New strategies needed to stamp out gun violence

• In fact, rarely a day passes now without a shooting incident being in the news. Police on August 14  reported that 82 shooting incidents have taken place this year resulting in 44 deaths and leaving 48 people injured

All Opposition Parties are not in agreement on the no-confidence motion handed over to  Speaker Jagath Wikramarathna by the Samagi Jana Balawegaya against the Deputy Defence Minister, retired Major General Aruna Jayasekara,  on the grounds that conflict of interest is involved in the investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings, as he was the commanding officer in the Eastern Province at the time of those terrorist attacks. 

It is ironic that the leaders who initiated the investigations into those terrorist attacks during which one of them was the Minister of Law and Order are finding conflict of interest in the current investigations into the same incident involving the Deputy Minister of Defence.

Some groups that are not in agreement with this no faith motion argue that it could be justifiable if a no-confidence motion is presented against the Deputy Defence Minister over the current crime wave. 

In fact, rarely a day passes now without a shooting incident being in the news. Police on August 14  reported that 82 shooting incidents have taken place this year resulting in 44 deaths and leaving 48 people injured. They have also claimed that 62 out of 82 incidents were linked to rivalry between criminal gangs and drugs, and the rest have been caused of other issues.

What do these numbers indicate? Can it be called a crime wave? Is the situation worsening compared to  previous years,  or is the number of incidents linked to gang rivalry sagging? The way the police provide information, and the media report on them,  do not answer any of these questions. 

However, in a digital world, nobody needs to turn the dusty records in archival libraries as we had to do some years back, as the answers to these questions are now at your fingertips. Past newspaper reports which can be accessed through a casual Google search show that over hundred shooting incidents had taken place last year and a similar number were reported in the previous year as well. 61 and 103 people had been killed in 2023 and 2024 due to gun violence and organised crime. Hence, it could be surmised that this year’s number of incidents might surpass that of last year, but the death toll might not. However, this year is worse than 2023 in respect of both the number of incidents and resultant deaths. 

The fact remains that crimes happen in considerable numbers whether the situation is better or worse than previous years. 

The formula on crimes that was presented by the National People’s Power (NPP) before they came to power was that crimes were fathered by a corrupt political system -- as such, once the corrupt politicians responsible are routed, crimes would naturally be an issue of the past. Yet, almost a year (11 months) on from the assumption of power by the NPP, the situation is either the same as the previous year or  different only marginally. It is true that the political godfathers of crimes and corruption of the past are being hunted down under the new administration of the NPP, but the law enforcement authorities have failed to scale down the pace of incidents. 

The challenge the government facing in dealing with crimes is to handle criminals within a framework of law that does not run counter to the local and international human rights laws. Criminals once arrested would not reveal their connections, political or otherwise, and information about hidden weapons just because they are asked to do so. They would have to be detained for a particular period of time and  pressured until they make decide to reveal the truth behind the crime in question. In a corrupt law enforcement system, this would be easier said than done.

On the other hand, total eradication of crimes may be  wishful thinking. A considerable eradication of crimes is possible only in an environment where the root causes of crimes are eradicated. It is definitely a long process, if not a mere dream. Even if it is likely,  a sustainable mechanism with modern technology to protect  society is essential till that utopia becomes a reality. 

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