress will continue in disguise. The citizens should remember that.

(The writer is an Academic and a Broadcaster. Views expressed are personal and may not necessarily be the views of his affiliations.)