MP's killing reveals Lanka's culture of violence

The killing of a Sri Lankan government member of parliament has once again highlighted the cult of violence that has sullied Sri Lanka's recent political history and the pitfalls in finding a solution to the island's ethnic conflict, analysts said on Thursday.

Nalanda Ellawala, a ruling People's Alliance parliamentarian, was shot dead on Tuesday, allegedly by supporters of the main opposition United National Party, outside Ratnapura town, about 100 kilometres from Colombo.

Ellawala was carrying the nomination papers of the PA candidates for the March 21 local bodies elections when he was killed.

A special police team, set up by President Chandrika Kumaratunga, are looking for UNP MP Susantha Punchinilame and a former UNP mayor of Ratnapura, who had been cited by eyewitnesses as responsible for the shooting.

Violence had become increasingly a part of Sri Lanka's national life during the previous UNP regime, which was voted out in 1994 after 17 years in power.

Not only the minority Tamils, but also the opposition parties suffered from this cult of violence that became a part and parcel of the state policy.

While the Tamil-majority northeast virtually became a killing field with the Tamil militants hitting back with equal ferocity, the Sinhala-majority areas also witnessed a bloodbath when the government ruthlessly crushed a violent insurgency by the Sinhalese youth.

Opposition parties alleged that several of the leaders and activists and innocent civilians were also killed under the guise of counter-insurgency operations.

UNP leader and former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe readily admitted that political violence had reached ''unprecedented levels.''

''The UNP unequivocally reiterates its position in rejecting this culture of political violence and lawlessness,'' he said in a statement in Colombo, condoling the death of Ellawala.

He called upon all political parties to cooperate in safeguarding the country's democratic way of life and ensure that the coming local bodies election were free from intimidation and violence.

Wickremesinghe told a news conference on Thursday that the UNP would take drastic action against party workers involved in the Ratnapura incidents and ordered Punchinilame to surrender to the police.

The UNP under Wickremesinghe, who is considered a ''gentleman politician,'' was believed to have shed the violent image it had acquired under former presidents J R Jayawardene and Ranasinghe Premadasa.

However, the killing of Ellawala and the alleged involvement of UNP leaders in the crime has helped reinforce President Kumaratunga's repeated charge that the party believed in a policy of intimidation and terrorism.

The analysts said the ruling PA, which had started the local bodies election campaign with the handicap of being the party in power, would greatly benefit from the Ratnapura incidents, while the UNP would be disadvantaged as a result.

They said the continuing bitter rivalry between the two main Sinhala parties would also hamper the prospects of their reaching a consensus on ending the island's ethnic conflict.

The UNP's support for the president's devolution package is crucial to gain the mandatory two-thirds majority support in parliament.

Wickremesinghe said ''political violence will not be tolerated at any cost.'' and advised Punchinilame to contact lawyers and surrender to the police. The UNP Working Committee, meeting on Friday, would decide what action should be taken against those party workers who were found to be involved in Tuesday's violence at Ratnapura, he said.

Wickremesinghe said ''as far as the UNP is concerned, anyone found involved will be strictly dealt with. There has been too much violence going on in the country. There is nothing further we can go from here, except chaos.''

While condemning the killing of the MP, Wickremesinghe said he expected the government too to condemn the violence against UNP supporters in Ratnapura and elsewhere that followed.

He said several buildings belonging to UNP leaders had been destroyed and noted that mob violence could not be a substitute for judicial process.

He said the houses of Punchinilame, against whom there was another murder charge, and his relatives in Ratnapura town had been completely destroyed.

Curfew imposed on the town in the face of widespread violence on Tuesday and Wednesday, which was lifted on Thursday. However, the situation was still tense, officials and residents said.

UNI