Sri Lanka President condemns the killing of Lasantha Wickramatunga

Killing journalists is not the way to stifle dissent whoever who wished to silence the outspoken Mr Lasantha Wickrematunga. While no accusation is being made about the President or his ministers or government as having anything to do with this terrible crime, it has to be said that responsibility for maintaining law and order in the country is the responsibility of the government of the day. We have witnessed too many incidents of thuggery where some ministers like Mervyn Silva have been directly involved, and nothing has been done by the authorities. The culture of thuggery and intimidation is not part of a vibrant democracy or a country that has such a rich Buddhist heritage, and Sri Lanka seems to have an increasing rate of such unsavoury practices making our country seem like Chicago during Al Capone's time

I cannot believe a comment about Lasantha Wickramathunge painted as an outspoken critic. He was outspoken only on the present government. He was silent and encouraged previous UNP regimes to run riot on people’s freedom including Batalanda. He did not have anything to say when JRJ got resignation letters from duly elected MPs of his government to keep those MPs as a herd for his petty gains. He did not see Ravi Karunanayake as a joker, or Ranil Wickramsinghe as a stooge. He did not see Managala Samaraweera as a clown. He did not see Jayalath Jayawardana as a puppet of LTTE. He was dabbling with dangerous politics in Sri Lanka. He survived so long only because he lived in Colombo and criticized the democratically elected government. He would have been eliminated by the very forces he supported much earlier if he lived in Jaffna and was critical to LTTE.

There is something very fishy about the killing of Sunday Leader Editor Lasantha Wickrematunga and the arson attack on the MTV Broadcasting Station. Both incidents occurred within few days after the fall of Kilinochchi to Sri Lankan Forces.

The government should forthwith launch a thorough inquiry into both cases and leave no stones unturned since the offences are bound to reflect negatively on the Rajapaksa regime although the Leader Publications and MTV/ Sirasa were both operating exclusively as UNP media organs and showing veiled sympathy for the LTTE cause.

There’s a pithy Sinhala saying that fools who are angry with their faces try to cut off their noses (moonath ekka tharahata nahaya kapagannawa). Such was the media policy of the Leader Publications and MTV / Sirasa. Merely because they hated the Rajapaksa regime they did not mind indirectly serving the Tiger agenda. It is a small wonder that most readers and viewers who have been addicted to the news reporting of these two media organizations think that Sri Lanka’s real enemy is not the LTTE (which has been trying to bisect this island for the past 30 years) but the Rajapaksa government which has been in power for only three years.

Clearly both criminal acts were aimed at diverting the world’s attention from the devastating blow dealt to the LTTE by Sri Lankan troops. Obviously no sane government would resort to any action that would tarnish its image at the height of a resounding military victory.

If however the opposite had happened – a humiliating defeat for the Sri Lankan Army in the Wanni – we may assume that certain frustrated elements justifiably angered by the anti-national stance of the victims would have perhaps committed the offences. But why should it happen now?

Who would benefit by casting a shadow over the success that our soldiers have achieved in the Wanni? Needless to say, the only ones who stand to gain are not only the LTTE, sections of the UNP and the NGO ‘peaceniks’ but also the so-called international community which has been conspiring to impose its own ‘political solutions’ on this country.

This senseless killing is clearly the work of extremist Sinhalese thugs emboldened by recent military victories in the north and who have elected to take things into their own hands. The government must take immediate and decisive steps to contain the rapidly growing Sinhalese national fervor by nipping it in the bud before anarchy sets-in with another 1983 like pogrom. Though celebration of the military accomplishments mostly by the Sinhalese masses is quite natural, resorting to brutal murder to avenge dissenting voices should not be condoned but condemned in the strongest possible words and the perpetrators brought to justice. Over a year ago this commentator predicted on these very AT threads that a military victory by government forces without first spelling out the contours of a political solution will embolden the Sinhalese nationalists to such an extreme level making the evolution of a just solution politically impossible. Regrettably, this prediction appears to be coming to fruition.

All right thinking good Sinhalese people must be vigilant about the gathering winds of national fervor and not let these potentially dangerous forces sway our innate sense of justice and fairness towards the minorities or those who may not agree with our views. This is a ripe opportunity for the Sinhalese to demonstrate their Buddhist values of tolerance and fairness and also an opportunity for the administration to demonstrate its capacity for true statesmanship and integrity.

My deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Wickrematunga.

There is more to all this than meets the eye. When the the Editor of an English language weekly was kidnapped recently in Colombo, according to news reports, shortly after a frantic call to Prez Rajapakse, the badly beaten Editor was let go. This could have been a coincidence, of course, but the facts speak for themselves. In Pakistan, it is well known that certain elements in the military support extremist groups. The GoSL has to look into whether this is the case in Sri Lanka, too. The facts continue to point in that direction.

Administrator: Please permit correction etc.

The statement in one commentator's write up:

"This senseless killing is clearly the work of extremist Sinhalese thugs emboldened by recent military victories in the north and who have elected to take things into their own hands."

Can this kind of racist comment come from anyone OTHER than a completely biased person? It is unacceptable that so-called intelligent people make this kind of conclusive comment, without any evidence having been presented.
These comments are as extremist as the thugs the writer claims to oppose.

Furthermore to suggest that Sinhalese nationalist fervor over the military successes will generate a 1983-type backlash at this time is mischievous and complete balderdash. Although the LTTE have attempted to provoke a backlash through terror acts in the South ever since the military routed it at Thoppigala, they have failed miserably. There were other political groups cheering the LTTE in the sidelines who also hoped for that backlash, but it did not come. The LTTE will no doubt continue to provoke a backlash especially now that it is cornered. It probably will be ably assisted by supporters of varying political stripes in the South.
It might do well to remember history, and which political group 'arranged' for the backlash in the South in July 1983.

There are too many criminal acts. They were mostly started by LTTE gangs who started to kill Alfred Duraiappa in 1975 followed by lamp post killings in Jaffna and then on to killing Tamil politicians and spreading to Wellawatte area and then to many other parts, mostly happening around Colombo. It is well known that LTTE started the motorcycle killings.

Criminals amongst Sinhalese and other oppotunists too now use this tactics. Who carried out this killing is still to be determined.

It is the GOSL that has to take action to stop this and the work in now in progress to destroy terrorism. These acts of killing are a part of terrorism. When LTTE terrorism is destroyed, some of the resources like police and armed forces can be assigned to enforce law and order.

It is a long road now. It took from 1975 to 2008 to go into such low levels and it could take another decade to get back to normal, if all Sri lankans are lucky.

We need the support of all community leaders and do not expect the GOSL to do it alone. There are criminal gangs in evey community and in every party. Hope the community leaders take leadership to eliminate this type of crimes.