The recent deportation of people from certain lodging houses in Colombo has lead to an international furore of the capacity and volume that Prabhakan would only have dreamt of!

In the eyes of this writer this situation was building up over a long time. If you face the facts it is people like this who where being rounded up and made to "disappear" for months now. In a way this was an (albeit ham handed), attempt to save a few lives!

What it has demonstrated is the utter contempt that uniformed officials (particularly the Police) treat the civillian populace with.

What has come out here to the "rational" observer is the total disregard for right that an individual has of presenting his case and being listened to.

There definitely must have been people who really needed to get back to Jaffna or the East and couldn’t handle either the cost or the hassle that the journey entailed. If a few people like this were asked to give statements to the press a better face would have been presented. Why was this not done? Is it beuracratic lethargy or is it total disregard for the consequences?

Having watched the attempts of the Police force in many spheres of their activities and been a frequent critic, I must say that I think it is a disregard for the consequences. They just don’t care. The Police believe that because they wear uniforms that HAVE to be "respected" by the general public. They don’t acknowledge the fact that the general populace is now able to think for themselves and form their own opinions. A Policeman is respected as an individual and the respect is based on his conduct. The same force that has produced heroes of the ilk of Charles Wijewardena (to give just one example) has also produced Morons and corrupt disgraces to humanity, by the score.

Having said that the ceremonial "throwing to the wolves" of the IGP and his senior team by the highest in the land can only be described as worse! Is it a planned step in the JVP recommended process of disbanding the Police force? Now the armed services have civil powers and can do the work of the Police, indeed this is a time to seriously consider that course of action!

In the words of a famous song:

"If we could have done it all again, would we, COULD we?"

Frankly I don’t this we COULD, not with this attitude of total contempt for the civil populace that the average Policeman holds.