Assassination
Of Sri Lankas
Foreign Minister Threatens
A Return To Civil War
By K. Ratnayake
16 August 2005
World
Socialist Web
The
assassination of Sri Lankas foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar
last Friday has greatly heightened political tensions throughout the
country and the danger of a return to civil war. Kadirgamar, a member
of President Chandrika Kumaratungas inner circle, was closely
involved in establishing a controversial joint aid mechanism with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and recent government efforts
to restart peace talks.
The foreign minister
was shot dead at his heavily-guarded private residence at Bullers Lane
in central Colombo. According to police reports, he returned home late
at night after a meeting and went for a swim in his private pool. Kadirgamar
was shot in the chest, head and leg after he left the pool by an unknown
gunman who had set up a snipers rifle some 100 metres away in
the unoccupied top floor of a neighbouring house. He was rushed to the
National Hospital but was pronounced dead about two hours later.
The killing provoked
immediate international condemnations, including from UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan, as well as representatives of the European Union and the
US, British, Japanese and Indian governments. US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice denounced it as a senseless murder and
called on all parties to ensure that the current ceasefire in Sri Lanka
remained in force. The rapid response reflects deep concerns in ruling
circles internationally that the islands shaky peace process
is now in jeopardy.
Within hours of
the assassination, President Kumaratunga convened a meeting of the national
security council and imposed a state of emergency throughout the country.
Under the pretext of enabling enhanced security measures and [the]
effective investigation of this act of wanton terror, the edict
provides the security forces with sweeping powers of search and detention
without charge and the right to establish curfews. Under the laws, the
president can also impose media censorship.
More than a thousand
police and military personnel, backed by helicopters, have been drafted
into the manhunt for Kadirgamars killers. Road blocks were set
up on the main roads out of Colombo and naval vessels stationed along
the coastline. At least 14 Tamils, including the owners of the residence
used by the sniper, have been detained for questioning over their alleged
links to the plot. To date, no one has been charged.
The police and military
immediately accused the LTTE of the murder. Police Inspector General
Chandra Fernando told the press that there was no doubt that the LTTE
had killed the foreign minister Kadirgamar. He was backed by military
spokesman Brigadier Daya Ratnayake. However, the police evidence made
public so far is purely circumstantial: it consists of the weapons,
including a tripod and grenade launcher, and cyanide capsules left behind
by the killers.
A chorus of political
parties and media in Colombo has also condemned the LTTE. The most vociferous
have been the Sinhala chauvinist partiesthe Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
(JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU)that have been denouncing
the government for signing the Post Tsunami Operational Management (P-TOMS)
agreement with the LTTE. The JVP quit the ruling coalition in June,
declaring that the deal amounted to a betrayal of the nation and appealed
to the police and military to defy the orders given by the authorities
that go against the national interest.
Claiming Kadirgamar
as one of its own, the JVP declared that a true son of Sri Lanka
has fallen and denounced LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as
a blood-thirsty fascist hiding in the Wanni. Pledging to
deepen its communal campaign, the JVP stated: Our resolve not
to hand this country to one of the worst criminals in the world grows
stronger... We believe that it is better to die fighting for common
humanity than to live like a coward.
An editorial in
the Island newspaper today stridently denounced the peace process
along with the government and the opposition United National Party (UNP).
They, in the name of an illusive peace, have jeopardised the national
security interests as never before. They have allowed the LTTE to use
the CFA [ceasefire] to further its interests... Immediately after his
assassination, the government resorted to search operations, raids and
check points. Why did the government wait till Kadir was killed to adopt
these measures?
At a press conference
yesterday, the JVP, JHU and government parties, including Kumaratungas
Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), condemned the LTTE. Prime Minister Mahinda
Rajapakse urged the international community, the media and all
should apply pressure to get the LTTE to give up violence and
vowed to bring the assassins before the law.
It is certainly
possible that the LTTE killed Kadirgamar. As foreign minister, he played
the leading role in the governments campaign to have the LTTE
branded internationally as a terrorist organisation. The LTTE is also
deeply frustrated by the lengthy delays in signing the P-TOMS agreement
and the ongoing attacks on its cadre in the East of the island by a
breakaway faction headed by a former LTTE military commander V. Muralitharan,
also known as Karuna.
The LTTE has repeatedly
denounced the security forces, in particular military intelligence,
for supporting the Karuna faction. Last week top LTTE spokesman leader
Anton Balasingham accused the military of carrying out a dirty
war of attrition in the East and declared the government would
be responsible for any breakdown of the ceasefire. If the LTTE has assassinated
Kadirgamar, it amounts to a final ultimatum to the government: rein
in the Karuna faction, implement the P-TOMS agreement and begin peace
talks, or face renewed war.
The LTTE has, however,
bluntly denied any involvement in Kadirgamars assassination. In
a statement on Saturday, S. P. Thamilchelvan, the leader of the LTTEs
political wing, condemned Colombo for hastily jumping to conclusions
and called for a full investigation. We know that there are sections
within the Sri Lankan Armed Forces operating with a hidden agenda to
sabotage the CFA, he stated, adding in later comments that the
government should look inwards for the culprits of the assassination.
Speaking to the
press yesterday, Thamilchelvan declared: We strongly condemn this
act [the murder]... Connecting the LTTE to this killing is very wrong
and it will worsen the present situation... There is no need for the
LTTE to kill him.
While government
spokesmen have dismissed the LTTEs denial, there are many unanswered
questions surrounding Kadirgamars murder. Those in Colombo who
have denounced the LTTE have not answered the most elementary question:
what was the LTTEs motive for the murder? As Thamilchelvans
comments indicate, the LTTE was pushing for the implementation of the
P-TOMS agreement and the recommencement of talks. Balasingham
threats were an effort to push the government to press ahead with the
peace process.
