Predictably, the judgment of the Supreme Court on the checkpoints has provoked a national debate. There are, no doubt, many pros and cons to this issue and we’ve been hearing them all of last week. The No Limit bomb at Nugegoda, followed hard on its heels by the Kebetigollewa atrocity supported the argument that those responsible for ensuring the security of ordinary people must be given a free hand to do what they believe in good faith to be necessary for the greater good of the community. Inconveniencing or even doing a downright injustice to some in the interest of the common weal must be condoned, goes this line of thought. It has also been heatedly urged that human rights activists parroting the refrain that a democratic state cannot resort to the tactics of a fascist terrorist take a look at what prevails in the LTTE-held Wanni where infiltration is next to impossible. But it must be admitted that despite all the checkpoints, areas under government control have more holes than a sieve and getting through most cordons is child’s play to trained suicide bombers and would-be assassins. Yet, there is no escaping the fact that they are a deterrent to terrorists.

Nobody will dispute that it is not possible for the security agencies of the state to fight the LTTE, which now seems to have declared open season on soft civilian targets both in Colombo and in border villages like Kebetigollewa, with their hands tied behind their backs. When the enemy does not fight according to the Queensberry rules, how can his protagonists be expected do so? This is true enough but it is necessary that those who are unhappy, if not outraged, by the Supreme Court ruling first advice themselves of the functions of the courts. Their principal job is not to make laws (although what lawyers call judge- made laws arising from interpretation of enactments is part of the big picture) but interpret them. That is what the court has done in this case and it would be unfair to criticize the judges for doing their duty. If there are shortcomings in the law, then they must be corrected and that is the job of the legislature.

Since last week’s judgment was handed down, a reduction in the number of checkpoints in Colombo particularly is evident. Newspapers have carried pictures illustrating this. However, all checkpoints in the city have not been removed leaving the field wide open to the LTTE. Many are up and running and, we are sure, will continue to function. What the court held was that permanent road barriers are not authorized by law. The judgment explained that according to the IGP, these barriers serve a minimal purpose and hardly any arrests are made at them. Nobody would dispute the logic that a terrorist would not walk into a checkpoint and voluntarily subject him/herself to checking. The court also rightly observed that the permanent closing of roads for VIP movements was unfair by ordinary citizen. Everything that was said in the judgment smacked of commonsense and most people would agree with what the judges have said. They too, like everybody else in the country, are well aware of the dangers of terrorism with Prabhakaran armed with a seemingly inexhaustible cadre of suicide bombers who will be hard to thwart even with the most sophisticated security system.

Policemen and soldiers manning the barriers and checkpoints will undoubtedly raise a cheer if their duties are made less onerous. Those of us who are irritated by what we believe is needless checking, especially when we are in a hurry, must pause to think of the plight of ordinary policemen and soldiers serving long hours late in the night and in the blazing heat of the day in an effort to make our lives safer. Theirs is thankless, soul-sapping work that is not without risk. Remember the policewoman who died when a suicide bomber, checked near the prime minister’s office on Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha (Flower Road), exploded herself some years ago? A lethal load of explosives was found stashed in a secret compartment of a lorry at a provincial checkpoint. The suspicion of a policeman manning that post was raised when he found a few 1000-rupee notes clipped on to a file of papers proffered to him when he was checking the vehicle. God must surely have been smiling down on Sri Lanka when the unlucky terrorists stumbled on an honest cop!

A recent Indian judgment declaring that VIPs fearing their safety should stay at home instead of inconveniencing the public with road closures won warm applause here. A joke now doing the rounds in Colombo says that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, caught smack in the middle of a road closure, demanded to know why he was subject to such indignity. He got a short answer: ``Gotabhaya is passing!’’ Many of those charged with the responsibility of VIP security take the easy way out by closing roads for extended periods before a VIP movement. They don’t care a jot about inconveniencing hundreds, if not thousands of other road users, making them burn expensive fuel if they do not have the good sense to turn off their engines. But many of the grumblers want the comfort of their air conditioners so they burn their (or more likely their employers’) petrol/diesel in any case while waiting for the VIP to whiz past. Hopefully those who travel in speeding convoys with white gloved security personnel waving vehicles and people out of the way are aware that they are now hate symbols.

Hopefully the Supreme Court judgment will pave the way for a practical via media where both the security imperatives and the convenience of the public will be taken to account.