Those with the most
to gain politically from Kadirgamars murder are parties such as
the JVP and JHU and sections of the military and state apparatus that
have been adamantly opposed to any deal with the LTTE. The assassination
will stymie efforts to implement the P-TOMS agreement and restart peace
talks. While the government has declared that it will continue to observe
the ceasefire, there is clearly the heightened danger of a return to
wara prospect that will be welcomed by the most reactionary, communal
elements.
Sections of the
military, possibly in alliance with Sinhala extremists, are more than
capable of murdering a prominent minister to further their ends. The
actual circumstances of the murder raise a number of questions. As Kumaratungas
right-hand man, Kadirgamar was one of the most heavily-guarded politicians
on an island where there has been a long history of political assassinations.
Why did his guards not take the elementary precaution of checking possible
vantage points overlooking his residence?
According to police,
two LTTE suspects were detained ten days ago carrying out reconnaissance
near Kadirgamars residence. In yesterdays Sunday Times,
columnist Iqbal Athas, who has high-level connections to the military,
declared that the Armys Directorate of Military Intelligence warned
last week that threats against the foreign minister had heightened.
Yet 100 metres from his residence, one or more gunmen were able to set
up a snipers rifle and a grenade launcher and watch their target
unhindered for several days or more.
Not only did Kadirgamar
have a large contingent of crack army commandos and Ministerial Security
Division personnel to protect him, but his home is in a well-to-do area
in central Colombo that is heavily patrolled. Any Tamil is regarded
by security personnel with suspicion and subject to routine questioning.
Not only were the gunmen able to gain access to an ideal vantage point
but they were able to escape unnoticed. According to the Sunday Times,
Kadirgamars security detail took no action against the killers.
Instead it took two hours before any road blocks were established, giving
the assassins ample time to escape.
The Colombo media
has been highly critical about the security lapse that allowed
the assassination. For instance, they dismissed as absurd police excuses
that no search was made of the buildings near the residence because
Kadirgamar had not wanted to offend his neighbours. But no commentator
has dared to suggest the obvious: that those opposed to the P-TOMS agreement,
including either military or ex-military personnel, may have colluded
to carry out the killing and blame it on the LTTE. It should also be
pointed out that suicide bombing, rather than precision shooting, has
been the hallmark of the LTTEs previous assassinations.
Significantly, while
she declared yesterday that evidence pointed to the LTTE, Kumaratungas
first reaction was quite different. In a statement on Saturday, the
president blamed political foes opposed to the peaceful transformation
of conflict and who were determined to undermine attempts towards a
negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict. While the
comment is vague, those who fit the category include the military as
well as the JVP and JHU.
In recent weeks,
Kumaratunga has been in conflict with sections of the military. In June,
she ordered the transfer of Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera from the
East after he provocatively supported Sinhala chauvinist groups that
erected a Buddha statue in the middle of Trincomalee. The action was
deliberately designed to heighten communal tensions in a region where
there are already sharp conflicts between the LTTE and the rival Karuna
faction.
At a meeting of
top military officers on July 26, Kumaratunga called for their support
to implement P-TOMS. At the same meeting, Weerasekera pointedly asked
whether the president could impose the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA)
or a state of emergency to combat LTTE activities in the East.
Early last week
Weerasekera made an inflammatory speech at a passing-out ceremony at
a navy training camp at Punewa. He declared that to refuse to take action
against the LTTEs killings was to show cowardice and timidity.
He condemned the ceasefire for allowing the LTTE to build up its military
position and told those present: [W]e should be ready to establish
peace even through war.
As defence minister,
Kumaratunga is well aware of the opposition within the military hierarchy.
She is also conscious that whoever killed Kadirgamar was sending a message
to her: no one is safe from assassination. Despite her subsequent statement
yesterday, Kumaratungas initial remarks make clear that she believed
there was a need to look inwards for the killers.
The assassination
of Kadirgamar comes amid an ongoing political crisis in Colombo. The
ruling elite is deeply divided over the peace process. After the JVP
quit the ruling coalition, Kumaratungas government has been left
in a minority in parliament, dependent on the tacit support of its longtime
rival, the UNP. None of the major parties enjoy the active support of
a significant section of the population and there have been growing
protests and strikes over rising prices and growing poverty and unemployment.
Significantly, none
of the major parties are calling for fresh elections because no one
believes that a poll will alter the current balance of power. The parliamentary
system as a whole has reached an impasse and all of the major parties
are considering autocratic methods of rule. In the July issue of the
big business Lanka Monthly Digest, the editor openly declared that
a benevolent tyranny may be a better model in Sri Lankas best
interests. No one has criticised him.
Nor has there been
any objection, either from the parliamentary opposition or in the media,
to Kumaratungas declaration of a state of emergency and the mobilisation
of large numbers of police and troops. This buildup is not primarily
aimed at the hunt for Kadirgamars assassins but is, above all,
directed against the democratic rights of working people and their opposition
to the ongoing assault on their living standards. Last week, just prior
to the assassination, police brutally attacked thousands of university
students protesting against education cuts and arrested several.
In a statement on
the present political crisis, the Socialist Equality Party warned that
working people confronted great dangers. The SEP called on workers to
reject all forms of communalism and to unite their struggles based on
the complete political independence from every section of the bourgeoisie.
The killing of Kadirgamar has only served to underscore the prescience
of those warnings and the necessity of the working class taking up a
socialist program to combat the danger of war and the turn to autocratic
methods of rule and to fight for its own class interests.